Greetings from the Department of Finance at the beginning of a new decade! It’s my honor and pleasure to present our 2020 Annual Department Newsletter and reflect upon the year of 2019. 

There has been no “break” but only “up” in the growth of our programs over the last decade! This past fall semester enrolled a total of 315 Finance students, consisting of 298 in the specialization and 17 in the minor. This sets another 20+ year record and the first time of enrolling over 300 for the Finance program. Launched in Fall 2015 with 15 students, Insurance program had 34 program students with 49 enrollment in the insurance courses.

This past academic year, we graduated sixty-five Finance students and six insurance students out of 463 college graduates. As of the end of Spring 2019, we placed 79% and 86% of Finance and Insurance graduates, respectively, at graduation, exceeding the college average of 77%. You will see the new work places of our recent graduates in this newsletter.

Thanks to your continuing support, we awarded $24,250 to 38 Finance students and $20,000 to 19 Insurance students in scholarships as well as two Graduating Senior Awards in Finance and Insurance, each with $500 prize this past year. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to all our donors including Insurance & Risk Management Institute members, alumni, friends, and department colleagues for their support. We are delighted to recognize the donors as well as the scholarship and award winners in this newsletter.

As in past years, the Department held the annual joint meeting of Finance and Insurance & Risk Management Advisory Boards last September with eight FAB members and ten IRMAB members. The boards also welcomed new members: Perry Cabean (‘94) and Peter Bahner (‘14) for FAB; and Tomas Hogan (’93) for IAB. The 2020 joint board meeting is scheduled on Friday, October 2, 2020 during the Homecoming week. Group photos of the boards are in the Newsletter.  

Curriculum wise, we have a new CFA Concentration program this spring, which is designed to prepare our students to become successful investment professionals with a CFA professional designation (see the program description in this newsletter). In conjunction with this program, we are also working to register our CFA program to the University Affiliated Program (UAP) of the CFA Institute for recognition and CFA scholarships. In addition, since last fall, department faculty have been developing a new Real Estate Program, focusing on real estate valuation and portfolio analysis & management. We target Fall 2021 for the launch of the new program. Your inputs, comments, and support for these programs are greatly appreciated.

This past summer, we welcomed a new administrative staff, Kristin Forman. Kristin replaced Sheri Eddington, who moved to Salt Lake City, Utah with her family last May. Dr. Liuling Liu got tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in May 2019. The Department also welcomed Hochoon Lee as a department’s visiting scholar from South Korea.

What and how have you been doing? We would love hearing from you and sharing your exciting stories with our faculty and students. Simply link to the questionnaires at the end of my message. Furthermore, whenever you come to campus or are interested in talking to our students, please let us know. The Department faculty, staff, and students are looking forward to another exciting year of progress and continuous improvement. We invite you all to be a part of this endeavor.

Go Falcons! 

Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 graduates job placements