James P. Weston is the senior associate dean for degree programs and the Harmon Whittington Professor of Finance at Rice University. He joined the Rice Business faculty in 2000 after completing his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Virginia. James’ teaching interests focus mainly on corporate finance and financial institutions. He has taught popular courses on economics and finance in all of the Rice Business programs. James currently teaches the flagship first-year MBA core finance course for the daytime MBA program. He is the recipient of many Jones School teaching awards, including the prestigious alumni faculty award in 2007, 2010 and 2016.

Dr. Weston’s academic research covers a wide array of corporate finance issues from banking to stock market liquidity and risk management. His research articles have appeared in many of the leading academic finance publications and have been widely cited in the popular press and in congressional testimony. Two of his recent research papers have been nominated for the Journal of Finance best paper awards. James’ research papers have been presented at over 30 universities worldwide and he routinely speaks at conferences and professional seminars. He is a member of the American Finance Association, the American Economics Association, and the Financial Management Association.

In addition to his academic work, James conducts executive education seminars, maintains professional consulting relationships, and provides expert witness testimony and litigation support. He is a former assistant economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.