Who should the Director of the Office of Financial Research be and why should we care?

Author's Biography

Allan D. Grody is a founding board member of the Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions, founding professor (retired) of New York University’s graduate course in risk management systems, and founding partner (retired) of Coopers & Lybrand’s financial services consulting practice. He began his business career in General Electric’s finance business and later went on to hold increasingly responsible positions in investment management, the securities industry and international banking. He is President of Financial InterGroup Advisors and Financial InterGroup Holdings Ltd, and an advisory board member of ARC Best Practices Ltd.

Robert M. Mark is the Chief Executive Officer of Black Diamond Risk Enterprises, which provides corporate governance, risk management consulting and transaction services. He serves on several boards. In 1998, he was awarded the Financial Risk Manager of the Year by the Global Association of Risk Professionals. He is on the board and is the Vice Chairman of The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association. Prior to his current position, he was the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, as well as Corporate Treasurer, at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Prior to this, he was the partner in charge of the financial risk management consulting practice at Coopers & Lybrand. He earned his PhD, with a dissertation in options pricing, from New York University’s Graduate School of Engineering and Science, graduating first in his class. Subsequently, he received an Advanced Professional Certificate in Accounting from NYU’s Stern Graduate School of Business. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.