Thomas Walker
Academic Lead and FounderThomas Walker is a full professor of Finance at Concordia University. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Walker worked in the German consulting and industrial sector at such firms as Mercedes Benz, Utility Consultants International, and KPMG. His research interests are in sustainability & climate change, aviation, corporate governance, and risk management and he has published over fifty articles and edited books in these areas. He previously served as Director of the David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, as Laurentian Bank Professor in Integrated Risk Management, as Chair of the Finance Department, and as Associate Dean, Research, at Concordia University.
Dieter Gramlich
Academic LeadDieter Gramlich is a full professor and the head of the Banking Department at Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) in Heidenheim, Germany. Previously he was the Deputy Chair of Finance and Banking, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, and was a visiting Professor at Cleveland State University, and a visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. He is well published and has had multiple research semester stays including Japan, USA, and Canada (JMSB, Concordia.) His areas of expertise include opportunity and risk analysis, opportunity and risk management, early warning systems, and sustainable finance.
Anup Basnet
Research AssociateAnup Basnet is a Ph.D. Candidate in Finance at John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. As a part of his dissertation, he examines the post-IPO activities of venture capital firms – how do VCs exit after taking their portfolio companies public, how their exit preferences affect post-IPO acquisitions, and how VC certification during a takeover leads to a lower litigation risk. He is also involved in several other research projects such as examining the firm- and country-level determinants of green investments and analyzing the macroeconomic consequences of COVID-19. His research interests broadly focus on corporate governance, entrepreneurial finance, venture capital, litigation, and sustainable finance.
Chunrong Wang
Research AssociateDr. Wang is an assistant professor at the College of Management, National Taiwan Normal University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree (Finance) from John Molson School of Business, Concordia University (Canada) in 2020. In the past, his research focused on derivative pricing and fixed income. Currently, his research centers on the areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and FinTech. He attempts to apply machine learning to investigate various CSR issues.
Kalima Vico
Research AssociateKalima Amber Vico is a research associate at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, Montreal. She has served with Concordia’s David O’Brien Centre for Sustainable Enterprise and is part of Sustainable Concordia. She is currently finishing her Bachelor of Commerce in finance with a concentration in economics at Concordia. She has participated in and worked on well over 25 research papers and projects within the Finance Department. She has organized the Emerging Risks in Finance conference that is related to this book. Her research interests include diverse topics in economics, psychology, organizational behaviour, finance and sustainability.
Christian fieberg
Research AssociateChristian Fieberg is a researcher at the University of Bremen (Germany) and represents the field of empirical capital market research and derivatives. He conducted research and taught at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada), University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa), University of Hamburg (Germany) and University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg). His research focuses on topics such as asset pricing, portfolio management, and econometrics, the use of complex methods (especially from the areas of statistics, econometrics, optimization, operations research, simulation and machine learning), the use of statistical software (especially Matlab / Octave / Freemat, R, Stata, Python, SAS, Excel / VBA) and the transfer of research results to software tools that can be used in practice.
Marcus Glenn Walker
Research AssociateMarcus Glenn Walker is a partner and co-CEO of Dragon Data Solutions, a German software firm that specializes in transportation solutions for cargo shipments by land, sea, and in the air. He is an expert in artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability and has published with the ERIC team on several occasions in the past. He currently cooperates with the team on creating an AI solution that will increase the efficiency and thereby reduce the emissions of medium and long-haul truck shipments.
Yunfei Zhao
Research AssociateYunfei is a doctoral candidate in finance at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. His research focuses on financial institutions (banks and insurance companies) and how they are affected by natural disasters. Based on his results, he examines the need for new banking regulations that link a bank’s capital requirements to the natural disaster exposure of firms and households in its lending portfolio.
Eimear Rosato
Research AssociateEimear Rosato, is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and School of Irish Studies at Concordia University, Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Her research looks at intergenerational memory of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and has recently been awarded the first Inaugural John and Pat Hume Foundation Fellowship.
Moein Karami
Research AssociateMoein Karami is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Concordia University. He obtained his doctoral degree from John Molson School of Business, in 2021. His PhD research was funded by several prestigious awards including the National Bank Initiative in Entrepreneurship and Family Business Fellowship. He also has served as the instructor of finance core undergraduate courses at Concordia University since 2016. His research interests include corporate finance, litigation, entrepreneurial finance, fintech, and behavioral finance.
Rajesh Kumar Tharumar
Research AssociateRajesh is a M.Sc. student in the department of Finance at John Molson School of Business. He has 2+ years banking experience spanning credit analysis, monitoring and relationship management. His research interests include stability and sustainability of financial institutions, financial and corporate risk management and impact of disasters on the financial institutions.
Meaghan Landrigan-Buttle
Research AssociateMeaghan holds a master’s degree in History from Concordia University (Montreal), with a focus in Irish Studies. Meaghan has experience in project management, conference planning, tutoring, and holds a professional development certificate in Professional Editing from the University of Waterloo. She has worked as a teaching assistant in the History department and at the School of Irish Studies at Concordia. Her research interests include the First World War, the uses and misuses of history, the consumption of history via popular culture and commemoration, memory studies, and genealogy. Meaghan will begin her PhD research this fall at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Jane McGaughey, where she will explore the uses and misuses of war commemoration in Ireland.
Mohammad Bitar
Academic PartnersMohammad Bitar holds a PhD degree in finance from Grenoble Alps University in France. He is an assistant professor at the Nottingham University Business School and has previously taught several banking and financial economics courses at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He has also taught courses in financial and monetary economics, international banking systems, financial management and analysis, financial diagnostics, investments, financial mathematics, and advanced statistics at Grenoble Alps University. Dr. Bitar has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Financial Stability, Economic Systems, the Emerging Markets Review, and the Revue Économique. His current research interests focus on ethical and alternative financial systems, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate social responsibility.
Stefan Wendt
Academic PartnersStefan Wendt is Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Programs in Business at Reykjavik University’s Department of Business. From March 2005 until March 2015 he was Research and Teaching Assistant at the Department of Finance at Bamberg University, Germany, where he received his doctoral degree in 2010. He has taught as a visiting lecturer at École Supérieure de Commerce Montpellier, France, and Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), Mosbach, Germany. His fields of research include corporate finance and governance, risk management, financial markets and financial intermediation, small and medium-sized enterprises, and behavioural finance.
Aoran Zhang
Academic PartnersDr. Zhang is an assistant professor at Nottingham University’s Business School. His research interests include corporate governance, risk management, and political connections. His current research work focuses on insurance companies and their exposure to climate change related natural disasters. Specifically, he explores whether and how the profitability, premium income, and stock price performance of insurance companies are affected by natural disasters and how insurance companies can improve their modelling techniques to better reflect the susceptibility of their policy holders to natural disaster risks.
Sherif Goubran
Academic PartnersSherif Goubran joined in as an instructor in the department of Architecture (School of Sciences and Engineering) at the American University in Cairo. He completed his PhD at the Individualized Program (INDI) at Concordia University in 2021. His PhD research was funded by several prestigious grants and awards including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. He is conducting interdisciplinary research within the fields of design, architecture, building engineering and real-estate finance. His work investigates the alignment between sustainable building practices and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sherif completed a MASc in building engineering in 2016 with a focus on energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Before that, he completed a BSc in Architecture at the American University in Cairo (AUC-Egypt).
Thomas Kaspereit
Academic PartnersThomas Kaspereit is an Associate Professor in Financial Accounting at the University of Luxembourg. He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, in 2013. His research focuses on the effect of corporate sustainability and sustainability disclosure on the market value of firms. In addition, he is interested in water risk, corporate governance, and firms’ accounting choices.
Xueying Zhang
Academic PartnersXueying Zhang is a full professor of Finance at ShanDong University of Finance and Economic in China. He holds a PhD degree in Finance from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, His research interests are in fixed income, risk management, corporate finance, and monetary policy. He won the Grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China, and was visiting scholar at Concordia University, Universite Laval, University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Among many Chinese Journals, his articles have also been published in Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Journal of International Money and Finance, Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments.
Tyler Schwartz
Research AssistantTyler Schwartz is a MSc candidate at HEC Montreal studying Data Science and Business Analytics. He currently serves as a research associate in the Department of Finance at Concordia University. Tyler completed his undergraduate degree at the John Molson School of Business in which he received an Honors in Finance. He was also presented with the CUSRA scholarship in 2016, which is awarded to undergraduate students who have an interest in pursuing research activities. His research interests include predictive modelling, bio-statistics, sports analytics, and machine learning
Adèle Dumont-Bergeron
Research AssistantAdele Dumont Bergeron is a graduate student in English Literature and Creative Writing at Concordia University, Montreal. She currently serves as a research associate in the Department of Finance. Adele has copyedited over a hundred chapters and articles by professionals in finance for publication. She recently completed research projects about plastic taxes and social impact bonds, which have resulted in co-authored articles. Her research now focuses on water risks and their impacts on the financial system and society. She served as co-editor on the book Water Risk and Its Impact on the Financial Markets and Our Society: New Developments in Risk Assessment and Management.
Gabrielle Machnik-Kekesi
Research AssistantGabrielle Kathleen Machnik-Kekesi (she/elle/sí) is a Hardiman Research Scholar at the University of Galway (2021-2025). She holds an Individualized Program master’s degree from Concordia University, which was funded by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Fonds de recherche du Québec en Société et Culture, and a master’s in Information Studies from McGill University, which was supported by the Margery Trenholme Fellowship. Her research interests include women’s history, cultural geography, and food studies.
Qi Wang
Research AssistantQi Wang is a M.Sc. student in finance at John Molson School of Business at Concordia University. He holds B.Sc. in mathematics and computer science. He has data analysis experience in both academia and industry. His research focuses on applying mathematical model, statistical model and machine learning in financial analysis, investment analysis and risk management.
Brenda Odria Loayza
Research AssistantBrenda Odria Loayza (she/her) is graduating with a degree in Honours English Literature with a Minor in Professional Writing from Concordia University. This fall she will pursue an MA in Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto. Brenda has experience in copy-editing, grant writing, and web-editing. Her research interests include Critical Race Theory, Latinx Literature, Queer Theory, and Sustainability.
Maya Michaeli
Research AssistantMaya Michaeli currently works as a Research Assistant in the Department of Finance, at Concordia University, Montreal. She has a natural passion and enthusiasm for financial markets, which has led her to further pursue her studies in this field. She has a keen personal interest in portfolio management. Her research focuses on risk management, speculative investing, real estate investment trusts, and sustainable investment opportunities.
Pedram Fardnia
Research AssistantPedram Fardina is completing his Ph.D. degree at Concordia University in the field of finance. He is active in research and practice where he focuses on various important issues related to corporate governance in the finance field. For instance, he is currently investigating how corporate governance and an airline’s financial well-being affect safety in the aviation industry using a sample of airlines from around the globe. In addition, his research explores the links between corporate governance and litigation in publicly traded U.S. firms.
Victoria Kelly
Research AssistantVictoria Kelly holds a BSc in Biology with an additional major in Irish Studies. She has worked with the Emerging Risks Information Center at Concordia University since 2020, where she has been involved in numerous book projects and research papers in the area of sustainability, climate change, and with management. Her research interests include diaspora studies, medical history, and immunology. She plans to continue her studies with an independent master’s degree examining the 1832 Cholera epidemic in Montreal and its management on a social, urban, economic, and medical level, drawing parallels with the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Luying Yang
Research AssistantLuying is a MSc student in Finance at Concordia University, she holds a BCom in Finance and a Diploma in Hotel Management. Working in the research department of a securities firm gave her an interest in financial analysis and inspired her to pursue higher academic goals. Her research interests are in financial institutions and corporate governance, with a particular interest in understanding financial markets through the study of the COVID-19 epidemic.
Yuhui Liao
Research AssistantYuhui Liao is a M.Sc. student studying Finance at John Molson School of Business at Concordia University and she holds B.Sc in Financial Mathematics. She currently serves as a research assistant in the Department of Finance. Her research interests currently include risk management, Corporate Social Responsibility and market performance under natural disasters or pandemic.
Mauran Pavan
Research AssistantMauran is an undergraduate student in Computer Science-Web Services and Applications at Concordia University. He has previous experience working at a start-up in the entertainment and tourism sector. His interests lie in FinTech, sustainability, and emerging new technologies.
Elaheh Nikbakht
Research AssistantElaheh Nikbakht is an MSc candidate at John Molson School of Business, Concordia University where she studies finance. She currently serves as a teaching assistant and research assistant in the Department of Finance at Concordia University. Elaheh completed her undergraduate degree and MBA at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. She has been awarded several scholarships and awards for her remarkable academic performance, including the Arbour Foundation Scholarship and the Bourse D'études D'excellence du Centre Desjardins D'innovation en financement D'entreprises. She is also cooperating with other professors to hold conferences related to mathematics and statistics at Concordia University. Her research interests include capital markets, portfolio management, Fintech, and machine learning.
Miles Murphy
Research AssistantMiles Murphy is a graduate of the School of Irish Studies at Concordia University. He has been a researcher, writer and editor on a variety of projects and publications. He is a former Professional Test Developer and Standards Manager and was Director of Exam Design and Development with Moody’s Analytics. He has experience in areas of adult education, finance, the built environment, mining, energy, health and public safety.