Concordia's new quantitative business chair, Dr. Oleg Ivanets, joined the faculty in August 2021.
After receiving his master’s in Economics and Computer Science from Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2006, Dr. Ivanets went to work in the private equity industry, with a focus on start-up financing. When the 2008 Global Financial Crisis had a devastating effect on the investment world, he switched his focus to financial regulation and economic policy. In 2010, Dr. Ivanets took a position of an economist in one of the leading investment banks in Ukraine. In 2013 he joined a Ph.D. program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After graduating in 2018, he worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Drew University in Madison, NJ, where he focused on teaching practical finance and economic policy.
Here, he shares more about his background, teaching style, and why he’s excited to be at Concordia.
What drew you to Concordia?
The biggest problem with the financial system today as I see it is the fact that it ignores the moral consequences of its business. I see severe social and environmental problems rising in recent years due to the fact that our economy is designed as a profit-maximizing mechanism that ignores people. And the route of most of these problems is what is generally called “Mainstream economic theory” that is taught in most large universities. And so being able to teach not just this theory but also to bring discussions about moral and social problems is very important to me. And as a Christian myself, I find that our faith brings answers to the challenges we have today in the financial system and I am happy that Concordia University encourages us to share our beliefs along with theoretical and practical knowledge.
What drew you to teaching?
I always wanted to make a difference in this world and for along time, I thought of working for the UN or IMF. But as I got to meet people who work there, I realized that it is rather difficult to have an impact in such large organizations. At the same time, I saw how important it is to teach young generations about the short-coming of the current system, and eventually I found my passion in education.
How would you describe your teaching style?
I really like to teach practical skills and data analysis in all my classes. I believe it is crucial for students to develop data-driven decision-making. It takes time and it is much harder than to just learn a theory that tells you how things are. I also like to give students a lot of freedom to express their thoughts in a non-judgmental environment. I got used to students from very different backgrounds and it is nice to see how they connect knowledge from a classroom with their own experience.
CU Here!
Learn more about CUW’s business offerings here and explore CUAA’s business programs here.
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