Bill Maurer is dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Social Sciences, a professor of anthropology and director of the campus’s Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion.

He’s published on topics ranging from offshore financial services to mobile phone-enabled money transfers, Islamic finance, alternative currencies, blockchain/distributed ledger systems, and the future of money. As an anthropologist, he’s interested in the broad range of technologies people have used throughout history and across cultures to figure value and conduct transactions.