Michael Lepech

Michael Lepech is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. Mike’s research focuses on the integration of sustainability indicators into engineering design, ranging from materials design, structural design, system design, to operations management and finance. Such sustainability indicators include a comprehensive set of environmental, economic, and social impacts. Within civil engineering, his research has led to the development of new building materials and building practices for more sustainable built environments. As leader of a new banking initiative at Stanford, the application of his research is rethinking the definitions of value, risk, and innovation within the financial services sector.

His research, teaching, and practice have taken him around the world teaching green design and entrepreneurship topics. As a researcher in residence at the Stanford Center at Peking University (SCPKU) in Beijing, he is introducing new financial accounting metrics to better balance economic development with environmental protection throughout China. As an instructor, he has taught numerous executive education and professional education courses on topics of finance, leadership, sustainability, and entrepreneurship in the US, Brazil, France, Korea, South Africa, and China. He has co-founded four companies in the US and China based on his research in advanced construction materials. These companies are currently developing and marketing products produced with “bendable concrete,” or Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC).

Michael joined the Stanford University faculty from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. He received his PhD in Civil Engineering (Materials) from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, and his MBA in strategy and finance from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.