Syed Kamal, Ph.D.

Syed Kamal, Ph.D., joined the University of Central Oklahoma in fall 2022 as an associate professor of finance. Before coming to UCO, Kamal served as an assistant professor of business administration at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. His academic credentials include a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, a master’s in economics from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a master’s in finance and banking from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. In the past, Kamal taught financial management, business finance and simulation-based business capstone courses both at the University of Tennessee and Austin College. His primary research interests are corporate finance and corporate governance. His most recent paper was published in the Journal of Corporate Finance. Kamal is a veteran; he served active duty military service in U.S. Army from 2000 to 2003. He is also an avid photographer and has an interest in street photography.

• Ph.D., Finance, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
• M.A., Economics, State University of New York at Buffalo 
• M.Com., Finance and Banking, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
• B.Com., Finance and Banking, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

• Associate Professor of Finance, University of Central Oklahoma
• Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Austin College
• Graduate Research Assistant and Instructor, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
• Program Coordinator, Center for Nanotechnology, University of Texas at Austin
• Logistics Specialist, United States Army

• FIN 4213 Investments
• FIN 4533 Risk Financing for the Firm

• It’s who you know that counts: Board connectedness and CSR performance (with A. Amin, L. Chourou and M. Malik and Y. Zhang), Journal of Corporate Finance, Vol. 64, 2020
• Independent Directors’ Connectedness and Bank Risk Taking (with Abu Amin, Sabur Mollah, and Yang Zhao), Working Paper
• Role of Inside Directors in Attenuating Negative Effects of Director Busyness, Working Paper
• Teaching Essentials of Business to Non-Business Majors: Evidence from Applied Learning Course in Introduction to Business, Work in progress

My objective as a teacher is to inspire my students to think deeply and search for answers to their thoughtful questions. In my classroom, I create a learning community where the students collaborate to understand the concepts and tools of finance and where students practice professionalism, which prepares them to have successful careers. I take a genuine interest and care in ensuring every student in my class gets a quality learning experience. I firmly believe in reassuring my students that I care about their learning. I provide individual attention to each student to monitor progress and make time for interaction and instructions outside the classroom. My primary role in the classroom is to foster an interactive classroom environment where students actively participate in the discussion, creative exercises, and group activities that provide a value-added learning experience in addition to what they learn from study materials. Quality of learning is the focus of my teaching efforts. Therefore, I design my assessment methods to encourage higher levels of learning instead of simple memorization and application. In assessing student learning, I encourage intellectual risk-taking instead of grade performance and emphasize maintaining academic honesty. I respect each student’s personality and opinion by providing an equal opportunity for expression inside and outside of the classroom and by listening to their views carefully. I expect and ensure that the students show the same level of respect to each participant in the class. Overall, I have a genuine passion for teaching. I strive to provide a quality learning experience for my students, which is reflected in the overwhelmingly positive students’ comments on my teaching evaluations over the years.