Dr. Andrew C. Temte, CFA

Biography:

Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA, is president of Kaplan Professional Education (KPE), a division of Kaplan Higher Education Group. As president of KPE, Dr. Temte is responsible for overseeing the following operating units:

• Kaplan University School of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE), helping individuals attain and maintain a wide array of industry-recognized licensures, certifications, and designations.
• Kaplan University College of Business and Technology, serving degree-seeking online and campus-based students.
• Hesser College, offering students online and campus-based degree and diploma programs in business, health, information technology, and general education.

In addition, Dr. Temte is responsible for the Enterprise Learning Solutions group which establishes and maintains corporate partnerships for Kaplan University.

Dr. Temte started his professional education career in 1990, working with Dr. Carl Schweser until 1999 to build Schweser Study Program into the global leader in CFA^® exam review. Upon the acquisition of Schweser Study Program by Kaplan, Inc. in 1999, Dr. Temte assumed leadership of the Kaplan Schweser organization. Under his direction, Kaplan Schweser became a leading global provider of innovative, efficient, and effective financial education solutions.

Dr. Temte earned his doctorate in finance at the University of Iowa with a concentration in international finance and investment theory. He holds the CFA designation and has over 16 years of university teaching experience in the areas of corporate finance, investments, and international finance.

Back to Top

Dr. Tim Smaby, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Tim Smaby is Chief Learning Officer of Kaplan Schweser and Kaplan Financial Education, divisions of Kaplan Professional. Smaby joined the company in 2002 as the manager of the Level 2 CFA study materials. In his current role as CLO, Smaby oversees all content development and production for Kaplan Professional's insurance, securities, and advanced designations product lines.

Prior to joining Kaplan, Smaby was an associate professor of finance at Penn State Erie. Previously he held various positions in the banking industry with Bank One in Cincinnati, Ohio and First Republic Bank in Dallas, Texas.

Smaby is a CFA Charterholder and has also been awarded the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation. He holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Cincinnati, an MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin, and a BS in economics from the University of Minnesota.

Back to Top

Dr. R. Douglas Van Eaton, CFA

Biography:

Before joining Kaplan Schweser as vice president of CFA Education and Level 1 manager, Doug taught finance at Texas Christian University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Washington. Prior to that, he spent six years with the brokerage firm of Dean Witter. He has published articles in both academic and professional journals, including the Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Investing, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and the Financial Services Review. His work has been cited in the CFA digest and won an award from the CFP Board of Examiners. Doug also has many years of experience teaching financial professionals, including CFA exam review courses for the Dallas Society of Financial Analysts (DSFA) and JKE (Excel) Exam Review, as well as seminars for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in finance, accounting, and funds management. Doug’s education includes a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate in finance, both from the University of Washington.

Back to Top

Dr. Jeffrey Manzi, CFA

Biography:

Jeff is currently Vice President of Securities and Insurance Education for Kaplan Financial Education. He has also served as Vice President and Level 1 Manager for Kaplan/Schweser's CFA Study Program. Jeff started teaching finance and developing financial education materials in 1988 while earning his Ph.D. in finance and operations research at Kent State University. As an associate professor of finance at Ohio University, he taught investments, portfolio management, and managerial finance in MBA and undergraduate programs, both domestically and abroad. His research has been in the areas of pension management, asset valuation, and instructional technology. Jeff has published articles in several academic and practitioner journals and has developed study guides and course presentation software for various financial textbook publishers. Prior to his current role with Kaplan Financial Education, Jeff held the rank of Professor of Finance at Florida Tech, where he was instrumental in the development and implementation of an online undergraduate business degree program.

Back to Top

Denise Probert, CPA, MPA

Biography:

Until January 2009, Denise was an Associate Professor in the Dahl School of Business at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI. She taught accounting and financial management at Viterbo University since 2000. Denise taught financial accounting at the intermediate and advanced levels, auditing, federal taxation, cost accounting, and financial management. In addition, Denise has taught quantitative methods in the Master of Business Administration program at Viterbo University. Prior to teaching at Viterbo, Denise taught at Upper Iowa University, Dakota State University, Southwest State University, and Wayne State College.

Denise has a Master of Professional Accountancy from the University of South Dakota. In addition, she holds a Master of Science in Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Education from Wayne State College. She is licensed to practice (CPA) in the state of Wisconsin and a member in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, American Accounting Association, Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and American Society of Women Accountants. Denise recently served as member and Treasurer of Gundersen Lutheran’s Partners board. Denise is a national and international speaker on the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on non-profit organizations and IT workers, building a culture of ethical behavior, ethics education, and assessment.

Back to Top

Derek Burkett, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Derek is a Senior Content Specialist for Kaplan Schweser. He specializes in writing and editing CFA^®, FRM^®, and CAIA^® review material and is the CAIA product line manager. Derek holds an M.S. in finance from the University of Denver and a B.S. in economics from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser in 2004, Derek worked as a business valuation consultant for a national consulting firm, performing various tangible asset and intangible asset valuations and damage analysis for securities litigation. Derek is a CFA charterholder, certified Financial Risk Manager, and CAIA member.

Back to Top

Norman Faeth, CPA (inactive)

Biography:

Norm earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Accounting and Economics, from Western Illinois University. He holds a Certified Public Accountant certificate from the State of Minnesota. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser in 2005, Norm held various positions in industry as Controller and CFO. At Kaplan Schweser, Norm’s principal role is serving customers who are engaged in preparing for the various sections of the CPA examination. Norm’s work includes the updating of various CPA and Continuing Professional Education study materials.

Back to Top

Daniel Ham, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Mr. Ham holds both the BA Econ and MBA degrees from the University of .California at Irvine and began his career as investment broker.  He subsequently worked for PIMCO Advisors and Canterbury Consulting, both in Newport Beach CA and for Standard and Poor’s Compustat division in Colorado.  He has taught finance and economics at U. California Irvine, Cal State Long Beach, Chapman University, and San Diego City College.

From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Ham was Director of CFA Curriculum for Stalla CFA Review with responsibility for the production of study notes and related products for all three levels of the CFA Exam.  Candidates appreciate his knowledge of the entire CFA Curriculum and especially value his clear presentation of the more complex concepts and techniques.

Back to Top

Cindy R. Hart Riecke, CLU, ChFC, CFP®

Biography:

Cindy has served as Director of Product Development since 2005, managing a team of subject-matter experts responsible for authoring and editing all Kaplan Schweser study materials for the CFP^® Certification Examination and content for its education programs. She also serves as lead subject-matter expert and technical editor for the content development of Schweser CFP^® Exam study materials and financial planning courses and textbooks. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser, Cindy served as Director of Marketing Development for an international insurance and financial services company and an instructor in the areas of advanced financial planning, insurance, retirement, and estate planning. Cindy holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the Louisiana State University and has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter designations. In addition, she is co-author of Kaplan Financial’s Personal Financial Planning Theory and Practice and Personal Financial Planning Cases and Applications textbooks and the Schweser Review for the CFP^® Certification Examination. Cindy has also been involved in grant writing for local educational institutions.

Back to Top

Melissa Haun, CPA

Biography:

Melissa Haun is an Accountancy Training - Content Specialist at Kaplan Professional Education. In this capacity, Melissa works closely with customers who are preparing for any one of the four sections of the CPA Examination. Prior to joining Kaplan, Melissa worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in the Internal Audit Advisory practice. Melissa earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Society of Women Accountants.

Back to Top

David Hetherington, CFA

Biography:

Mr. Hetherington began his career as an economist at the Bureau of Labor statistics after receiving a BA in Economics from Duke University and then worked 10 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager.  Subsequent to that he served for 10 years as Managing Director of Fixed Income Research at Nations Bank where he was responsible for both fixed income securities and derivatives.

Mr. Hetherington also has over 20 years experience helping CFA candidates at all levels pass their exams.  He has presented CFA Exam preparation classes all over the world and served as national instructor for Stalla CFA Review for 10 years, winning the instructor of the year award multiple times.  With his long experience, keen understanding of the CFA Curriculum, and engaging style, he has earned an international reputation for presenting the absolute best in CFA education and review.  

Back to Top

Jodi Joachim, CFA

Biography:

Jodi holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College. Jodi joined Kaplan Schweser in 2001 and until recently focused on CFA content development and support. Currently, she oversees the editing and online content teams and the professional development product line. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser, she worked in the financial planning and analysis groups at the division and corporate levels of Gap, Inc. Prior to that, she was an examiner with the San Francisco office of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), specializing in real estate valuation and analysis. Jodi is an avid equestrian.

Back to Top

Michael Long, CLU, ChFC, CFP®

Biography:

Mike is responsible for providing support to students and, as such, is involved in creating content for the Kaplan Schweser website. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser, Mike was a sales manager and instructor for a national life and casualty insurance company. He holds a Bachelors degree from Indiana State University and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter designations.

Back to Top

James Maher, CLU, ChFC, CFP®

Biography:

Jim serves as a subject-matter expert, primarily in the areas of investments and insurance planning. He is a former securities and insurance instructor for Kaplan Financial and has been a General Securities Representative, providing financial services and products to high net worth clients. Jim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Florida International University and has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter designations. Jim is a co-author of Kaplan Financial’s Personal Financial Planning Theory and Practice and the Schweser Review for the CFP^® Certification Examination.

Back to Top

Craig Prochaska, CFA

Biography:

Craig joined Kaplan Schweser in July 2006 as a Content Specialist. He spent 18 years with Bank One Corporation and its predecessor First Chicago Corporation, in positions including forecast economist and editor of capital markets research. Craig holds an MBA in business economics from DePaul University and a bachelor of science in finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Back to Top

Joyce Schnur, MBA, CFP®

Biography:

Before joining Kaplan Schweser as vice president and manager of CFP^® instructors, Joyce had over 20 years of personal financial counseling experience including serving as a senior manager of an international accounting firm, during which time she advised many executives, directors of Fortune 500 Companies as well as small business owners. Throughout her career, Joyce has been a frequent lecturer on many financial planning topics including stock options and estate planning. She is also an instructor for various financial planning courses including fundamentals, income tax, retirement and estate planning. Joyce holds an MBA in finance from Duquesne University and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Grove City College. Joyce is a co-author of Kaplan Financial’s Personal Financial Planning Theory and Practice and an author and editor for the Executive Tax & Management Report. She is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Back to Top

Kurt Schuldes, CFA, CAIA

Biography:

Kurt earned his MBA with a concentration in economics from the University of Tampa and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse. Prior to joining Kaplan Schweser in 2000 Kurt worked as a financial advisor for a national broker dealer managing client accounts for eight years. At Kaplan Schweser, he works in the content department primarily at CFA Level III. Kurt received his CFA charter in 2005 and the CAIA designation in 2010.

Back to Top

Eric Smith, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Eric has been with Kaplan Schweser since 2003. He currently specializes in the development of CFA Level 3 content and is the team leader for the FRM designation product line. He earned his bachelor of science in finance from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Nebraska. Eric is a CFA charterholder and a certified Financial Risk Manager.

Back to Top

Dr. Bijesh (B.J.) Tolia, CFA, CA

Biography:

BJ is our CFA Level II Professor and is in charge of Schweser's Chicago weekly program. He has taught CFA review courses for more than 10 years in Chicago and around the world. BJ has also served as the Associate Dean and Department Chair in the College of Business at Chicago State University. He is a CFA charterholder who earned his MBA and doctorate in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Apart from academia, BJ has experience in commercial banking and public accounting, and has published papers in the areas of IPOs, executive compensation, and international finance.

Back to Top

Kent Westlund, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Kent joined the Schweser faculty 2010 working primarily with Level III candidates and currently serves as a Content Specialist for Level II of the CFA Curriculum.  Kent holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations. Kent earned an M.B.A. degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and worked as an intern with Deutsche Bank in their asset management department in New York.  He also holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and was a licensed professional engineer and global commodity manager for electronics manufacturing at Celestica prior to pursuing a career in finance. 

Back to Top

Caroline Allen, CFA

Biography:

Caroline Allen is a Vice President at Creation Investments, a Chicago-based private equity firm that makes investments in social enterprises around the world with a focus on microfinance banks. Prior to joining Creation Investments in 2009, she was an Associate in the investment banking group at William Blair & Company, working on both public and private equity deals, including mergers and acquisitions and equity offerings across a broad range of industries. Ms. Allen received her MBA from the Tuck School of Business (2007) and her BS with Distinction from the University of Virginia (2002), where she majored in Business and minored in Psychology. Ms. Allen is a CFA charterholder.

Back to Top

Dr. Robert J. Atra, CFA

Biography:

Bob Atra is Chair of the Department of Finance and Academic Director of the M.S. in Finance program at Lewis University in Romeoville, where he has taught for twenty years.  He has earned an M.S. in Finance from Northern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Prior to academia, he was a project finance officer for Mitsubishi Bank and a consultant, valuing private equity.  Bob has published papers on investment strategies and equity returns and is co-author of three chapters in the Valuation Handbook.  He has taught at Kaplan Schweser for two years.

Back to Top

Dr. H. Kent Baker, Ph.D., CFA, CMA

Biography:

Kent is University Professor of Finance and Kogod Research Professor at the Kogod School of Business, American University. He has more than 35 years of teaching experience at the university level and received numerous teaching awards. Over the past 10 years, he has presented more than 90 CFA prep programs in the U.S., Canada, and Europe for Kaplan Schweser, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, UBS, Investment Analysts Society of Chicago, New York Society of Security Analysts, CFA Society of Washington, and Study Seminar for Financial Analysts. He has consulting and training experience with more than 100 organizations and presented more than 650 other training and executive programs on such topics as asset allocation, quantitative methods, credit analysis, and financial management. Kent is a prolific scholar with more than 150 publications in academic and professional journals including The Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Financial Management, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Investing, and Harvard Business Review. He is also the author or editor of more than a dozen books of which his three most recent books published by John Wiley & Sons are Behavioral Finance - Investors, Corporations, and Markets (2010), Corporate Governance - A Synthesis of Theory, Research, and Practice (2010), and Dividends and Dividend Policy (2009).

Back to Top

Jonathan Bone, ACA, CFA

Biography:

After graduating, Jonathan trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with BDO Stoy Hayward. Jonathan joined the Chartered division of Kaplan Financial in July 1999 and has been teaching ACA, the subjects included Corporate Finance and Business and Financial Management. In January 2001 Jonathan did a 6-month tour of duty with Financial Markets and then joined on a full time basis in December 2001. His main teaching responsibilities are SII Certificate in Regulations, Securities and Derivatives, all three levels of the CFA, the IMC and non-exam public courses, including Analysis of Financial Statements. This is a particular area of Jonathan's expertise and he has developed and delivered a number of Financial Accounting based programs to an extensive range of clients.

Back to Top

Dr. James C. Brau, CFA

Biography:

Jim Brau, a Professor of Finance, is the editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance at the Marriott School. He received his undergraduate training at the United States Military Academy at West Point and served three years as an Airborne Ranger infantry officer in the United States Army and another five years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves. While in the reserves, Jim earned his PhD from Florida State University in business administration and finance. Jim joined the Marriott School faculty in April 1999 and was honorably discharged as an Army Captain in June 1999. In 2004, Jim earned the Charted Financial Analyst designation.

Jim's research interests include issues pertaining to initial public offerings, entrepreneurial finance, and real estate. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles to include articles in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance, and Journal of Real Estate Research among others. He teaches corporate and entrepreneurial finance to business management students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Along with being the editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, Jim is on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, and Financial Decisions.

Back to Top

Dr. John Paul Broussard, CFA, FRM

Biography:

John is an Associate Finance Professor at Rutgers University's Camden, NJ campus where he teaches investments and corporate finance courses. John's academic research has been published in Financial Management, Management Science, Journal of Financial Services Research, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, European Journal of Operational Research and other journals. He received his BS and PhD from Louisiana State University and an MBA from Millsaps College. John has won and has been nominated for various teaching awards in his career, and has taught CFA® study review courses since 1999 in Europe, Asia and the US. John is a CFA Charterholder, a Certified Financial Risk Manager, and a Professional Risk Manager.

Back to Top

Gayle Buff, CFA, CFP, MBA

Biography:

Gayle is founder and president of Buff Capital Management, a Boston-based investment advisory firm. She holds the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®), and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®). Gayle also holds an MBA and was a licensed clinical specialist with an MS in psychiatric nursing. Over the past 15 years, she has taught finance and business at various local colleges and CFA review classes for the Boston Security Analysts Society.

Gayle is past chair of the Private Wealth Advisory Committee at CFA Institute and was a director and former president of the Boston Security Analyst Society. She is a member of the Boston Estate Planning Council, Boston Economic Club, Boston Foreign Relations Committee, and on the advisory board and past director of the American Lung Association of Massachusetts. Gayle currently is a director of the Massachusetts Society for the University Education of Women and a speaker for the CFA Institute Speaker Retainer Program.

Back to Top

Bill Campbell III, CFA

Biography:

A mathematician by education, Bill has worked in software development, finance, risk management, and the defense industry-he really is a rocket scientist! Bill has taught university mathematics and finance for over 20 years; his CFA teaching with Stalla, and now with Schweser, has taken him to Zürich, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Washington, Toronto, Vancouver, and Paris. In his free time, Bill is also a professional magician and amateur horseman.

Back to Top

Jeffery Chang, CFA, CPA, CFE

Biography:

Jeff Chang has over 10 years of experience in the financial services and investment management field. During his professional career, he has worked as a consultant, investment manager, and securities trader. Jeff is currently the co-founder and managing director of Convexcel Asset Management. He started his career at the World Bank in its East Asia Pacific sector. He continued his career at Freddie Mac and Primatics Financial Consulting, developing an expertise in fixed income and mortgage securities, as well as risk management. Jeff also worked for FBR, a middle-market investment bank, where he worked with their trading platform.

Jeff is a CFA® charterholder, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and holds Series 7 and Series 63 securities licenses. He attended the United States Naval Academy and Georgetown University.

Back to Top

Dr. Peter DaDalt

Biography:

Peter is an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island and has taught CFA classes for four years.   In addition, he has twelve years’ experience teaching corporate finance, markets and institutions, and investments at schools including Southern Illinois University and Georgia State University. He earned a PhD in finance from Georgia State University in 1998, and has published research on corporate governance, risk management, earnings manipulations, and analyst forecasts in journals such as the Journal of Futures Markets, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Financial Research.

Back to Top

Dr. Greg Filbeck, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Greg joined the faculty of Penn State Erie as professor of finance in 2006 and holds the Black Family Endowed Professorship of Insurance and Risk Management. He has published more than 55 articles in refereed journals and authored 2 books. His research studies are focused within the investments, portfolio management, and behavioral finance areas. In addition to 10 years' experience in academia (Miami University and the University of Toledo), he has 7 years of experience as senior vice-president of Schweser, a division of Kaplan, Inc., where he headed the content and curriculum areas and started and led the marketing and sales areas. Greg has trained candidates for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations on a worldwide basis

• Presentations
• Publications

Back to Top

Kristen Goedert, JD, CPA

Biography:

Ms. Goedert is currently Corporate Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for a closely held Aggregate Company. She has been concentrating on corporate legal issues as well as estate & trust planning for the family owners. Previously, she has worked with the accounting firm McGladrey & Pullen, LLP focusing on estate, gift and trust tax planning and preparation as well as S corporations and individuals. Kristen has also practiced law again focusing on all issues related to tax. She received her law degree from Vermont Law School, cum laude, in 1991 and received her Bachelor’s Degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1988.

She has also been an adjunct professor of accounting at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as well as a frequent speaker on financial and estate issues affecting women. She has served on the Boys & Girls Club of La Crosse Board of Directors and was a member of the local committee of the Office of Lawyers Regulation dealing with attorney ethical violations.

Back to Top

Adam Hardi, CFA, CFP

Biography:

Adam currently works on the Treasury side of investment banking at TD Securities in Toronto. He has been teaching the Toronto weekly CFA classes since 2007 and the WindsorWeek™ study seminar since 2009, primarily in the areas of finance, securities, derivatives and portfolio management. In addition, he has assisted with content and authoring questions for the SchweserNotes™ and the online question bank.

Adam holds an MBA in finance from the Rotman School of Management. Prior to completing his MBA, he had over seven years of experience in finance at CIBC Wealth Management, both in equity and derivatives trading. He spent long hours on the trading desk as an institutional trader and was most recently managing a team of equity and fixed income traders. In his spare time (when not travelling) Adam is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys kayaking, martial arts and all winter sports.

Back to Top

John Harris, CFA, CPA

Biography:

John has more than 20 years of experience in credit and financial management, with particular emphasis in the areas of commercial loan valuation and asset recovery. In addition to his accounting practice, John operates Financial Accounting Workshops, a provider of accounting education and training to business professionals. He has a comprehensive grasp of financial accounting issues, as well as the ability to make those issues understandable and applicable in daily practice.

John earned both an MBA and MS from the University of North Texas and a BBA from Texas Tech University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and CFA charterholder. John has lectured for Boston University, Creighton University, the Dallas/Fort Worth CFA Society, the German CFA Society, the Houston CFA Society, the Italian CFA Society, the Minnesota CFA Society, the Netherlands CFA Society, the South Africa CFA Society, the Swiss CFA Society, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Texas Christian University, the United Kingdom CFA Society, and the University of Texas at Arlington Center for Professional Development.

John has taught for Kaplan and affiliates since 1996.

Back to Top

Dr. Jonathan Haughton, CFA

Biography:

Jonathan is a professor of economics at Suffolk University, Boston. He successfully completed his CFA® Level 3 exam in June 2002. A prize-winning teacher, he has lectured in economics since 1978, and has taught for Kaplan/Schweser since 2000.  Jonathan has done research or taught in over two dozen countries, been an editor or author of four books, published over thirty articles in refereed journals, and written more than a hundred reports and papers.  His recent work has included an examination of the competitiveness of metropolitan areas of the U.S., the refinement of a number of national and state-level computable general equilibrium tax models, and studies of the impact of microcredit in Thailand and of a social development fund in Egypt.  Jonathan earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1983.

Back to Top

Dr. Andrew Holmes, CFA

Biography:

Andrew is a finance faculty member at Brigham Young University. Before returning to academia, he was the former Senior Editor of Kaplan Schweser's CFA Level II study notes and has worked with the CFA curriculum and CFA candidates for a number of years. In addition to his instruction with Kaplan Schweser, he has accumulated well over 15 years of full-time teaching experience and has published or presented numerous articles in several areas of finance, including banking, real estate, personal finance, and investments. Andrew brings substantial academic and industry experience as well as excellent teaching credentials. He is a sought-after presenter for CFA Level I & II preparation seminars.

Andrew obtained his doctorate from the University of Houston and has taught at the University of Houston, Sam Houston State University, and Brigham Young University. In addition to being the recipient of several teaching awards, he also has significant experience with executive MBA programs and executive development programs.

Back to Top

Joseph T. Kastantin, MBA, CPA, CMA

Biography:

Joe Kastantin has worked 44 years in a wide range of fields including: university education, professional development training for auditors and lawyers, public accounting, manufacturing, sales, investment service, and the U.S. Army. For the past 29 years, Kastantin has served as Associate Professor of Accountancy at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where he currently teaches Auditing, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Intermediate Accounting II. Previously he taught Intermediate Accounting I, Advanced Accounting, several principles of accounting courses and has published 29 journal articles and books.

Kastantin served from 1997--2008 in both full-time and part-time capacities with KPMG Central Europe in the department of professional practice and training where he conducted more than 100 IFRS and other technical courses for more than 1,200 KPMG auditors and lawyers.

Kastantin served on the board of directors and audit committee of the North Central Trust Company for three years and as chairman of the board of La Crosse Funds, Inc. for four years. Additionally, he served as president and board member for several not-for-profit entities, CEO of a small manufacturing company, business manager for an auto dealership, controller for a textile wholesaler, and sole practitioner in public accounting.

He served nearly ten years on active duty with the U.S. Army (SFC E-7) with tours in Korea and Vietnam and as an instructor and MOS test writer at the U.S. Army AG School.

Back to Top

Dr. Abbas Kazemi, CFA

Biography:

Abbas has over fifteen years of teaching experience in economics and finance. As an associate professor of finance at Rhode Island College, he teaches corporate finance, investment theory, quantitative methods, international finance, and portfolio management. He also developed and currently supervises the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF).

Abbas earned his PhD from SUNY at Stony Brook. Since receiving his CFA charter, he has presented CFA review programs and written questions for practice exams. He has had several articles published in economics and finance journals and has been invited to present his work at numerous conferences both in the U.S. and abroad. His current research project involves the use of credit derivatives to manage credit risk for financial institutions. Abbas received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship in 1994 to conduct research in Turkey.

Back to Top

Dr. Shahriar Khaksari, CFA

Biography:

Shahriar is a professor of finance at Suffolk University, where he was chairperson of the finance department for nearly ten years. He has founded and directed various programs at Suffolk. His 20 years’ teaching experience includes the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Cleveland State University, University of Maryland, and Harvard University. He was a visiting scholar in the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. In 1993, Shahriar founded the American Institute of Advanced Finance (AIAF), a Boston-based CFA^® review program, recently acquired by Kaplan Educational Centers. He has taught CFA^® review courses for 10 years and was senior author of the AIAF CFA^® Review Manuals for Levels I, II, and III. Shahriar has developed and conducted executive training programs for both domestic and international firms (e.g., Gillette, Pierson, Kraft Industries, Smith Barney) as well as some of Russia’s largest banks. He is co-author of New Directions in Finance (1994) and Managerial Finance in the Corporate Economy (1994). In addition to publishing numerous academic papers in leading finance journals, he is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Finance.

Back to Top

Jim Knafo, CA, CPA

Biography:

Jim Knafo was among the very first Canadian CAs to pass the U.S. CPA Reciprocity Exam (IQEX) and since 1995 he has helped more than 3,000 accountants pass the U.S. CPA exams in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Jim is the Academic Director of International Accounting Seminars Inc., an Instructor in U.S. Taxation at Athabasca University's School of Business, and a Seminar Leader at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario's School of Accountancy.

Jim previously directed one of Canada's largest U.S. CPA Preparatory Programs.

Jim is an exam-grading specialist and was, for several years, involved in the marking of thousands of professional final examinations for Canadian governing bodies. For eight years, Jim worked with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants at its marking center for the Uniform Final Examination in various capacities including Team Leader. In 2001 and 2002, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario appointed Jim as its Provincial Reviewer for the Uniform Final Examination.

Jim is also a member of the International Qualifications Appraisal Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The Board works cooperatively with the U.S. National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, the governing body that administers the U.S. CPA exams, to identify the differences between the qualification requirements of professional accountants in the United States and those of other countries.

Back to Top

Paul Knight, CFA

Biography:

After graduating with a degree in Accounting/Economics, Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PWC, Price Waterhouse Coopers). Paul spent time in both consulting and corporate finance before moving into training, initially training towards the major accounting qualifications before moving back to the City and training financial markets courses. Paul has taught clients, including most of the top tier Investment Banks and Asset Managers, across a wide range of non exam courses all over the world. Deliverables have ranged from 1 day Introductory courses to multiple week Associate graduate courses for the Sales & Trading recruits at the major Investment Banks. Paul also teaches a wide range of exam courses, including all 3 levels of the CFA program (Paul was awarded his Charter in 2000). His wide-ranging technical knowledge is supported in the classroom by his renowned ability to engage participants, generate rapport, and encourage networking across desks.

Back to Top

Dr. Ganesh Krishnamoorthy, CPA, CA

Biography:

Ganesh earned his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, a master of accountancy degree from Bowling Green State University, and a master of commerce degree from the University of Delhi. He also holds professional accounting certification in the U.S. (CPA) and in India (CA). In addition to being an associate professor of accounting at Northeastern University in Boston, Ganesh has extensive work experience in public accounting and in industries that span several countries including India, Liberia, and the United States. His teaching experience over the last 15 years includes both graduate and undergraduate courses and he has taught the Financial Statement Analysis Section of the CFA Exam for both Levels 1 and 2 in the Boston area for over 12 years. His primary areas of research interests are in corporate governance, audit judgment, and internal auditing. He has received several awards and grants for his work from institutions such as The Institute of Internal Auditors and The Deloitte & Touche Foundation, among others. Ganesh's recent work on corporate governance, financial reporting quality, and auditing has appeared in several prestigious journals in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and he has been invited to present his work to academics and practitioners in several countries around the world.

Back to Top

Christopher M. Lagan, CFA

Biography:

Christopher Lagan currently works for Congress Asset Management, where he has been employed since 1993. Since 2002, he has been a principal and member of the Management Committee that formulates firm-wide strategic planning to advance the company's mission and objectives. Christopher is also chair of the Private Equity Committee. In this role, he oversees sourcing, due diligence, and commitments to over $1 billion in private equity allocations for several of Congress' institutional clients and serves as an advisory board member on several private equity funds. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Congress Wealth Management, LLC.

From 1998 to 2001, Christopher was a research analyst. He evaluated companies being considered for investment, performed financial analysis using discounted cash flow and other valuation methods, researched companies being considered for purchase, and made buy and sell recommendations to portfolio managers. Prior to 1998, Christopher was the operations manager for Congress Asset Management. From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a purchasing agent for Rentex Incorporated in Boston.

Back to Top

Susan Lakatos, CFA, CFP

Biography:

Susan is a market professional specializing in equity and fixed income valuation, corporate finance, economics, and wealth management, with a focus on statistical and analytical methods and techniques. Susan previously was the global director, securities, at the New York Institute for Finance, where she was in charge of all global training on the financial markets and investments. In this capacity she supervised the development of materials and programs by the staff of instructors and trained personally for key clients.

Her background as an investment analyst and advisor encompasses covers a wide range of financial instruments and clients. Her positions include managing editor street insight for TheStreet.com, director of research for Veronis Suhler, a merchant/investment bank; president of Ananda Advisors in New York; vice president in investment strategy for Kidder, Peabody & Co.; and economist for Washington Analysis Corp., then a subsidiary of Prudential Securities.  Susan was appointed by the United States Secretary of Labor to the U.S. Department of Labor Business Research Advisory Council, which oversees construction and release of economic indicators, including the Consumer Price Index and employment data, and served for ten years.  She was invited to the White House in recognition of her service.

A specialist in Wealth Management and the Capital Markets, Susan has more than a decade of teaching experience and has delivered programs worldwide, including an international economic conference on financial markets and corporate restructuring, with speakers including: Hon. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve; Hon. Janet Yellen, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors; Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, U. S. Trade representative; and other key players in world financial markets.

Back to Top

Darren Lee, CFA, FRM, CPA, CA

Biography:

Darren operates his own consulting practice in Toronto, dealing primarily with tax and finance issues for both corporate and personal clients. He was formerly a tax manager with KPMG, an auditor with Deloitte, and an account manager at the Royal Bank of Canada. Darren graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of commerce degree.

Darren has extensive experience in lecturing and grading activities relating to professional finance and accounting programs. He has taught for Kaplan Schweser since 2004 and currently manages and teaches in their weekly CFA exam preparatory course in Toronto as well as authoring/editing their FRM study materials.   He also teaches taxation courses for the University of Toronto and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

In addition to those activities, Darren maintains part-time careers as a real estate broker and a concert pianist.  An avid runner, he will participate in the 2011 Boston Marathon after qualifying for it recently on his very first marathon attempt. 

Back to Top

Marc LeFebvre, CFA

Biography:

Marc is an instructor of finance at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Prior to joining Creighton University, Marc was a portfolio manager for RBC Dain Rauscher, where he managed high net worth client portfolios, foundations, and institutional assets. Marc was also vice president, senior portfolio manager in the Investment Management Group of the Chase Bank of Texas, where he managed approximately $680 million in high net worth client portfolios, personal and corporate trusts, as well as foundation and endowment assets. Prior to joining Chase, Marc managed a $1.0 billion pension fund for a public corporation, where his duties included asset allocation, manager performance review, style analytics, and other pension consulting related activities. Before managing pension assets, Marc performed equity and firm valuation analysis in the field of mergers and acquisitions. Marc holds a bachelor of arts, cum laude, in economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Master of Science degree in finance from Boston College. He has been a CFA charterholder since 1994 and has previously been an instructor at CFA review courses in Dallas, Omaha, Minneapolis, London, Zurich, Milan, Shanghai and Johannesburg, where he specializes in equity valuation and portfolio management. 16 years teaching CFA review courses – since 1995;  8 years teaching for Kaplan Schweser – since 2003;  Creighton College of Business Graduate Faculty Member of the Year 2010;  Creighton College of Business Undergraduate Faculty Member of the Year 2009 and 2007.

Back to Top

Kim Lyons, MSA, CPA, CGBP

Biography:

Kim has been teaching full-time in the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Accounting Department for eleven of the past twelve years. During that time, she also held the position of Finance Content Specialist with Kaplan Schweser in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kim received her Bachelor and Master of Science in Accounting from Illinois State University in 1993 and 1994, and passed the CPA exam at that time. Her teaching responsibilities have included Elementary Financial and Managerial Accounting Principles, Intermediate Accounting, Taxation for Non-Accountants, and Personal Finance. In addition, she acts as a faculty advisor to the University’s VITA program, assisting students, elderly, and low-income taxpayers with their tax return preparation and electronic filing each spring.

Prior to teaching at UW-La Crosse, Kim taught at Illinois State University. During the summer of 2008, she earned the qualification of NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional. The CGBP designation demonstrates an individual's understanding of the global business environment, including Global Business Management, Global Marketing, Supply Chain Management, and Trade Finance. Kim has published in the Journal of the Academy of Finance, was quoted in the October 2007 issue of Money Magazine, and is currently engaged in future publications.

Back to Top

Richard J. McCarthy, CFA, CFP

Biography:

Since 1991, Richard has acted as principal of Net Worth Management, a fee-only financial consulting and investment advisory firm in New Hampshire, and as general partner of Palmyra Capital Management, LP. Previously, he worked for 16 years, as an international management consultant, primarily with Arthur D. Little, Inc.

Richard has taught in the CFA review program of the Boston Security Analysts Society/Kaplan for the last 16 years and in the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) review program of Merrimack College since 2003. As an adjunct faculty member at Merrimack, he has taught undergraduate finance courses in portfolio management, behavioral finance, derivatives and risk management, international financial management, and corporate finance. Richard received S.B. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Management from MIT. In addition to the CFA charter, he also holds Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations.

Back to Top

Dr. Brian McKenna, CFA, CPA, CFP

Biography:

Brian serves as the director of the Center for Financial Analysis at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. Brian earned his Juris Doctorate in 1977 and is doctorally-qualified in the fields of law, accounting and finance. He has also earned a masters of laws in taxation from DePaul University and a masters in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Brian served as adjunct faculty at Saint Xavier from 1977 to 1989 and joined the full-time faculty in 1989. He has taught over 20 courses in the undergraduate and graduate business curriculum and has served in a number of administrative positions. Prior to joining Saint Xavier full time, Brian was a recognized national expert in railroad tax litigation. His career includes service as a Revenue Agent for the Internal Revenue Service, a senior accountant for Ernst & Young, a general tax attorney for Santa Fe Industries, Inc., and an attorney in private practice. He has worked with most of the major U.S. railroads as a trial attorney or expert witness. Brian currently serves as a legal/financial adviser to several medium-sized Chicago area businesses. In addition to his CFA charter, Brian also holds the Certified Financial Planner and Certified Public Accountant designations.

Back to Top

Philip Morey, CFA, FCCA, MSI

Biography:

Phil has over 17 years experience as a financial trainer as well as many years as a financial and management accountant.  Between 1994 and 2010 he worked for BPP Holdings plc in London, initially as a tutor and subsequently as Chief Executive of the UK Financial Services Division and Managing Director of UK Professional Education.  Phil currently provides consulting and training services to educational institutions and professional organizations through the firm he founded in 2011.

Back to Top

C. Dec Mullarkey, CFA

Biography:

Dec has over 20 years of experience in financial services. Currently he is a Managing Director in Investment at Sun Capital Advisors. His past experience include Vice President, Investment at John Hancock Financial Services, Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager for LeaseForum, a company investing in alternative assets and Vice President and Portfolio Manager for American Finance Group a real estate and leverage lease investment company. He has also been a CEO of an international employee leasing company and served on the Board of some of John Hancock's affiliated companies.

His expertise is in the areas of fixed income investing, derivatives hedging, and alternative asset investing. He is an adjunct finance professor at the Boston College Carroll School of Management where he teaches graduate and undergraduate finance courses. He has previously been an instructor for the Boston Securities Analysts Society where he taught review courses to Level II and III candidates.

Back to Top

Dr. Ehsan Nikbakht, CFA, FRM

Biography:

A professor of finance at Hofstra University, Ehsan has more than 18 years of professional corporate training experience. He is a specialized CFA lead instructor for Level III who has trained more than 1,000 CFA and FRM candidates in the US, Canada, and Europe.

Ehsan served as the chairperson of the finance department and the associate dean of the Zarb School of Business, and was the editor of Hofstra Business Review. He currently serves on the editorial board of Global Finance Journal, and The Investment Professional. He is also Vice Chair of the Derivatives Committee of the New York Society of Securities Analysts.

Ehsan has conducted numerous workshops at leading institutions in the U.S. and abroad. In recognition of his teaching, he was voted the 2004 Executive MBA Teacher of the Year at the Zarb School of Business of Hofstra University, and is a recipient of the Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service. His research book on foreign loans received a Stessin Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication.

Back to Top

Dr. Eugene A. Pilotte, FRM

Biography:

Gene is an a professor of finance at Rutgers University’s School of Business-Camden. He earned his MBA and Ph.D. at Indiana University and has more than 15 years of full-time experience teaching finance at Indiana University, the University of Wyoming, and Rutgers University. Gene’s articles appear in numerous journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Business, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Financial Research, Financial Review, and Financial Management. He regularly presents his research at national and international conferences.

Back to Top

Dr. Thomas L. Porter, PhD, CPA, ABV

Biography:

Tom is currently Associate Dean and Professor of Accounting at the Hult International Business School. Prior to joining Hult, he was vice president at NERA Economic Consulting, Inc., where he provided expert witness services in securities and commercial litigation. His previous experience includes working on the Research and Technical Activities Staff at the Financial Accounting Standards Board, where he participated in every aspect of setting accounting standards. Tom held academic appointments at Boston College and Georgia State University. He teaches Financial Statement Analysis as an adjunct professor of accounting in Boston College's MBA and MSA programs.

Tom earned his PhD in Accounting from the University of Washington. His dissertation examined the accounting choices made by firms in the airline industry before and after deregulation of their industry. He earned his MBA at Georgia Institute of Technology and his BS from the University of Maryland.

Back to Top

Dr. Mark Potter

Biography:

Mark has been a Professor of Finance at Babson College since 1997. He has taught at the undergraduate, graduate and executive education levels and helped to develop curriculum and teaching materials. Course topics taught at Babson include valuation, corporate financial planning, equity/business analysis, financial management, mutual funds, and the integrated core curriculum. He has also taught at Suffolk University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Mark has 17 years experience teaching CFA review classes.

Mark has worked with Fidelity Investments since 1998 and did consulting work for the Michel/Shaked Group from 1997–1999. His research has appeared in such publications as the Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Business and Economic Studies, Journal of Financial Education, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Derivatives Quarterly, among others. Areas of expertise include mutual fund and portfolio performance, alternative investment Strategies, and educational research.

Back to Top

Dr. Dianna Preece, CFA

Biography:

Since receiving her doctorate in finance from the University of Kentucky in 1990, Dianna has taught corporate finance, investments, and bank management at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Louisville. Dianna received her CFA charter in 2004. She also teaches in several banking schools nationwide. In recent years Dianna’s research has focused primarily on investments and the stock market and has appeared in numerous academic and practitioner journals such as Review of Financial Economics, Journal of Investing, Financial Services Review, and Journal of Banking and Finance.

Back to Top

Alan M. Ruppelt, CPA, MST

Biography:

Alan earned a Master of Science degree in taxation and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He is a CPA and is licensed to practice in Wisconsin.

Alan has an extensive financial and tax business background and currently operates his own consulting business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin dealing primarily with tax, finance and accounting issues for both personal and corporate clients. He was formerly a senior tax manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP and has held various responsible posts with multinational companies including Director of International Tax positions with AT&T, Cray Research, Inc., Manpower, Inc., and The Parker Pen Company. At various times in his career he has held active positions with the Tax Executives Institute, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the state CPA societies in Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Alan enjoys diverse financial challenges and recently spent almost 6 months applying his skills as Interim CFO/Controller for The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. For the last few years, Alan has assisted Kaplan Schweser in the review and update of various CPA/CPE courses and the Kaplan CPA Review Course.

Back to Top

Salil K. Sarkar, Ph.D., CFA

Biography:

As an undergraduate in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, (India) Salil worked for eight years rising to the middle management level in the multinational firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T).  Subsequently, he went back to college to earn his MBA, followed by Ph.D. and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA©) designation.  Thus, his professional career evolved through a combination of administrative, academic and consulting assignments.  He has published academic papers in major journals including Financial Analyst Journal, Financial Management, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Economics and Finance,  Review of Financial Economics, European Journal of Finance, Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, European Journal of Operational Research, Managerial Finance, and International Review of Financial Analysis.

Currently, Salil is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) where he teaches finance to undergraduate, MBA and doctoral students.   In addition, Salil has advised CFOs of  major industries such as Alcon Labs (NYSE: ACL) as well as served as panelist on major CFO Roundtable.  Salil has also worked with most textbook publishers such as McGraw Hill, Pearson Prentice Hall, and Cengage Learning, and is currently a member of the Kaplan Schweser educator team.  

In the past, Salil has worked for the CFA Institute in various capacities before joining the Kaplan Schweser educator team for the CFA Review Courses, where he teaches CFA Candidates at all three levels. 

Back to Top

Dr. Andrew Spieler, CFA, FRM

Biography:

Andrew is currently Associate Professor of Finance at Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University and director of the Master’s program in Quantitative Finance. At Hofstra, Andrew was named “Teacher of the Year” and “Researcher of the Year”. He has previously taught courses at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Indiana University. His teaching experience includes graduate, undergraduate and executive courses in finance, economics, and statistics plus 10 years developing and teaching the CFA and FRM curriculum.

Andrew received his B.S., MBA, and Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton and MS from Indiana University. He has had over 30 research papers presented at national and international conferences receiving 2 “Best Paper” Awards from the American Real Estate Society.  Andrew has successfully completed five actuary exams administered jointly by the ASA and CSA. Andrew is frequently interviewed and quoted by the financial media and regularly consults with hedge funds, quantitative mutual finds and law firms. He is the former research director for the IRAA, a shareholder advocacy group.

Back to Top

John P. Swift, CFA, CPA

Biography:

Mr. Swift is the Managing Partner at Gentry Investment Management. In this role, he specializes in building client relationships and developing and maintaining their financial plans. Mr. Swift works with outside and inside advisors on tax, trust & estate, family office and wealth succession planning. He effectuates capital market transactions of private equity and alternative investment positions, and provides consulting on investment hedging, asset/liability analysis and low-basis stock diversification strategies. He determines asset allocation of investment portfolios and provides capital market updates and strategic asset allocation directives for the firm. Mr. Swift earned his MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is a CFA Charterholder, as well as a Certified Public Accountant registered in the State of Illinois. Mr. Swift has spent the better part of three decades on Wall Street managing both institutional and private investment portfolios. He has won the coveted "Top Private Wealth Manager" award from Five Star Professional for 2010, 2011 and 2012, as seen in Chicago Magazine. Mr. Swift is an instructor at Loyola University, currently an instructor with Kaplan Schweser CFA Review and formerly an instructor for five years with the Becker Stalla CFA Review program.

Back to Top

Dr. Desmond Tsang, Ph.D., CPA, CFA

Biography:

Desmond currently works as an assistant professor at McGill University. He teaches intermediate financial accounting at the undergraduate level and intermediate financial reporting at the MBA level. He was the recipient of the 2010 Distinguished Teaching Award at the Faculty of Management. In addition, he also co-ordinates the CFA student scholarship program at the university. Desmond is a CFA charterholder as well as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-Delaware). He graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor of commerce degree and a master in financial economics degree. He obtained his doctoral degree in business administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Desmond also has extensive experiences in empirical research. His research interests include earnings management, corporate governance and real estate investment trusts. Desmond’s papers were published in various academic journals and he has presented his findings at conferences in the US, Europe and Asia.

Back to Top

Dr. John R. Twombly

Biography:

Professor John R. Twombly holds a Ph.D. and an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BS in Economics (summa cum laude) from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  Currently a Clinical Professor of Accounting and Finance at The Illinois Institute of Technology, he has held positions at Northwestern University's Kellogg School, The Wharton School, the University of Chicago's Booth School, Loyola University of Chicago, and the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. 

Dr. Twombly's research has been published in The Journal of Accounting Research and The Accounting Review.  In addition to his academic publications, Dr. Twombly has conducted educational seminars for the Center for Executive Education in New York, The Wharton School's Executive Education Program, and major corporations including  ABN-AMRO, Avery International, Caterpillar Inc., Dial Corporation, Harris Bank, Reichhold Chemical, and Traveler's Express.

Dr. Twombly's association with helping individuals prepare for the CFA exam goes back to the early 1980's when he prepared monographs and presented seminars on current issues in financial accounting under the auspices of the Financial Analysts Federation.  His association with the Kaplan-Schweser program began in 2009.

Back to Top

R. Travis Upton, CFA, FRM, CAIA

Biography:

Travis is Director of Portfolio Management for The Joseph Group, Inc., a registered investment advisory firm in located in Columbus, Ohio. In that capacity, Travis is responsible for development of the firm’s core investment strategy and is director of research. Prior work experience includes positions as an Institutional Portfolio Manager with Fifth Third Investment Advisors, and institutional sales for the Harbor Funds. Travis has worked with Kaplan Schweser since 2000.

Travis is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Toledo with a B.B.A. in Finance and is a CFA Charterholder. Travis is also a past president of the Financial Analysts Society of Toledo.

Back to Top

Dr. Joseph Vu, CFA

Biography:

Joseph earned his MBA and Ph.D., both in finance, from the University of Chicago. He has taught CFA review courses at all three levels for more than 20 years in Chicago and around the world. He has served as a grader for the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is an Associate Professor of Finance at DePaul University in Chicago teaching investment, corporate finance, options, and mergers and acquisitions courses. He has published articles in both academic and professional journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, the Financial Analyst Journal, the Financial Management, the Financial Review, the Journal of International Finance, and the Review of Futures Markets. Joseph also serves as an arbitrator for FINRA in Chicago.

Back to Top

Dr. Robert C. Wolf, FRM

Biography:

Rob is department chair and a full professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He earned his Ph.D. in finance from Michigan State University and his M.A. in economics from The Ohio State University. He has fifteen years of teaching experience, which include courses on banking, risk management, financial planning, and international finance. He has traveled regularly to Eastern Europe to perform Bank Risk Management and Foreign Exchange Risk Management Seminars as well as presented local programs on similar topics. His research focuses on financial institution risk management. He has presented at national finance conferences and published in a variety of finance journals.

Back to Top

Dr. Neil Younkin, CFA

Biography:

Neil is an associate professor in the Graham School of Management at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois.  Neil has been teaching for over twenty years. He has been teaching CFA related university courses for over ten years. Neil has been teaching for Kaplan Schweser for eight years. He is doctorally qualified to teach in the fields of economics, finance, and marketing. Neil has served in administrative positions such as assistant dean, department chairperson, and undergraduate program director.

Neil has a Masters in economics and a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also holds an MBA from DePaul University. Neil has broad experience in teaching and conducting seminars at universities and corporate sites. He has published extensively, including the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Global Business. Neil has also worked as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies, as well as small business clients. Neil received his CFA charter in 2005.

Back to Top