Spencer Lyon is a Principal-level data and AI leader with 14 years of experience building production-ready systems, teaching graduate students, and contributing to open-source scientific software. He leads the new data & AI business at Areté Capital Partners and runs Valorum Data, where he designs end-to-end data warehouses and bespoke ML/AI solutions for clients. An applied economist by training (PhD work at NYU Stern) with dual BS degrees in Applied Physics and Economics, he blends rigorous numerical methods with practical engineering—seen in contributions to foundational projects like Julia, pandas, and QuantEcon. His OSS work ranges from core algorithm implementations (PartialQuickSort in Julia) to economic modeling tools (gensys for DSGE) and improved data interfaces for financial options in pandas. He also teaches computational social science using Julia, signaling a rare combination of production engineering, academic depth, and pedagogy. Based in Windermere, FL, he frequently translates advanced numerical linear algebra into usable tools for finance and macroeconomic research.
13 years of coding experience
5 years of employment as a software developer
New York University
Phd, Economics, Phd, Economics at NYU Stern School of Business
Bachelor of Science (BS), Applied Physics, GPA: 3.8-4.0, Bachelor of Science (BS), Applied Physics, GPA: 3.8-4.0 at Brigham Young University
Contributions:18 releases, 3 reviews, 380 commits in 8 years 8 months
Contributions summary:Spencer contributed to the development of the QuantEcon.jl library, adding optimal growth code, linear-quadratic control functionalities, and code for Bayesian analysis. They also integrated quadrature methods into the library and developed examples to illustrate the concepts, highlighting their proficiency in numerical methods, optimization, and dynamic programming related to economic modeling. Furthermore, the user made updates to the documentation.
A community based Python library for quantitative economics
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Contributions:1 review, 76 commits, 19 PRs in 3 years 7 months
Contributions summary:Spencer's contributions primarily involve improvements and bug fixes to the `quantecon.py` library. The commits demonstrate a focus on optimizing existing code, such as refactoring the `LQ` class to avoid redundant computations and addressing a broadcasting error in the `asset_pricing` module. Furthermore, the user resolved a bug in the `asset_pricing` solutions and made minor improvements to documentation.
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Spencer Lyon - Principal at University of Central Florida