Retiring Faculty
Charles Cao retires as the Smeal Chair in Finance after 32 years of service on the Penn State faculty after earning his PhD in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1993. Professor Cao's research interests include FinTech, cryptocurrencies, hedge funds, mutual funds, derivative securities markets, and market microstructure. His work has been published in a broad range of leading academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Management Science. His research earned several awards and his paper “Empirical Performance of Alternative Option Pricing Models” (co-authored with Gurdip Bakshi and Zhiwu Chen) is among the 50 top-cited articles of all time in the Journal of Finance. Professor Cao served his profession as an editor / associate editor for several academic journals. He served Smeal students in the undergraduate, MBA and PhD programs. We thank Charles for decades of service and wish him continued success in retirement.
Dr. Fariborz Ghadar retires at the end of 2025 after 30 years as the William A. Schreyer Professor of Global Management, Policies and Planning and former director of the Center for Global Business Studies. Dr. Ghadar is the author of over 15 books on global economic topics, including “The Danger of Devaluing Immigrants: Impacts on the U.S. Economy and Society,” published November 2022. He has been quoted in internationally circulated publications, such as the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has also been a featured speaker and interviewee on major television networks as well as on the business broadcasts of CNN, CNBC, and the Nightly Business Report. Dr. Ghadar received his BA and MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and his MBA and Doctorate from the Harvard Business School. The department is grateful for his generous support.
Christoph Hinkelmann retires as a Clinical Professor of Finance and the Vice President of the Nittany Lion Fund. Professor Hinkelmann served on the Smeal College faculty for 14 years after earning his PhD in finance from the University of Rochester, working as a portfolio manager, and serving at the Federal Reserve Board. In addition to the Nittany Lion Fund, he taught classes in security analysis and portfolio management, advised Schreyer College honors students, and directed the Smeal College CFA initiatives (resulting in an extraordinary Level 1 pass rate and several Smeal alumni charter holders). Innumerable Smeal alumni with successful Wall Street careers attribute their preparation to Dr. Hinkelmann. He shall be greatly missed.