The Department of Finance offers undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare students for a wide range of careers in finance.
In addition to standard finance offerings, we offer a specialized concentration in financial planning and different academic tracks that allow students to specialize in corporate finance and risk management, investments, and financial advising.
Our faculty are experts on a broad range of topics in finance, regularly publish their research in premier academic journals, and actively engage with Chicago finance professionals to provide innovative educational programs that enhance the skills and careers of students.
Degree Programs Heading link
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Undergraduate Degree
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Graduate Degree
BS in Finance Degree Requirements
MS in Finance Apply Now
Course Introduction From Joan Farre-Mensa, Associate Professor of Finance Heading link
Seminar Series Heading link
February 7
- Effi Benmelech, Finance, Northwestern
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
TBD
- Zhiguo He, Finance, Stanford
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Seminar Series Heading link
August 30
- Emanuele Colonnelli, Finance, Chicago
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
September 13
- Amiyatosh Purnanandam, Finance, Michigan
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
September 27
- Christine Parlour, Finance, Berkeley
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
October 4
- David Ling, Real Estate, Florida
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 8
- Eva Steiner, Real Estate, Penn State
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 15
- Ron Kaniel, Finance, Rochester
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 22
- Ting Xu, Finance, Toronto
- UH 2150, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Seminar Series Heading link
February 2
- Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, Finance, UCLA
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
March 15
- Russell Jame, Kentucky, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
March 29
- Erasmo Giambona, Syracuse, Real Estate
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
April 5
- Stephanie Moulton, UW Madison, Real Estate
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
April 12
- Vikas Agarwal, GSU, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
April 19
- Alberto Rossi, Georgetown, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
April 26
- Quentin Vandeweyer, Chicago Booth, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
May 3
- Azi Ben-Rephael, Rutgers University, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Seminar Series Heading link
September 1
- Andrey Malenko, Boston College, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
September 15
- Cecilia Bustamante, Maryland, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
September 22
- Russell Wermers, Maryland, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
September 29
- Paul Carrillo, George Washington, Real Estate
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
October 6
- Guofu Zhou, Washington University in St. Louis, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.
October 27
- Vrinda Mittal, UNC, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 3
- Lu Han, UW Madison, Real Estate
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 10
- Dacheng Xiu, Chicago, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
November 17
- Lauren Cohen, Harvard, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Seminar Series Heading link
March 31
- Clemens Sialm, University of Texas at Austin, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
April 14
- Julian Reif, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
April 17
- Ralph Koijen, University of Chicago, Finance
- In-person (UH 2150), 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
April 28
- Neil Bhutta, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Real Estate
- In-person (UH 2150), 10:30 a.m. to noon
Seminar Series Heading link
September 6
- Kairong Xiao, Columbia, Finance
September 9
- Mahyar Kargar, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Finance
September 23
- Huseyin Gulen, Purdue, Finance
September 30
- Giorgo Sertsios, UW Milwaukee, Finance
October 7
- Aymeric Bellon, UNC, Finance
October 14
- Daniel Hartley, Chicago Fed, Real Estate
- In-Person, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
November 18
- Peter Christensen, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Real Estate
- In-Person, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m
Seminar Series Heading link
January 28
- Arpit Gupta, New York University, Real Estate
February 4
- Samuel Hartzmark, University of Chicago, Finance
February 11
- Paul Willen, Federal Reserve of Boston, Real Estate
February 25
- Audra Boone, Texas Christian University, Finance
April 1
- Sergey Chernenko, Purdue University, Finance
April 8
- Eric Budish, University of Chicago, Finance
April 15
- Christian Redfearn, University of Southern California, Real Estate
April 22
- Sophie Shive, University of Notre Dame, Finance
May 6
- Wenxin Du, University of Chicago, Finance
UIC Business Visits Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) Heading link
Emeritus Finance Professor Gib Bassett led a group of UIC Business students, faculty, and staff to tour the new Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) trading floor. The new trading floor opened in June 2022 with a hybrid trading system that combines open outcry and electronic trading.
Breaking up into small groups, Cboe tour guides described the floor operations and the roles played by the market makers and brokers on the floor. The tour ended with the group assembling on the bell-ringing platform overlooking the trading floor to ring the closing bell at 3:15 pm. UIC Business students included students from Professor Bassett’s FIN 594/494 class, The Chicago Exchanges; CMBA students; Business Scholars; and CME Scholars. Additional faculty included Finance faculty, Andriy Bodnaruk, Dermot Murphy, and Lingjie Ma, as well as Emeritus Professor of Economics, Mo-Yin Tam.
The Cboe offers trading across multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), and global foreign exchange (FX). It houses 10 trading pits including the S&P 500 Index (SPX) options, Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) options, Russell 2000 Index (RUT) options, and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) options pits. The Cboe is the largest options exchange in the U.S.
FIN 594 Visits CQA Heading link
John Wightkin and 18 students from the Advanced Asset Management class had the opportunity to attend the CQA fall conference in Chicago. CQA is an international group of quantitative investment professionals and professors. Students were able to listen to several prominent speakers including Daryl Morey, the General Manager of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team. He, along with two other experts, discussed the parallels between analytics driven decision making in sports and quantitative investing. They also had the chance to meet some legendary money managers and learn more about the quantitative investment industry. This opportunity gives UIC Business students invaluable exposure to this investment community and is one of many opportunities that has been made available to the students through their participation in the Advanced Asset Management class.
First Annual Finance Reception Heading link
The UIC Business First Annual Finance Reception brought together alumni, faculty, students, and business professionals to celebrate the close of an academic year and for networking. The evening’s highlight was a fireside chat by Terrence J. Mullen, CFA, a UIC B.S. Finance and Economics graduate, retired Managing Director at Allstate Investments. The event was hosted by the Department of Finance with the Portfolio Management Team and Finance and Investment Group at UIC.
Student Organization Spotlight: Finance & Investment Group Heading link
The Finance & Investment Group, or FIG, is a student-run organization that is dedicated to developing knowledge and networks for the future. We host speaker events where we invite business professionals from different finance fields, such as personal, public, private and corporate finance to speak about their experiences. Our speakers work in a wide variety of industries such as: investment banking, asset management, venture capital, private equity, and real estate. We also offer workshops and networking events for our members to deepen their knowledge on an interactive, personal level.
Ferhat Akbas, Professor of Finance Heading link
Had a paper titled, “Initial Margin Requirements and Market Efficiency,” (with Paul Koch and Lezgin Ay) accepted for publication in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis