Bio
S. ``Vish'' Viswanathan is the F.M. Kirby Professor of Investment Banking at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. Professor Viswanathan received his Bachelor's Degree in Science (First Class with Distinction) from the University of Bombay, his Master of Management Studies from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies at the University of Bombay and his Ph.D. in Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Professor Viswanathan is a distinguished researcher who work spans a number of different areas. Professor Viswanathan is a past President of the Financial Intermediation Research Society, a Fellow of the Finance Theory Group and a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Professor Viswanathan has also been a distinguished visiting research scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is a former Co-editor of the Journal of Financial Intermediation and former Associate Editor for the Journal of Financial Markets and Review of Financial Studies and is on the Program Committee of the Western Finance Association. Twice, he has received awards from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance. In 1997, Professor Viswanathan won the NYSE Best Paper Award on Equity Trading at the Western Finance Association.
His research focuses financial intermediation, market microstructure and corporate finance. His research in the last decade has focused on collateral, leverage, capital structure and risk management and has been published in the Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Finance and the Journal of Financial Economics. His prior work that focuses on merger waves was published in the Journal of Finance and Journal of Financial Economics. Professor Viswanathan's research has been presented at a number of international and national conferences and has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Rand Journal of Economics, the Journal of Finance and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Business and the Journal of Business Economics and Statistics.
At Fuqua, He teaches Advanced Corporate Finance (FIN 654) and Project Finance (FIN 898) in the daytime MBA program. In the past, he has taught Corporate Finance (FIN 646), Advanced Corporate Finance (FIN 654) and Corporate Restructuring (FIN 658) to daytime and executive students. He taught Advanced Corporate Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the years 1996-1998 and Cases In Corporate Finance at the University of Chicago in the year 2004. He has taught in the Duke/IIMA Global Leaders Program, the Duke Corporate Education/Infosys Backpack Program, the Duke Corporate Education/Tatweer Program in Dubai, the Price Waterhouse Executive Development Program, the Deutsche Bank Executive Development Program, the Fuqua Mergers and Corporate Restructuring Program, the IBS/Fuqua Strategic Management Program in Moscow, Russia, the RJR Nabisco/Fuqua Executive Education Program in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Ernst and Young/Fuqua VISION program, the Financial Executive Institute/Fuqua Strategic Financial Management program, the Program for Managerial Development, the Global Financial Management Program, the International Marketing Leadership Program and the Young Professionals Program.
Professor Viswanathan is one of the few faculty members at the Fuqua School to be recognized for teaching in three different programs. In 2012, Professor Viswanathan received the Bank of American Outstanding Faculty Award. Professor Viswanathan received the MBA Outstanding Faculty Award at the Fuqua School of Business in 1994. In 1995, the MBA Association of the Fuqua School of Business recognized him for “For efforts above and beyond the call of duty”. In 1995 Business Week survey of the Fuqua School of Business, he was rated as a FOUR STAR teacher (highest rating). In 1997, students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania nominated him for the Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award. In 1999, he received the Weekend MBA Class of 1999 Outstanding Professor Award. In 2001, 2008 and 2011 (thrice), he received the Outstanding Professor Award from the Global Executive MBA class. In addition, he has been a repeat finalist for the Outstanding Professor Award from the Global Executive MBA class.