- The election recognizes Professor López de Prado’s contributions to computational science and financial machine learning over an international career spanning three decades and three continents
- Professor López de Prado joins a select group of only 71 international members
- Current and former international members include distinguished scientists and technologists, among them Nobel laureates, Turing Award winners, and members of foreign national academies
ABU DHABI, UAE, July 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Real Academia de Ingeniería, Spain’s Royal Academy of Engineering and the country’s national academy in the field, has elected ADIA Lab Advisory Board member Professor Marcos López de Prado as an international member (Académico Correspondiente), in recognition of his pioneering contributions to computational science and financial machine learning.
Established by Royal Decree and integrated into the Institute of Spain, the Academy belongs to CAETS, the global council of leading national engineering academies. Its mission is to place engineering expertise at the service of the public interest: providing independent advice to governments and public authorities, advancing engineering science and its technological applications, disseminating knowledge, and setting standards and best practices. Election to the Academy is among Spain’s highest scientific honors, a distinction currently held by only 71 international members.
In addition to his role with ADIA Lab, Professor López de Prado is Global Head – Quantitative Research & Development at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Professor of Practice at Cornell University’s College of Engineering, Research Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (U.S. Office of Science), and Professor of Practice at Khalifa University’s Department of Mathematics. In 2024, he was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Royal Order of Civil Merit, a major state decoration, by His Majesty King Felipe VI and the Government of Spain.
The Academy’s election of Professor López de Prado recognizes his role in establishing financial machine learning as a rigorous discipline at the intersection of engineering, computational science, statistics and investment practice, as well as the international adoption and influence of his methods across academia and the investment industry.
Membership is for life, limited in number, and not open to application. Election follows a peer-led process: candidates are nominated by Academy members, evaluated by the Admissions Board, and elected at a plenary session by an absolute majority of all members entitled to vote. Current and former international members include distinguished scientists and technologists, among them Geoffrey Hinton (Nobel Prize, Physics), Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize, Physics), Werner Arber (Nobel Prize, Medicine), Norman Borlaug (Nobel Prize, Peace), John Hennessy (Turing Award), Judea Pearl (Turing Award), Maurice V. Wilkes (Turing Award), and around 60 members of foreign national academies.
Professor López de Prado is the first member of the Academy elected with residence in the United Arab Emirates, further strengthening the Academy’s links with the UAE’s scientific and technological ecosystem. He will formally receive the medal and diploma of international membership at the investiture ceremony that will be held this October at the historic Palace of Villafranca in Madrid, where the Academy is headquartered.
H.E. Jaime Domínguez Abascal, President of the Academy, remarked: “Professor López de Prado’s election acknowledges his central role in pioneering engineering methods that solve complex financial problems, as well as his development of machine learning algorithms now deployed across the global investment industry. His work bridges academia and practice, demonstrating how engineering principles and methods can enhance high-stakes decision-making in domains of broad economic, societal and institutional importance.”
Dr. Horst Simon, ADIA Lab’s Director, commented: “Election to a national academy is among the highest honors a scientist can receive. Professor López de Prado’s election is a proud moment for ADIA Lab and further underscores the exceptional caliber of our Advisory Board, which includes several Nobel Prize laureates, Turing Award winners, and National Academicians. We warmly congratulate Marcos on this well-deserved recognition.”
Professor López de Prado expressed his appreciation for this election: “I am grateful to Spain’s Royal Academy of Engineering, whose members exemplify scientific and technological excellence around the world. Engineering is not limited to physical artifacts—it is the disciplined design of solutions to technical problems under real-world constraints. Financial machine learning applies engineering methods to one of society’s most complex systems: global financial markets. I am honored that the Academy embraces this vision, and I hope my election inspires future generations to pursue engineering approaches to finance for the advancement of knowledge and the benefit of society.”
About Marcos López de Prado
Dr. Marcos López de Prado is Global Head – Quantitative Research & Development at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and a founding board member of ADIA Lab, Abu Dhabi’s center for research in data and computational sciences. He is also a Research Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Professor of Practice at Cornell University’s College of Engineering. In 2024, His Majesty King Felipe VI and the Government of Spain appointed him Knight Officer of the Royal Order of Civil Merit, “for distinguished services to science and the global investment industry.” The U.S. Congress has invited him to testify on AI policy, he is the named inventor on 15 patents, and the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) ranks him among the 10 most-read authors in Economics. He has published several influential graduate textbooks and more than 100 scientific journal articles with over 50 co-authors, including several Nobel laureates. For more information, visit https://QuantResearch.org/
About ADIA Lab
ADIA Lab is an independent institution engaged in basic and applied research in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and High-Performance and Quantum Computing, across all major fields of study. This includes exploring applications in areas such as climate change and energy transition, blockchain technology, financial inclusion and investing, decision making, automation, cybersecurity, health sciences, education, telecommunications, and space. Based in Abu Dhabi, ADIA Lab is an independent, standalone entity supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), a globally-diversified investment institution that invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi. ADIA Lab has its own governance and operational structure, and is guided by an Advisory Board of global thought leaders in data and computationally-intensive disciplines, to pursue its research independently. For more information, visit https://www.adialab.ae/
About Spain’s Royal Academy of Engineering
The Real Academia de Ingeniería is Spain’s Royal Academy of Engineering and the country’s national academy in the field. Created by Royal Decree 859/1994, it forms part of the Institute of Spain, which brings together Spain’s national Royal Academies. The Academy falls under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Felipe VI, a constitutional function assigned to the King by Article 62(j) of the Spanish Constitution. Its mission is to place engineering expertise at the service of the public interest: providing independent advice to governments and public authorities, advancing engineering science and its technological applications, disseminating knowledge, and setting standards and best practices. The Academy is officially headquartered at the historic Palace of Villafranca, a prominent cultural heritage site in central Madrid, which was formally inaugurated by His Majesty King Juan Carlos in 2010. It is a member of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS), the global council of leading national engineering academies, alongside institutions such as the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. It is also a founding member of the European Council of Applied Sciences and Engineering (Euro-CASE). For more information, visit https://www.raing.es/
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