Career Academies
Engage with us Apply Now Request Information Visits & Events Contact Us Twitter LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Tippie MBA Blog

World-renowned Faculty

At the core of our highly ranked MBA finance program are top-quality faculty members who are passionate about teaching and the Finance Career Academy.

Tippie faculty members are highly valued by students, businesses, and government and financial agencies for their teaching and research expertise and knowledge of practice. Academic insights and real-world knowledge of management problems form our foundation for teaching. Our faculty are influencing the world of business as well as changing the lives of our students.

Erik Lie John Spitzer
Finance Professor
Industry Experience:
  • - Senior Economist, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
  • - Vice President, Fannie Mae
  • - Managing Director, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
  • - Vice President, Salomon Brothers Inc.
Academic History:
  • - Ph.D. in Economics, Duke University, 1975
  • - M.S. in Computer Science, The University of Iowa, 1967
  • - B.S. in Mathematics, Stanford University, 1966

Prior to joining the Tippie College of Business in 1995, John Spitzer was a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board, a vice president at Salomon Brothers Inc. (now part of Citigroup), a vice president at Fannie Mae, and a managing director for Mortgage Finance at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. John's research interests are in the area of wealth management. He also serves as the treasurer for the Eastern Iowa Angel Investors LLC, a group of Iowa investors who have pooled their funds to invest in early stage companies.
Erik Lie Erik Lie
Professor
Henry B. Tippie Research Professor
Academic History:
  • - Ph.D. in Finance, Purdue University, 1996
  • - MBA, University of Oregon, 1991
  • - B.S., University of Oregon, 1990

Professor Lie was recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2008 for his research showing that many executives were consistently granted stock options on days when their companies' stock was at its lowest price. The research suggested the options were backdated without being disclosed to the public, an act that violates federal securities law. Lie's research led to indictments and an expose in the Wall Street Journal.
Jay Sa-Aadu Jay Sa-Aadu
Professor and Associate Dean, School of Management
Chester A. Phillips Professor of Finance and Real Estate
Academic History:
  • - Ph.D. in Finance and Real Estate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1981
  • - MBA in Finance and Real Estate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976
  • - B.S. in Economics, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1973

Expertise: Fixed income securities, mortgages, real estate, structured finance/asset-backed securitization

Sa-Aadu is helping to build a modern financial infrastructure in his home country of Ghana. He helped to establish the Ghana Stock Exchange and has returned to the country for the past 14 years to help guide its growth.

View a full list of Finance Career Academy faculty