Thomas Marois is a Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Political Science and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Public Banking at McMaster University, Canada and formerly a Reader in Development Studies at SOAS University of London. Thomas is a leading scholar of public banks worldwide, focusing on pro-public alternatives and collaborations for the financing of green and just transitions. He is author of the 2021 book Public Banks: Decarbonisation, Definancialisation, and Democratisation (Cambridge University Press), which was awarded the 2023 Joan Robinson Prize by the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy. Thomas is co-editor of the 2023 book Public Banks, Public Water Exploring the Links in Europe (Routledge) and he has written articles for such top-ranked journals as Water International, Review of Political Economy, The China Quarterly, The Journal of Peasant Studies, Environment and Planning, and Review of International Political Economy.
Thomas is Director of the Public Banking Project at McMaster University and an Associate Director with the Municipal Services Project, a global network of researchers investigating public alternatives at Queen’s University, Canada. He works closely with and advises the Public Banking Institute, the Public Bank New York and Public Bank San Francisco groups, and UNCTAD. Thomas sits on the Council of Europe Development Bank Award for Social Cohesion Jury and is a member of the Knowledge Advisory Committee for the Finance in Common Summit Secretariat. From 2025 to 2027, Thomas is a Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London in the Centre for Sustainable Finance.
