Bank of Sharjah Chair in Finance

The Bank of Sharjah has financed an endowed chair in finance since Fall 2014. Dr. Narjess Boubakri, Professor of Finance, is the first holder of the Bank of Sharjah Chair since September 2014. The activities of the chair revolve around research, training, fostering partnerships and enhancing visibility.

In terms of research, the chair helps to support, develop and increase the amount of high-quality research being conducted in the Department of Finance at SBA. To date, more than 20 articles have been published in renowned finance journals thanks to the Bank of Sharjah Chair support.

In terms of training, the chair helps to establish a training environment for junior researchers and students. Initiatives include organizing periodic practice-oriented as well as academic conferences to promote excellence in teaching of (and research in) finance. Similarly, the chair can help to organize award-based students’ academic competitions/activities. One such activity has been the stock market competition organized with the support of the chair in Spring 2015. Another initiative was to sponsor finance students’ participation in the Financial Crime Conference organized in Dubai in 2016.

In terms of partnerships, the chair helps to build strong and lasting partnerships with finance professionals. Such successful partnerships favor a productive collaboration with finance professionals through, for instance, participation in courses in order to enhance the students’ learning and leadership skills. The chair has sponsored several guest speakers in our undergraduate and graduate classes from ADIB, GlobalInvest, and ADX among others.