Research Bio

Adair Morse is a finance scholar whose research examines household finance, innovation, climate finance,  financial intermediation, algorithmic finance, discrimination and law, and governance.  She is a professor of VC and venture investing, creating and running fund-as-curriculum model of teaching startup seed investing. Her research is best known for her studies on fraud, payday loans, algorithmic discrimination, impact investing, and climate transition finance. Adair has extensive public service leadership. She has worked with the State of California in designing financial public-private partnerships for small businesses and with the Ministry of Finance of Norway as a member of the Expert Board for oversight of the $2 trillion sovereign fund, especially advising on innovation markets and sustainability. In 2021-2023, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Capital Access at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she sat on the Industry Strategy Group of the United States, implemented $20 billion in venture financing and infrastructure programs, and worked on multi-agency initiatives to build economic, national, and climate security and to democratize wealth-building opportunities. She is the Hasler Chair in New Enterprise Development, Professor of Finance in the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, Faculty Director of the Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative, and Fellow at the Berkeley Law School.

Research Expertise and Interest

household finance, climate finance, sustainable and impact investing, entrepreneurship, innovation, entrepreneurship and small business, pension asset management