Dallin Alldredge entered the finance doctoral program in the fall of 2011. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University in May of 2009 and then received an M.S. in Economics from Utah State University in December of 2010. During his graduate studies at USU he co-authored a paper entitled “Information or Speculation: What Motivates Pre-Earnings Announcement Option Activity?” with Dr. Benjamin M. Blau of USU and Dr. J. Michael Pinager of BYU and presented it at the 2011 Western Social Science Association conference in Salt Lake City. Dallin’s current research interests include empirical investments and market microstructure.

Lee Biggerstaff entered the Phd program fall 2010.   He graduated summa cum laude from Appalachian State in 2005 with a BSBA and a double major in Finance & Banking and Economics.  He worked for SunTrust Bank in Commercial Lending before entering the MBA program at Appalachian State.  After receiving the MBA in 2007, Lee started with Mesirow Financial Consulting where he worked in both restructuring and litigation support.  His cases included advising the Trustee of a collapsed/fraudulent hedge fund with over $1.5 billion under management; advising the executive management of a Fortune 50 communications company in an effort to reduce spending; and advising the official committee of unsecured creditors of several companies in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Brian Blank entered the finance doctoral program in the summer of 2012. He graduated magna cum laude from The University of Alabama in 2010 with an MS in both Finance and Applied Statistics. Simultaneously, he earned a BS in Commerce in Business Administration, double major in Finance & Mathematics and minor in Latin. Afterwards, Brian began his career as a Consultant with Accounting, Economics & Appraisal Group, where he provided assistance to companies facing critical challenges including fraud, bankruptcy and litigation, in addition to growth opportunities, such as merger or acquisition.  His projects included advising a financial institution victim to a $500 million ponzi scheme; consulting for one of the ten largest United States-based financial institutions; performing due diligence for an international healthcare acquisition; and valuing a business interrupted by the costliest disaster in the history of the United States.

Zhongdong Chen (Ronnie)entered the doctoral program in Finance in Fall 2007 and expects to receive his degree in May of 2011. He received his undergraduate degree in international economy and trade from Sichuan University and the master's degree in finance from the same university in 2007. He is experienced in teaching and research projects, two of which were financed by the Chinese government. Ronnie's experience at the University of Tennessee includes teaching Financial Management (FIN 301). His areas of interest are Asset Pricing, International Finance, Investments and Derivatives.

Karen Craig earned her Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Tennessee in December 2012. Prior to attending the University of Tennessee, she received her B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Penn State and her MBA from the University of Missouri.In addition, her education is augmented by fifteen years in a corporate environment working as a nuclear engineer. Dr. Craig is currently serving as a lecturer for the Department of Finance and is teaching courses in the fundamentals of finance and financial markets and institutions. She is the 2012 recipient of the Chancellor’s Graduating Student Teaching award. Dr. Craig’s research interests include corporate finance, markets and institutions and international finance with a strong focus on corporate bonds. Link to vitae.

Brandy Hopkins entered the doctoral program in Finance in the fall of 2011. Prior to entering the program, she worked for a number of years in real estate brokerage in both North Carolina and California. Brandy received a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State in 2009, double majoring in Finance & Banking and Risk Management & Insurance. She received an MBA at Appalachian State in 2011 with a concentration in International Business, concluding with a thesis entitled, "An Analysis of Efficient Market Theory: Active Versus Passive Investment Management in University Endowment Funds." She also has completed research involving value congruence, the green movement, nursing, business optimization, and portfolio analysis, and has had papers presented at both the Americas Conference for Information Systems and the International Conference on Information Systems. Her current research interests involve corporate finance, asset pricing, international finance, and real estate.

Syed Kamal entered the Finance doctoral program in Fall 2009. He received the Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Commerce degrees in Finance and Banking from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. After immigrating to the USA in 2000, Syed served active duty military service in the United States Army from 2000 to 2003. He then worked as the Program Coordinator for the Nanotechnology Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Immediately prior to entering the doctoral program, Syed also completed an M.A in Economics degree at the SUNY University at Buffalo in 2009. Syed teaches Financial Management (FIN 301) at the University of Tennessee. His primary areas of research interest are corporate governance and corporate finance.

Michael McDonald entered the doctoral program in finance in the fall of 2010. Prior to joining the program, Mike received his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from Clemson University. He holds a masters degree in economics from Clemson University as well. While a master’s student at Clemson, Mike worked on papers on commodities and futures pricing, hedge fund trading, and organizational structure in business and its effects on returns to equity. Thereafter, Mike worked for several years in finance as an investment banker for Wachovia bank and for a private equity firm doing asset pricing, and development and testing of trading concepts. He has also taught part time at the introductory college level in economics and finance at Central Piedmont College in North Carolina for the last 2 years. During that time, Mike contributed to a supplement to the economics textbook giving students more detailed instruction in select topics. Mike’s academic interests include research in fixed income trading, industrial organization and corporate governance, options and futures pricing, and research on returns to nontraditional assets such as venture capital and triple net commercial assets. Outside of academia, Mike’s interests include baseball, swimming, tennis, business, classic books, and science. Link to vitae.

Mia Li Rivolta entered the doctoral program in Finance in Fall 2009.  Prior to entering the program, she received her undergraduate degree from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in China, majoring in finance.  Mia then received her master’s degree in finance from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Texas. During the last year of her master’s degree, Mia co-authored a paper entitled “The Subprime Mortgage Market and the 2008 Financial Crisis” with Professor Robert Stretcher, and presented it at the Academy of Economics and Finance 2009 Annual Meeting in Pensacola, Florida. Mia’s research interests include corporate finance and governance, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), and blockholder ownership.  Mia's experience at the University of Tennessee includes teaching Financial Management (FIN 301) for the College of Business Administration. Link to vitae.