Program Faculty | Publications (2002-2009) | Faculty in the Media
The ability to develop a program that can prepare participants with research-based doctorates in areas related to finance is highly dependent on the availability and commitment of competent, motivated, and successful faculty. Pamplin’s finance department, with its strong records of research productivity and teaching achievement, provides a strong foundation from which to draw program instructors and mentors.
This section contains brief biographies of faculty who have committed to teaching in the bridge program. Full resumes of the faculty are linked to below.
Finance Track Faculty
Dr. Kumar
Raman Kumar is the Oliver Professor of Investment Management and head of the finance department. He teaches at both the undergraduate and M.B.A. levels. In the past, he has taught at all levels including the Ph.D. level. For excellence in teaching, he has received numerous teaching awards, including the Virginia Tech Teaching Excellence Award, MBA Teaching Excellence Award and the Pamplin College of Business Teaching Excellence Award. Kumar's area of research includes investments, derivative securities, financial markets, market microstructure, and empirical research methods in finance. He has published in many finance journals including top-quality journals such as the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Full Resume
Dr. Easterwood
John Easterwood is an associate professor of finance. He has taught several courses at the undergraduate and M.B.A. levels. Easterwood's research revolves mainly around commercial banking and financial intermediaries, corporate finance, fixed income securities and investments. He has around 20 articles published in various academic and practitioner journals including top quality journals such as Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of Finance. His research has been well-received and has found significant interest among academics. Full Resume
Dr. Ince
Ozgur Ince's teaching interests are primarily in Corporate Finance and Investments. He teaches Corporate Finance at the doctoral level and Venture Capital and Investment Banking at the undergraduate level. Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Dr. Ince has taught at the University of Florida. Dr. Ince's research interests include equity offerings, investment banking, and payout policy. His current research focuses on the efficiency of the IPO pricing process and the agency problems between IPO firms and the underwriters. His coauthored article that examines the quality and integrity of equity data from Thomson Datastream is forthcoming in the Journal of Financial Research. Full Resume
Dr. Kadlec
Greg Kadlec is the Pamplin Professor of Finance and award winning teacher. He teaches courses on investments at the undergraduate, M.B.A. and doctoral levels. His primary areas of research include: information assimilation, liquidity, security offerings, and mutual funds. His research on how information is incorporated into security prices is internationally recognized and has had a significant impact on the practice of finance. In 2000 his study documenting errors in the pricing of mutual fund shares was presented to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was the centerpiece of an academic and practitioner conference held by the Investment Company Institute (ICI). He has many publications in top quality journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. Full Resume
Dr. Mansi
Sattar Mansi is an associate professor of finance. He has taught financial management, investments, fixed income securities and derivatives at both the undergraduate and M.B.A. levels. He currently teaches M.B.A. students at Virginia Tech but recently taught a doctoral seminar at the University of Arizona. Mansi's research has usually dealt with board topics such as the effect of director issues, diversification, internationalization, CEO compensation and managerial incentives related to the debt market. His current research also focuses on the debt market with applications related primarily to corporate finance and financial markets and institutions. He has several publications in top journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Full Resume
Dr. Shome
Dilip Shome is professor of finance and director of the bridge program’s finance track. He currently teaches corporate finance, venture capital and investment banking at the M.B.A. level and international finance at the undergraduate level, and has taught corporate finance at the doctoral level. He is the recipient of several teaching awards including the Holtzman Award for Outstanding Educator and the Ph.D. Teaching Award. Shome's research focuses on decisions made by managers, and how and why these decisions are not always directed towards the best interests of shareholders and stakeholders. This is also known as agency relationship. Some of his research studies show that regulated electric utilities companies pay very high dividends in order to induce monitoring of the agency relationship. He has more than 15 articles published in various academic and practitioner journals. Some of his publications appear in journals such as the Journal of Finance, Financial Management and Journal of Banking and Finance. He has presented his research at various conferences organized by the Financial Management Association, American Finance Association and others. Full Resume
Vijay Singal is the Ferguson Professor of Finance and his primary teaching area is investments. In the past, he has taught international finance. A winner of the College Certificate of Teaching Excellence and the University Certificate of Teaching Excellence, he has taught at the doctoral, graduate and undergraduate levels. Singal has conducted research in three major areas: irregularities related to market efficiency, international finance, and resolving finance-related issues using data from one industry, but from financial and product markets. His research has been published in top quality journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Business, Journal ofFinance, and the Journal of Financial Economicsd in practitioner journals such as Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Portfolio Management,Financial Analysts Journal, and Journal of Investment Management. Full Resume
Joint Session Faculty
Richard E. Sorensen is the dean and professor of business information technology in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to this position, he served nine years as dean of the John A. Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University. During his tenure there, the college was accredited by AACSB International.
He was awarded a bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (Polytechnic University), and holds an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. in Management from the New York University Stern Graduate School of Business. His work has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, Supervision magazine, Proceedings of the Conference on the Implementation of OR/MS Models at the University of Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business, and Proceedings of the Conference on the Implementation of Computer-Based Decision Aids at MIT's Sloan School of Management. He is also a contributing author to Implementing Operations Research Management Science, published by American Elsevier Publishing Company. Full Resume
Mr. Smith
Frank Smith is the director of Management and Professional Development within Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. MPD provides educational and consulting services to businesses, governments and non profit organizations throughout the United States.
He holds a bachelor of science in industrial management from Fairfield University and an M.B.A. from the University of Maine. Smith has more than 25 years of industry and academic experience leading management and professional development organizations. He was previously the director of the executive MBA programs at both Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Full Resume
