Vijay Singal, the J. Gray Ferguson Professor of Finance, has been reappointed head of the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Business Law in the Pamplin College of Business.

Singal first led the department from 2003 to 2009. During that period, he helped create BASIS, a student-managed bond fund; brought the Certified Financial Planner program to the finance department, which manages it jointly with the agricultural and applied economics department; and partnered with the CFA Institute to offer a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)-oriented track.

A faculty member at Virginia Tech since 1992, Singal was a visiting professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business during 2011-12. He has taught courses on investments, equity markets, and international finance, and has led summer study-abroad courses to Germany.

His current research focuses on irregularities related to market efficiency and equity market indexes. His past research spanning several areas of finance, including corporate finance, investments, and international finance, has been published in top scholarly journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Business, Journal of Finance, and the Journal of Financial Economics, and in practitioner journals such as Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Analysts Journal, and Journal of Investment Management.

He served on the editorial board of the Financial Analysts Journal from 2008 to 2012 and is closely affiliated with the CFA Institute as an expert in curricular matters.

Singal has authored a book, Beyond the Random Walk: A Guide to Market Anomalies and Low Risk Strategies. His research has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio, and Bloomberg Radio, and in print media such as the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Investors’ Business Daily, SmartMoney, Fortune, and Money.

He serves on the board of directors of Sapient Corporation and its audit committee. Before joining academe, he worked for 10 years at India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Singal earned a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Michigan, an MBA in finance from the Indian Institute of Management, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

He succeeds finance professor Art Keown, who returned to full-time teaching in July.

 

 

Share this story