Biography

I’ve pursued two unique and successful careers during my professional work life. In my first career, after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with an engineering degree, I joined Schlumberger Limited and worked in oil and gold exploration for nearly 11-years. My initial positions included field-engineering roles on offshore oil rigs. After four years as an engineer, Schlumberger sponsored my MBA at the University of Pittsburgh. The MBA degree propelled me into international management positions with the company where I served as country manager in South Africa and Bolivia, corporate consultancy roles in France, and business development in The Netherlands and Germany. I held a life-long desire to pursue an academic career in teaching and research. Thus, after 11-years in growing corporate roles, I started my Ph.D. in Finance at Texas A&M University in 1992 and earned my doctorate in late 1996.

I maintain a strong interest and commitment to students through my teaching and administrative efforts. From a teaching perspective, I’ve had substantial experience working with undergraduate and graduate students. My portfolio of courses spans introductory finance courses as well as more advanced courses including Corporate Governance, International Finance, Corporate Valuation and Financial Strategy. My teaching ratings consistently place me in the top 10% of all instructors in my school. On a five-point scale, my scores routinely fall in the 4.7 range (or better) for the question “Overall, instructor is”. Finally, I have received numerous Outstanding Teacher Awards at American University and Temple University. Since entering academia, I have strived to establish an outstanding and continuing record of research and teaching. My research agenda focuses broadly on corporate finance with a particular emphasis on corporate governance. Over the past several years, my work has appeared in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Administrative Science Quarterly.