С����Ƶ

In order to lead an organization during a financial crisis, leaders need to successfully integrate all disciplines in order to make the best business decision. That’s why it’s critical that business scholars gain a well-rounded understanding of current trends in the field.

Dr. Ilhan Meric, professor of Finance, has done exactly that by encouraging research collaboration among various departments in the College of Business Administration (CBA), including Accounting, Business Policy and Environment, Economics, Finance, Human Resource Management, International Business, and Management Sciences. “When I work with professors from different departments, I find that we learn from one another,” he said.

Meric, whose research spans global financial markets and global investing to capital budgeting and capital structure, is no stranger to scholarly publishing. He has written and co-written more than 70 journal articles, which have appeared in the top-tier finance journals, including Financial Management, Financial Review, Journal of Banking and Finance,  Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of Multinational Financial Management, International Review of Financial Analysis, Global Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, and Journal of Investing.  In addition, he has made numerous presentations at the Financial Management Association conferences.

Since joining the faculty at Rider in 1981, Meric has been a recipient of the Jesse H. Harper Chair Professorship four times. In 2003, he received the Dominick A. Iorio Faculty Research Prize, named in honor of Dr. Dominick A. Iorio, dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In addition, Meric has held twelve summer fellowships and five paid research leaves.

“I owe my accomplishments to my wife and my daughter,” he said. “We have a strong support system. As a family, we are goal-oriented. All of this is a result of belonging to a family like that.” Meric’s wife, Dr. Gulser Meric, is a professor of Finance and the John B. Campbell Professorial Chair in the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan University. The couple received their Ph.D. degrees from Lehigh University, and since that time, they have collaborated on a number of journal articles and a book together. Their daughter, Dr. Funda Meric-Bernstam, is a professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology in the Division of Surgery at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

While Meric enjoys conducting interdisciplinary research with his colleagues, he also loves to teach students in his Financial Management courses. Despite the current financial crisis, Meric said he expects a speedy recovery of the United States economy and the future job market for young graduates. “I want my students to understand that the United States has the best  economic system in the world,” he said. “When we buy items in a supermarket or department store, we are literally voting for what we want produced. We live in a market-oriented country where the consumer is king.”

Just as he reminds his students of their good fortunes of living in the United States, Meric knows he has been fortunate himself. “I love being a Rider faculty member,” he said. “This is the place to be. We have an excellent faculty and administration. Our University is changing, day by day, for the better.”