Those reading anything in the news about the economy or corporate finance lately probably have read an article featuring or written by Brian Blank, assistant professor of finance at Mississippi State University. A respected financial scholar, Blank has been interviewed in national and international outlets including the BBC, MarketWatch and ABC News and local news outlets like the Commercial Dispatch. His research has been covered in Forbes and Reuters, and he has written compelling articles for “USA Today” and The Conversation, an independent news organization that publishes articles written by academic experts for the general public.
“When I took my first finance class, it was confirmation that this was what I was meant to do—numbers and business. It just made sense to me,” Blank said.
He received degrees in both mathematics and finance, before earning master’s degrees in finance and applied statistics—all from the University of Alabama. After graduation, he began his career in Birmingham, his hometown, as a consultant with the Accounting, Economics and Appraisal Group, where he assisted companies facing critical challenges such as fraud, bankruptcy and litigation. One of Blank’s projects included advising a financial institution that was a victim of a $500 million Ponzi scheme.
“We worked on some really interesting cases, and I learned so much,” Blank said. “I think the most challenging part was that many of our clients were litigators, so our…
