Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Derek Scissors is a Research Fellow for Asia Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center.

At Heritage, Scissors focuses on the Chinese economy as well as broader Asian economic trends and challenges facing the United States. In addition to his duties with the think tank, Scissors is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, where he teaches a course on the economy of the People's Republic of China.

Before joining Heritage in August 2008, Scissors was a China economist at Orbis Publications, which was acquired by Intelligence Research, a global political risk assessment firm. In that role, he wrote and edited the firm's China Weekly Bulletin, China Watch and China Quarterly Forecast.

Additionally, Scissors has counseled clients – primarily Fortune 500 executives – concerning their China operations. He has a master's degree in economics from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in political science (international political economy) from Stanford University.