Minmo Gahng
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: Essays on Financial Economics
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Cornell University

Matthew Son
Dissertation Chair: Mahendrarajah Nimalendran
Dissertation Title: Essay on Big Data and Machine Learning in Finance
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, University of South Florida

Cathy Zhang
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: Essays in Mortgage Origination Fees
Initial Placement: Post Doctoral Associate, University of Florida

Changhyun Ahn
Dissertation Chair: Joel Houston
Dissertation Title: Essays in Political Economy and Corporate Finance
Initial Placement: Research Assistant Professor of Finance, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mustafa Emin
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: Institutional Investors and Private Debt
Initial Placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, Tulane University
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Alabama

Da Tian
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: Essays in Financial Economics
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Nankai University (Tianjin, China)

Manvendra Tiwari
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: Essays on Bank Opacity
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Saint Mary’s College in California

Nicholas DeRoberits
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: Valuation Without Cash Flows: What are Cryptoasset Fundamentals?
Initial Placement: Senior Software Engineer, Carbon Health Technologies

Junho Oh
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: Price Discovery in the Private Bond Market
Initial Placement: Research Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Current Placement: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Seoul, South Korea)

Svetlana Petrova
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: Essays in FinTech: Cybersecurity Breaches, Corporate Responses, and Investment Behavior
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor in Finance, University of New Hampshire

Derek Shan
Dissertation Chair: Joel Houston (co-chair) and Jay Ritter (co-chair) 2019
Dissertation Title: Essays in Financial Economics
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Fordham University
Current Placement: Assistant Professor, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

Guner Velioglu
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: Essays in Financial Economics and Private Information
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor of Finance, Loyola University Chicago

Amir Yousefi
Dissertation Co-Chairs: Mark Flannery and Mahendrarajah Nimalendran
Dissertation Title: Essays in Finance: “The Effects of Exchange Traded Funds on Corporate Decisions”
Initial Placement: Data Scientist, Facebook

Jae Yung Kim
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Financial Economics”
Initial Placement: Tulane University
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Exeter

Max Dolinsky
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Essays on Firm Financial Policies: Measuring Industry Peer Effects and International Evidence on Firm Responses to Economic Policy Uncertainty”
Initial Placement: Central Michigan University
Current Position: Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Florida

Qie (Ellie) Yin
Dissertation Chair: Jay R. Ritter
Dissertation Title: “The Speed of Adjustment to the Target Market Value Leverage is Slower Than You Think”
Initial Placement: The Hong Kong Baptist University
Current Position: The Hong Kong Baptist University

Aaron Brauner
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Essays in International Corporate Capital Structure”
Initial Placement: State University of New York at Albany
Current Position: State University of New York at Albany

Charles Costello
Dissertation Chair: Christopher James
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Financial Economics”
Initial Placement: Cornerstone Research, Boston
Current Position: Cornerstone Research, Boston

Yong (Jimmy) Jin
Dissertation Co-Chairs: Jay R. Ritter and Mahendrarajah Nimalendran
Dissertation Title: “Essays on Portfolio Theory and Application”
Initial Placement: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Current Position: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Rong (Diana) Shao
Dissertation Chair: Jay R. Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Closed-End Fund IPOs: Sold Not Bought”
Initial Placement: Oregon State University ^[2]
Current Position: Data Scientist, Facebook

Yan Lu
Dissertation Chair: Mahendrarajah Nimalendran
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Alternative Investments”
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida ^[2]
Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Central Florida ^[2]

Dominique Carlo Badoer
Dissertation Chair: Christopher James
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Debt Structure and Maturity Structure”
Initial Placement: University of Missouri ^[1]
Current Position: University of Illinois at Chicago

Leming Lin
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter and Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Banking and Corporate Finance”
Initial Placement: University of Pittsburgh ^[1]
Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh ^[1]

Atanas Mihov
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery and Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Financial Economics”
Initial Placement: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Current Position: University of Kansas

Stace Sirmans
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Credit Risk Effects in Corporate Finance & Investments”
Initial Placement: University of Arkansas ^[2]
Current Position: Auburn University

Matt Souther
Dissertation Chair: Mike Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Corporate Governance”
Initial Placement: University of Missouri ^[1]
Current Position: University of South Carolina

Sabuhi Sardarli
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo and Michael Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Retirement Plans and Mutual Funds”
Initial Placement: Kansas State
Current Position: Associate Professor, Kansas State

Thomas Doellman
Dissertation Chair: Michael Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “Two Essays in Corporate Finance”
Initial Placement: Saint Louis University
Current Position: Saint Louis University

Aaron Gubin
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery and Joel Houston
Dissertation Title: “What Decomposing Market-to-Book Ratios Can Tell Us About Firm Pricing and Safety”
Initial Placement: East Carolina University
Current Position: SigFig.com

Atay Kizilaslan
Dissertation Chair: Christopher James
Dissertation Title: “Asset Specificity, Industry Driven Recovery risk and Loan Pricing”
Initial Placement: Cornerstone Research, New York
Current Position: Cornerstone Research, New York

Xiaoding Liu
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Essays in Corporate Finance”
Initial Placement: University of Oregon ^[1]
Current Position: Texas A&M University

Ani Manakyan Mathers
Dissertation Chair: Christopher James
Dissertation Title: “Strategic Credit Line Usage and Performance”
Initial Placement: Salisbury University, Maryland
Current Position: Salisbury University, Maryland

Xiaohong (Sara) Wang
Dissertation Chair: Mark J. Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Three Essays on Intermediary Lending”
Initial Placement: Northeastern Illinois University
Current Position: Northeastern Illinois University

Benjamin Scheick
Dissertation Chair: David Ling and Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Investor Sentiment, Credit Availability, Information Dissemination, and Asset Price Movements”
Initial Placement: University of Georgia ^[2]
Current Position: Villanova University

Brian Walkup
Dissertation Chair: Michael Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “Two Essays in Finance”
Initial Placement: University of Tulsa
Current Position: Rollins College

Jennifer Itzkowitz
Dissertation Chair: Joel Houston and Andy Naranjo
Initial Placement: Seton Hall
Current Position: Seton Hall

Brandon Lockhart
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Initial Placement: University of Nebraska ^[2]
Current Position: Clemson University

Ozde Oztekin
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Initial Placement: University of Kansas ^[1]
Current Position: Florida International University

Alice Bonaime
Dissertation Chair: Michael Ryngaert
Initial Placement: University of Kentucky ^[2]
Current Position: Associate Professor, University of Arizona ^[1]

Cem Demiroglu
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Initial Placement: Koc University (Turkey)
Current Position: Koc University (Turkey)

Xiaohui Gao
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Initial Placement: University of Hong Kong
Current Position: Temple University

Laura Gonzalez-Alana
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Initial Placement: Fordham University ^[2]
Current Position: California State University, Long Beach

Tom Barkley
Dissertation Chair: Mahendrarajah Nimalendran and Andy Naranjo
Initial Placement: Syracuse University ^[2]
Current Position: Syracuse University ^[2]

Yunchun (Wendy) Hu
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Initial Placement: Zebra Capital
Current Position: Senior Researcher, Institute for Private Capital – Kenan Institute, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

Hugh Marble III
Dissertation Chair: David Brown
Initial Placement: University of Vermont ^[2]
Current Position: The College of William & Mary

Yvonne Reinertson
Dissertation Chair: Andy Naranjo
Initial Placement: Director, Strategic Capital Research, LLC
Current Position: Director, Strategic Capital Research, LLC

Kristine Hankins
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Two Essays on Corporate Finance”
Initial Placement: University of Kentucky ^[2]
Current Position: University of Kentucky ^[2]

Ozgur (Ozzie) Ince
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “The Partial Adjustment of IPO Offer Prices Is Not Due to Dynamic Acquisition”
Initial Placement: Virginia Tech ^[2]
Current Position: University of South Carolina ^[2]

Milena Petrova
Dissertation Chair: David Ling
Dissertation Title: “Do Buyer and Seller Motivations Affect Transaction Prices in Commercial Real Estate? Evidence from Tax-Deferred Exchanges and Other Conditions of Sale”
Initial Placement: Syracuse University ^[2]
Current Position: Syracuse University ^[2]

Qing (Grace) Hao
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Laddering in IPOs”
Initial Placement: University of Missouri at Columbia ^[1]
Current Position: University of Texas – Arlington

Elvan Aktas
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Essays in financial economics”
Initial Placement: Florida Atlantic University
Current Position: Professor, Valdosta State

Rick Borghesi
Dissertation Chair: Joel Houston and Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Essays in corporate diversification, market efficiency, and allocation of scarce resources”
Initial Placement: Texas State University
Current Position: Professor, University of South Florida

Rongbing Huang
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Testing the windows-of-opportunity theory of capital structure”
Initial Placement: Kennesaw State University
Current Position: Full Professor, Kennesaw State University

Stas Nikolova
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Two Essays in Financial Economics: Firm Risk Reflected in Security Prices”
Initial Placement: George Mason University
Current Position: University of Nebraska

Ralph Scholten
Dissertation Chair: Michael Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “The Impact of the Changes in the Takeover Market on Managerial Entrenchment”
Initial Placement: Cornerstone Research
Current Position: Compass Lexecon

Glenn Williams
Dissertation Chair: Miles Livingston
Dissertation Title: “Drexel Burnham Lambert, Underwriting Fees, and Market Power”
Initial Placement: Florida Atlantic University
Current Position: University of Nebraska

John Banko
Dissertation Chair: David Brown
Dissertation Title: Three essays in corporate bond contract design and valuation: “Putable debt in agency theory”, “The directionality of credit spreads revisited”, “Serial correlation in U.S. corporate bond excess returns”
Initial Placement: Northern Illinois University ^[2]
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, University of Florida ^[1]

Donghang Zhang
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Why do underwriters allocate extra shares when they expect to buy them back?”
Initial Placement: University of South Carolina ^[2]
Current Position: Associate Professor, University of South Carolina

Lei Zhou
Dissertation Chair: Miles Livingston
Dissertation Title: Two essays fixed income securities: “The impact of Rule 144A debt offerings upon bond yields and underwriter fees”, “Bond ratings and private information”
Initial Placement: Miami University (Ohio)
Current Position: Jones Diedrich Mennie Endowed Prof. of Finance, Northern Illinois University ^[2]

Kasturi Rangan
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “The changing face of bank capital structure (1986-1998): Regulators vs. markets”
Initial Placement: Case Western Reserve ^[1]
Current Position: Vice President and General Manager, ITT Corporation

Larry Fauver
Dissertation Chair: Joel Houston and Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Firm value, diversification and derivatives usage”
Initial Placement: University of Miami ^[2]
Current Position: James F. Smith, Jr. Professor in Financial Institutions, Ray & Joan Myatt Faculty Research Fellow, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee ^[2]

Hui Yang
Dissertation Chair: Bob Radcliffe and Andy Naranjo
Dissertation Title: “Transactions costs, investor mobility, and fund manager turnover”
Initial Placement: Kansas State University ^[2]

Hsuan-Chi Chen
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “Two Essays on Underwriter Compensation for Initial Public Offerings”
Initial Placement: Fujen University in Taiwan
Current Position: Full Professor at University of New Mexico ^[2]

Bart Danielson
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Why Do Option Introductions Depress Stock Prices? Heterogeneous Beliefs, Market Maker Hedging and Short Sales”
Initial Placement: DePaul University
Current Position: Associate Professor at North Carolina State University ^[2]

C. Edward (Ted) Fee
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: “Financial Contracting in Closely Held Firms: Evidence from the Media and Entertainment Industries”
Initial Placement: Michigan State University ^[1]
Current Position: Chaired Professor at Tulane University ^[1]

Shawn Thomas
Dissertation Chair: Michael Ryngaert
Dissertation Title: “Firm Diversification and Asymmetric Information”
Initial Placement: University of Pittsburgh ^[1]
Current Position: Professor at University of Pittsburgh ^[1]

Richard Warr
Dissertation Chair: Jay Ritter
Dissertation Title: “The Decline of Inflation and the Bull Market of 1982 to 1997”
Initial Placement: Kansas State University ^[2]
Current Position: Professor at North Carolina State ^[2]

Dave Harrison
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: “The Role of Lender Identity in Low-Income Lending”
Initial Placement: University of Vermont ^[2]
Current Position: Professor & Howard Phillips Eminent Scholar Chair in Real Estate, University of Central Florida ^[2]

Jeff Jewel
Dissertation Chair: Miles Livingston
Dissertation Title: “The Role of Third Rating Agencies in the Market for Public Debt: Is Fitch Different from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s”
Initial Placement: Lipscomb University
Current Position: Professor, Lipscomb University

Wei-Lin Liu
Dissertation Chair: David Brown
Dissertation Title: “Three Essays in Financial Economics and Law”
Initial Placement: Pace University
Current Position: Professor at Fudan University (China)

David Marcus
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: “Effects of Capital Regulation and Information Asymmetries on Bank Lending”
Initial Placement: Cornerstone Research
Current Position: Vice President at Cornerstone Research

Sorin Sorescu
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “The price effect of option introductions: 1973-1992”
Initial Placement: University of Houston ^[2]
Current Position: Professor at Texas A&M University ^[1]

Karin Roland
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Profit Persistence in Large U.S. Bank Holding Companies”
Initial Placement: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Current Position: Dept Head and Professor of Finance, Valdosta State University

Richard Borgman
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Asset-Backed Securities: The Determinants of Yield Spreads”
Initial Placement: University of Maine ^[2]
Current Position: Professor at University of Maine ^[2]

Vinay Datar
Dissertation Chair: Bob Radcliffe
Dissertation Title: “Two essays on liquidity and its effect on market value”
Initial Placement: Seattle University
Current Position: Professor at Seattle University

Jon Garfinkel
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: “The Importance of Post Event Insider Trading: Evidence from Earnings Announcements”
Initial Placement: Loyola University Chicago ^[2]
Current Position: Henry B. Tippie Research Professor of Finance, The University of Iowa ^[1]

Matt Billett
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Leverage and the Takeover Market”
Initial Placement: FDIC
Current Position: Professor and Richard E. Jacobs Chair in Finance, Indiana University

Craig Bythewood
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Risk Based Capital Standards and its Impact on the Market for Bank Control”
Initial Placement: Florida A&M University
Current Position: Florida Southern College

Steven R. Cox
Dissertation Chair: Chris James
Dissertation Title: “The Market Value of Voting Power and Dividends”
Initial Placement: Indiana University Kokomo
Current Position: Professor of Finance, Indiana University

Ivy Locke
Dissertation Chair: Miles Livingston
Dissertation Title: “The Effect of Securitization on the Conventional Mortgage Spread”
Initial Placement: Florida State University ^[2]
Current Position: Vice President for Business and Finance at Southeast Missouri State University

Eddie O’Neal
Dissertation Chair: Mark Flannery
Dissertation Title: “Why Electric Utility Stocks are Sensitive to Interest Rates”
Initial Placement: University of New Hampshire ^[2]
Current Position: Securities Litigation & Consulting Group