Lemma is the Dean's Chaired Professor of Finance at the University of Maryland, College Park, and former Founding Director of the Center for Financial Policy. From 2012 to 2018, he served as Executive Director of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Africa's largest economic research and training network. Prior to that, he held the Mayer Chair at Maryland and the Charles Albright Endowed Chair at the University of Wisconsin. An internationally recognized scholar, Lemma has been elected twice as Director of the American Finance Association and serves on numerous journal editorial boards, including the Journal of Finance. He is a Fellow of both the Financial Management Association and the Academy of International Business and a member of the Brookings AGI Distinguished Advisory Group and the G20 Compact with Africa Advisory Panel. In 2021, he was appointed to the Council of Independent Economic Advisors by Ethiopia's Prime Minister. Lemma has advised institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, UN, and AfDB, and brings extensive governance experience across public and private sectors.