About Professor Kumar

Kumar Venkataraman is a Professor of Finance and Maguire Chair in Energy Management at the Cox School of Business. He serves as the Academic Director of the Maguire Energy Institute and the Kyle Miller Energy Management program.  He has a Ph.D. in Finance from Arizona State University.   He was the Chairman of the Finance Department between 2012 and 2015. 

Professor Venkataraman was a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (FIMSAC) between 2017 and 2021.  The Committee made several recommendations to improve the efficiency and resiliency of the U.S. fixed income markets.  Notably, Kumar was named among “The Best 40 B-School Profs Under the Age of 40” in the 2011 Poets & Quants ranking of Business School professors. 

Research

Venkataraman specializes in the area of market microstructure and writes about financial market design; evaluation of trading strategies; and functioning of equity, fixed income, options, futures, swaps and and energy markets. His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and Review of Financial Studies, and featured in industry publications, such as The CFA Digest, in text books, and in the business press, including Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, The Economist and Bloomberg News. He has an appointment as a  visiting economist with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He works on consulting and expert witness engagements and his consulting clients include, among others, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). His research is frequently referenced by global central bankers and regulators and cited in regulatory filings on market design initiatives.  

Teaching

Dr. Venkataraman teaches courses in the area of Investments and Energy Finance.


Personal

Married to Kalyani, and has two daughters, Anushka and Sanjana. Kumar enjoys reading books and playing tennis.

Honors

Education

1990 - 1994

Master of Management Sciences (Finance)

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India.

1995 - 2000

Ph. D. in Business Administration (Finance)

Arizona State University

Contact Information

Office Phone: 214-768-7005

Email: kumar@mail.cox.smu.edu

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Office: 15th floor, Expressway Towers, East Campus, Southern Methodist University.