Dr. Pirrong previously was the Watson Family Professor of Commodity and Financial Risk Management, and Associate Professor of Finance at Oklahoma State University. He joined the faculty of the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston as Professor of Finance and the Energy Markets Director for Global Energy Management Institute in January, 2003. He has also served on the faculty of the University of Michigan Business School, the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago, and the Olin School of Business of Washington University in St. Louis. He holds a Ph.D. in business economics from the University of Chicago.

Professor Pirrong's research focuses on the economics of commodity markets, the relation between market fundamentals and commodity price dynamics, and the implications of this relation for the pricing of commodity derivatives. His recent research is concentrated on the power markets. He has created a power derivatives pricing model that links observable fundamentals (e.g., temperature, loads) to power derivatives prices. Professor Pirrong has also published extensively on the economics of financial exchanges. He has published 30 articles in professional publications and is the author of three books. Professor Pirrong has consulted widely. His clients have included electric utilities, major commodity processors and consumers, and commodity exchanges around the world.