New Faculty
Fred Hood joins Smeal from Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business, where he was a visiting assistant professor of finance. He earned his Ph.D. in finance and a master’s in applied economics from the University of Rochester, as well as a bachelor’s in economics with high honor from Michigan State University. His research interests focus on corporate credit and default risk. Fred’s professional experience includes his time as an assistant professor of finance at Iowa State University and a director in the research group at Moody's Analytics. Fred will serve as the new faculty advisor for Leveraged Lion Capital.
Bharadwaj Kannan earned his Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2016, a master’s degree in economics from Christ University in 2010, and a Bachelor’s (Honors) degree in Economics from the University of Delhi in 2008. He joins Smeal from Colorado State University, where he was an Assistant Professor of Finance and Real Estate. His research explores the intersection of labor and corporate finance, focusing on how firms respond to labor market dynamics and regulatory shocks—including layoff announcements, labor laws governing mobility, and cybersecurity breaches. His work has been published in the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking and is currently under revision at Labour Economics.
Dr. Kannan is also passionate about teaching and brings extensive experience in corporate finance, investments, and financial markets across undergraduate, Master’s, MBA, and executive education programs. At Smeal, he will teach FIN 406 - Security Analysis and Portfolio Management in the undergraduate program.
Mark Morley is a Ph.D. candidate in finance at the London School of Economics joining as a full-time teaching faculty. He has broad research interests, and his thesis contained chapters in theoretical Corporate Finance and empirical Asset Pricing. While at LSE, he taught discussion sections for a variety of courses at the undergraduate and master’s levels in both full year and summer sessions. Before his Ph.D., he taught private lessons in music and tutored computer science. Dr. Morley will teach Finance 408, Capital Markets and Institutions.