Alexander Melnikov is a Professor at the University of Alberta working in stochastic analysis and its applications in finance, statistics and insurance. He is the author of eight books and over one hundred papers in leading academic journals and venues. He is a Fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, a recipient of the Leontiev medal of this academy and the McCalla Professorship of the University of Alberta. In addition to his academic engagements, he held several senior positions in business and professional organizations: Chief-Scientist at Risk-Invest Deutschland (Frankfurt), Vice-President of the Russian Society of Actuaries, Deputy Director at the Center for Actuarial and Financial Studies (Moscow), Senior Research Consultant at the Model Capital Management (Boston).