Kumar Venkataraman is a Professor of Finance and Maguire Chair in Energy Management at the Cox School of Business. He serves as Academic Director of the Maguire Energy Institute and the Kyle Miller Energy program. He has a Ph.D. in Finance from Arizona State University.

Professor Venkataraman was a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (FIMSAC) between 2017 and 2021. The Committee made several recommendations to improve the efficiency and resiliency of the U.S. fixed income markets. Notably, Kumar was named among “The Best 40 B-School Profs Under the Age of 40” in the 2011 Poets & Quants ranking of Business School professors.

He was the Chairman of the Finance Department between 2012 and 2015.

Venkataraman specializes in the area of market microstructure and writes about financial market design; evaluation of trading strategies; and functioning of equity, fixed income, and derivatives markets. His research has been published in top-tier academic journals and featured in industry publications and the business press, including Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, The Economist and Bloomberg News. 

He holds an appointment as a visiting economist at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He works on consulting and expert witness engagements and his consulting clients include, among others, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). His research is frequently referenced by global central bankers and regulators and cited in regulatory filings on market design initiatives.