Research excellence
Laurent E. Calvet is a professor of finance at SKEMA Business School, a member of the Financial and Accounting Insights on Risk and Regulation (FAIRR) research centre and the Transformation Academy. An engineering graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (France), he holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University. Prior to joining SKEMA, he served as the John Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University (1998-2004), a professor and chair in finance at Imperial College London (2007-8), an HEC Foundation chaired professor at HEC Paris (2004-16), and a chaired professor of finance at EDHEC Business School (2016-23).
Laurent is a founding member of the CEPR Network in Household Finance and an affiliate of the Centre for European Policy Research (London) and the Centre for Financial Studies (Frankfurt). Since September 2020, Laurent has co-organised with Kim Peijnenburg and Raman Uppal the CEPR Advanced Forum for Financial Economics (CAFFE) online seminar series. Laurent is the vice president elect of the European Finance Association (EFA) and conference chair of the 2025 EFA annual meeting which will be held on SKEMA's Grand Paris campus.
Laurent's research focuses on asset pricing, household finance, and financial econometrics. He co-developed with Adlai Fisher the Markov-Switching Multifractal model of financial volatility, which is increasingly used by practitioners to forecast value-at-risk and price derivatives.
Shema Mitali is an assistant professor of finance at SKEMA Business School, member of the Financial and Accounting Insights on Risk and Regulation (FAIRR) research centre and the Transformation Academy. He was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Finance Institute at EPFL). Shema received a PhD in Finance from the University of Warwick. During his PhD, he was a visiting doctoral student at Bocconi University. Prior to his PhD studies, he graduated from HEC Lausanne with a Master's degree in financial engineering & risk management. His current research focuses on sustainable and climate finance and its implications for investments.
Qi Gao Fritz is an assistant professor of accounting at SKEMA Business School, member of the Financial and Accounting Insights on Risk and Regulation (FAIRR) research centre and the Transformation Academy. Her research interests are disclosure, financial accounting, and corporate governance, especially addressing issues of digitalisation and sustainability. Qi holds a PhD in Business Economics from the University of Mannheim. Before her academic career, she worked as a management controller in industry in Shanghai. For her dissertation on firms' voluntary disclosure in a transforming environment, Qi has recently won the German Schmalenbach Gesellschaft's prize, a prestigious award recognising excellence in doctoral research.
Educational leadership:
Charbel Cordahi is a senior lecturer at SKEMA Business School, in charge of the coordination of the course cluster in finance, accounting and economics for the Global BBA. Charbel is with a member of the Transformation Academy. He has a PhD in Economics from the Université Lumière Lyon 2, France, and, prior to his career in education, he gained solid professional experience in corporate finance and macroeconomics. His experience in industry includes working in the banking, financial, research/teaching, advisory, and telecommunication industries in the GCC, Europe, and Levant.
Devin Smith is a lecturer in entrepreneurship and supply chain management at SKEMA Business School, in charge of the coordination of a course cluster in the BBA. He is a member of the Transformation Academy. With over 23 years of international logistics and supply chain management experience, Devin has held management positions across multiple business sectors. This includes a global third party logistics provider in Seattle, USA, providing management services to fashion brands, high-tech manufacturers, and a consumer goods retailer. He also managed global supply chain operations for a fashion brand based in Nice, France. His experience includes supply chain consulting, two entrepreneurial ventures along with university teaching positions. Now focused exclusively on academia, Devin continues to advocate for the development and encouragement of students in the fields of entrepreneurship and supply chain management.
Tiago Pires de Lima is a lecturer in English at SKEMA Business School, and course manager in the BBA. He is a member of the SKILS institute. Tiago holds a Master of Education in Educational Studies from Queen's University of Belfast, UK. He is an experienced English teacher with a rich background in education across various levels and learning environments, and was previously a branch manager and professor at Associaçao Cultura Inglesa in Brazil.
With a profound passion for languages, Tiago's professional interests encompass a diverse range of educational domains. His interests include intercultural communication, technology, international language exams, education policy and inclusive learning.
Programme leadership:
Paul Staneski is the director of the MSc Financial Markets & Investment programme at SKEMA Business School in Raleigh, NC, and is a member of the Globalisation Academy. After a 35-year career in the investment industry, Paul launched his own education and consulting firm, Derivatives Solutions LLC, in 2013. Paul has a B.A. in Economics (with High Honors) from William & Mary, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in applied mathematics from Old Dominion University. He is also a certified financial risk manager and spent 14 years as an adjunct faculty member in the University of Chicago's financial mathematics graduate programme. Paul began his career as an equity research analyst and quantitative portfolio strategist at one of the largest banks in the south (now Bank of America), where he pioneered some of the first ever uses of options in institutional money management.
After completing his Ph.D., he spent 10 years as a full-time university professor while maintaining an active consulting business, particularly in quantitative trading strategies and risk management. He then joined the quantitative research group at Swiss Bank/O'Connor in Chicago, modelling both equity and interest rate derivatives before becoming a member of their highly regarded financial markets education team for over seven years (SB/OC became UBS in 1998). Then, Paul spent nine years at Credit Suisse, building a client-focused education product before departing in 2013 as a managing director in equities and head of derivatives solutions & training. An engaging speaker, he has spoken at numerous large conferences for groups including the Society of Actuaries, the Financial Analysts Federation, the Chicago Board of Trade, and at hundreds of private events.
Laurence Nahmias is the academic referent for the strategic and business development apprenticeship track in the PGE programme, and a member of the Transformation Academy. After gaining international experience as a marketing professional at major food and healthcare companies, Laurence has devoted the last 20 years to higher education and professional training, including at SKEMA, in the Master in Management (PGE) programme (L3, M1, M2 apprenticeship) and in the MSc International Marketing and Business Development programme.
With her work and societal engagement, Laurence helps individuals and organisations to implement sustainable marketing strategies and actions that contribute to the positive transformation of their environment. An proponent of active and participative teaching methods, Laurence also has a strong experience in facilitating serious games (MarkStrat, BrandPro) and collective intelligence workshops (Isma 360, Isma Talents, Fresque du Climat, Fresque agri-alim, Fresque des Nouveaux Récits, 2 Tonnes, Nos Vies Bas Carbone...).
We are also proud to announce new faculty job opportunities in the areas of accounting, finance, AI for management, operations management, global risks, strategy, marketing and sustainability.
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