Associate Professor and Chair, Finance and Financial Services
Dr. Akhbari earned her Ph. D. in finance from the University of Cincinnati, an MBA from Wright State University with concentrations in accountancy and finance, and a BA in romance languages from Bowdoin College. She joined the Raj Soin College of Business faculty in the fall of 1999. She has been the recipient of the Outstanding Finance Teacher Award four times in seven years and the Outstanding MBA Teacher for the academic year 2002-2003. Dr. Akhbari’s teaching and research interests are primarily in the field of Financial Management. She has had the pleasure of instructing students at both the MBA and undergraduate levels for the University of Cincinnati and the University of Dayton, as well as the Raj Soin College of Business. She has developed challenging case courses for both the undergraduate and graduate programs and has taught cohorts of Chinese students in Dayton and in Shanghai.
Dr. Akhbari’s most recent publications have been on the efficiency of forward foreign exchange markets and the use of patterned momentum strategies in investing in no-load mutual funds. She has also served as a reviewer for the Journal of Applied Business Research’, the International Conference of the Academy of Business Administration, and the Journal of Asia-Pacific Business.
In addition to her normal teaching load, research, and service activities, Dr. Akhbari has been instrumental in the founding of the Wright Financial Path which is a unique student delivered counseling service directed at improving money management habits among students across the Wright State University campus. Several Financial Services students are trained each year to provide advice on money management topics such as budgeting, credit cards, credit scores, and debt management after which they maintain scheduled office hours and provide seminars on these topics for students campus-wide.
Dr. Akhbari’s prior business experiences range from retail buying to accounting for Montgomery County’s Community Development Block Grant Program. Additionally, she has had the opportunity to provide executive training to area businesses while at the Raj Soin College of Business.