Dr. Hui Sono, Department Head
Phone: (540) 568-6530
Email: sonohh@jmu.edu
Location: Zane Showker Hall, Room 335
Website: www.jmu.edu/cob/finance
Professors
P. Drake, J. Fink, K. Fink, A. Hamilton, Q. Liu, D. Thomas
Associate Professors
J. Chowdhury, E. Semaan, H. Sono, C. Ullrich
Assistant Professors
C. Larsson, K. Schumann, A. Usman, W. Zhang
Lecturers
W. Collier, M. Graham, D. Parker, R. Rubin
Mission
The Department of Finance and Business Law, together with our partners in the business community, is committed to preparing students to be principled, productive contributors to business and society.
Values
To support its mission, the Department of Finance and Business Law is committed to the following values:
- Ethics: Develop decision makers who are respectful of stakeholders and the rule of law.
- Engagement: Connect students and faculty with stakeholders in the local and global communities.
- Critical Thinking: Foster intellectual curiosity and analytical skills to enable an understanding of the role of finance and business law in the global economy.
- Innovation: Challenge students to develop their own solutions to financial issues in a dynamic economy.
Career Opportunities
The finance major is designed to prepare students for careers in the financial management of industrial and commercial enterprises; commercial, retail and mortgage banking; investment analysis and portfolio management; real estate; insurance; finance positions in federal, state and local governments; and graduate study.
Job titles held by graduates of the programs include:
- Analyst, Real Estate Development
- Analyst, Structured Finance
- Assistant Treasurer
- Associate, Forensic Technology
- Business Systems Analyst
- Consultant
- Consultant/Engineer Analytics
- Corporate Model Analyst
- Credit Manager
- Director of Risk Management
- Director, Investor Relations
- Financial Planner
- Financial Analyst
- Financial Engineer
- Financial Management Analyst
- Internal Auditor
- Junior Analyst
- Lending Officer
- Loan Analyst
- Manager, Capital Budgeting
- Manager, Pension Fund Investments
- Manager, Project Finance
- Mortgage Analyst
- Operations Analyst
- Portfolio Analyst
- Pricing Analyst
- REIT Analyst
- Securities Analyst
Co-curricular Activities and Organizations
- Beta Alpha Psi
- Financial Management Association
- Madison Investment Fund
- Madison Venture Group
Degree and Major Requirements
The Department of Finance and Business Law offers programs leading to the Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance and the Bachelor of Science degree in quantitative finance. As part of the JMU assessment program, graduating seniors are required to participate in assessment activities. Assessment information is used to assist the College of Business and department faculty in curricula.
Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance
The B.S. degree with a major in quantitative finance is designed to prepare students for careers in financial engineering, structured finance, financial modeling, securitization, actuarial science, financial analysis and portfolio management. The focus of this major is on problem solving in the quantitative areas of finance with an added emphasis on the application of complex securities to a variety of financial situations.
The quantitative finance program, which is a cross disciplinary major with many courses co-listed with the math department, is a highly structured program requiring minor fields in both mathematics and economics, though many students choose to double major in mathematics and quantitative finance. If the double major is selected, students are required to take ECON 200 , ECON 201 and ECON 331 , but are not required to complete the economics minor. Students electing this program should consult with their major adviser as early as possible to identify the appropriate course sequencing. Students electing to double major in mathematics and quantitative finance should also consult with a mathematics adviser as soon as possible.
Students enrolled in James Madison University who wish to change their major to quantitative finance must first complete the change of major form, available from the Registrar’s Office website, signed by either the Department of Finance and Business Law department head or the quantitative finance major adviser.