Michael Davidson

Michael Davidson is a senior associate (non-resident) with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is an associate professor jointly with the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego, where he leads the Power Transformation Lab. His teaching and research focus on the engineering implications, institutional conflicts, and global value chains inherent in deploying low-carbon energy at scale, and he has over fifteen years of experience analyzing China’s energy system. Davidson holds a PhD in engineering systems and a master’s degree from MIT, and bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, physics, and Japanese studies from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to his current role, he worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and held fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School and Tsinghua University.