Finance News 

Living in a foreign country halfway across the world can be daunting. Some people who choose to live abroad often learn to speak a foreign language and adapt to a new culture; such challenges didn’t stop Joy Shu from pursuing her dream to work in business and attend the BYU Marriott School of Business—an experience that became possible because of an alumni network that reached all the way to China.

The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomed six new professors for the Fall 2020 semester.

When Jack Abumanneh first landed in the United States on 24 August 2017, three days after his seventeenth birthday, he had packed all his belongings into a single suitcase and backpack. After taking the shuttle from the Salt Lake City airport to the dorms at Brigham Young University in Provo, he turned to the student sitting at the check-in desk and asked, “What do I do next?” Since arriving at BYU just over three years ago, Abumanneh has found answers to that question. Now as a senior in the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Abumanneh reflects on his time at BYU with gratitude and looks forward to a bright future.  

Instead of filling hundreds of chairs in an auditorium on campus, faces of real estate professionals from across the country and BYU students filled hundreds of thumbnail-sized screens as they joined together to attend the inaugural 2020 BYU Global Real Estate Conference on 8–9 October. Hosted by the Department of Finance at the BYU Marriott School of Business, the conference was an opportunity to help create connections for students to build upon and begin their careers in real estate all over the world.

As in-person events that typically would have taken place in a lecture hall move online and to video conferences, students and alumni from the BYU Marriott School of Business are finding a silver lining to online events. The Department of Finance at BYU Marriott recently began hosting its Fall 2020 Real Estate Webinar Series with the first event held on 17 September.

When asked what real estate is, most people will say the topic has to deal with something about the home-buying process. But BYU Marriott School of Business finance senior Dallin Curriden challenges that simple explanation. “Real estate is not just the home you live in but also the community in which you live and work,” he says.

BYU Marriott School of Business finance professor Taylor Nadauld and several colleagues recently won the Michael J. Brennan Best Paper award from The Review of Financial Studies (RSF). Nadauld, along with David O. Lucca, who works at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Karen Shen, a PhD student at Harvard University, received the award in recognition of the research published in their article, “Credit Supply and the Rise in College Tuition: Evidence from the Expansion in Federal Student Aid Programs.” The winning trio also received a $10,000 prize.

The BYU Marriott School of Business named eleven recent graduates as 2020 Merrill J. Bateman Outstanding Student Award winners.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian has announced the appointment of Bonnie Anderson as the school’s newest associate dean. Anderson takes over for previous associate dean Keith Vorkink on 18 May.

BYU Marriott finance alum Trevor Findlay treasures a clear memory from his early childhood: eagerly looking up to the sky, waiting for jets to fly by. He was at one of many air shows that his grandfather, then a vice president at Boeing, had taken him to—a bonding activity they both loved. Findlay also often found himself admiring a collection of model planes in his grandfather's home office. Findlay's fascination with aviation and the bond he had created with his grandfather would eventually lead him to his future career as a pilot.

For the last twenty years, Bryan Sudweeks has loved teaching the students in the BYU Marriott finance program. Now as his career comes to an end, he is finishing his last semester at BYU Marriott and moving on to the next chapter in his life.

From selling peanuts on the streets of Nigeria to help provide for her family to moving to the United States alone at the age of nineteen with only fifty dollars in her pocket, Patience Atebata isn't letting her past define her future. Now, as a senior finance student at BYU Marriott and member of the United States military, Atebata is following her dreams to provide a better life for her family and one day give back to her home country.

Succeeding in life when statistics say you won’t can be a daunting task, but that didn’t stop BYU Marriott finance alumna Genesis Hinckley from chasing her dreams.

Sam Aden attended a private Christian school as a child and never even heard the name Brigham Young University until he was sixteen years old. Once he discovered BYU Marriott’s finance program, however, Aden knew BYU was the right fit for him.

The Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitor Center at BYU was buzzing with excitement as students networked with professionals during the first ever Career Paths in Real Estate Summit on Friday, 8 November 2019. The success of the event confirmed to organizers students’ enthusiasm to learn more about the business of real estate.

The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomes seven new professors to the Tanner Building this fall.

Women are changing the face of investment banking, and BYU Marriott finance alum Estelle Ith is part of the transformation. In a field traditionally dominated by men, Ith hopes to help pave the way for gender parity.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian appointed Craig Merrill as the new chair of the finance department.

BYU Marriott sent five students to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, for the Venture Capital and Investment Competition (VCIC). For the second year in a row, BYU came out on top, winning both the regional and national competitions of the event. 

When reading Troy Carpenter’s resume, the words commercial real estate can’t be found. However, this finance research associate advises over five hundred members of the BYU Real Estate Club and does everything in his power to help BYU Marriott students succeed.