Kent State University’s College of Business Administration welcomes Steven Dennis, Ph.D., as the new Firestone Chair in Corporate Finance and the Chair of the Department of Finance.
“We are pleased that Dr. Dennis has joined the college,” said Dean Deborah F. Spake. “His leadership and experience working with the business community will advance our outreach efforts in the area of finance.”
Dennis, who holds a bachelor’s degree in finance, a master’s degree in economics and a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Kentucky, has previously held several positions at various universities, including the University of North Dakota; Cal State Fullerton in Los Angeles, California; and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
“I wanted to be part of a university with a Ph.D. program, where research is important,” Dennis said. “Kent State is an exceptional university that is performing admirably, which is a testament to the leadership, both past and present.”
One of the first things Dennis did after assuming the new position was to represent Kent State at the Financial Management Association-Europe conference in Maastricht, Netherlands. At the conference, Dennis presented his paper, “The Maturity Structure of Private Placements of Debt”, which examines the maturity structure in private placements of debt, relating it to contracting, signaling, tax and liquidity risk considerations for firms. The paper is follow-on research to earlier work Dennis did concerning the maturity of bank debt contracts, which has been widely cited.
Dennis, whose research specialty is the structure of debt contracts and loan syndications, said his goals for the finance department include becoming an elite academic resource in the region for both research and practical knowledge. “We want to be at the forefront where research meets practice,” Dennis said. “We can combine theory and practice to prepare students with the vital skills needed to tackle any problem that may arise as they embark on a career in finance.”
Dennis will also take the position as Firestone Chair for the College of Business Administration, which was a result of a donation from the Bridgestone Tire and Rubber Company to further enhance Kent State’s reputation in the field of finance. The Firestone Chair has been in existence since 1988.
For more information about the Finance Department and the College of Business Administration, visitwww.kent.edu/business.