Finance
Department website: https://www.csbsju.edu/finance
Finance Program Chair: Steven Welch
Finance Faculty: Lei Fan (ACFN), Robert Hesse (MATH), Shoushou Hou (ECON), Louis Johnston (ECON), Lauri Miller (ACFN), Sucharita Sinha Mukherjee (ECON), Kris Nairn (MATH), Ana Karen Negrete (ECON), Hoang Nguyen (ACFN), Brian Rademacher (ACFN), Steven Welch (ACFN)
Finance is the study of the management, creation, and analysis of money, investments, and financial markets. A finance degree provides students with an understanding of how money and investments interact with the broader economy and how individuals, corporations, and government influence and are influenced by money and financial markets. The finance major at CSB & SJU leverages existing strengths at our institutions and retains a commitment to a broad-minded education driven by concerns about critical thinking, communication, and collaboration that are embodiments of the liberal arts.
As a discipline, finance integrates accounting, economics, mathematics, statistics, and even psychology. Finance also employs accounting, economic, and mathematical models to explain phenomena and inform decisions at various levels, including individuals, financial instruments, institutions, markets, and overall economies. At the individual and firm level, finance often involves the analysis and understanding of accounting reports and financial statements. At the same time, modern finance, in areas such as portfolio allocation and management, depends heavily on mathematical and theoretical foundations to support optimization. A robust education in finance will prepare students to engage and understand finance in these various dimensions.
Finance majors will have a choice of three distinct concentrations: Business Finance, Financial Economics, and Mathematical Finance.