Essentials of Finance

Academic Director: Professor Michael Roberts

Michael R. Roberts is the William H. Lawrence Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an affiliate of the Institute for Law and Economics and the Wharton Financial Institutions Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He also founded and heads the Wharton Financial Analytics Initiative. Professor Roberts’ research spans corporate finance, banking, and asset pricing. Recent work has examined equity pricing anomalies, collateralized loan obligation (CLO) performance, and the effect of interest rates on bank lending. His research has received several awards including two Brattle Prizes for Distinguished Paper published in the Journal of Finance, a Jensen Prize for best paper on Corporate Finance and Organizations published in the Journal of Financial Economics, and Best Paper awards from the Financial Management Association, Southwestern Finance Association, and Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.  

Professor Roberts earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of California at San Diego, and his M.A. in Statistics and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.  

Program Leader: Wayne Williams

Dr. Wayne W. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He is also the Faculty Advisor for the National Association of Black Accountants. 

Williams worked in several roles as an accounting and tax professional, financial advisor and administrative leader in private industry and government prior to joining academia.   

He joined the Fox School from the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), where he had served since 2004 as a faculty member and as the Department Chair for Business Administration before becoming the Director of Education Services for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, an entrepreneurship education program that was CCP’s largest grant award to date. He was appointed to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s Task Force on Tax Policy and Economic Competitiveness in 2009. He is currently a member of the Philadelphia Department of Revenue Commissioner’s Tax Advisory Committee and concurrently serves on the City of Philadelphia’s Tax Reform Working Group, 2021-2022.  

Williams earned his Doctor of Education in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Master of Science in Taxation and Financial Planning from Widener University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the Fox School.  He is also an IRS Enrolled Agent and Certified Financial Planner™. 

Instructor: Greg Nini

Dr. Greg Nini is the Marshall Austin Endowed Term Professor in Finance at the LeBow College of Business of Drexel University.

At Drexel, Dr. Nini teaches classes on financial institutions and markets and conducts research in a variety of areas related to corporate finance and capital markets. His research has been supported by various grants and published in top finance journals. Dr. Nini is also a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Before joining Drexel, Dr. Nini was on the faculty at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an economist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington D.C.

Dr. Nini has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial Services Research, and the Journal of Risk and Insurance. He recently testified to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services about the risks of leveraged lending.

Dr. Nini holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Swarthmore College.

Co-instructor: Ayodeji Oyemakinde

Ayodeji Oyemakinde is a finance professional with seven years of experience in corporate finance, strategy, project finance, and credit risk management. He is currently pursuing an MBA at the Wharton School, majoring in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

Passionate about financial education, Ayodeji has served as a Teaching Fellow with the Wharton Youth Program and co-founded Career Pinnacle, an online platform providing free financial and career training for Nigerian undergraduates. His career includes finance roles at General Electric (GE) and The Coca-Cola Company, where he advised on $350M+ in energy deals and improved financial operations. He is also engaged in venture capital and economic development, supporting small businesses in Philadelphia through his internship at Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. In his free time, he enjoys networking, traveling, and playing tennis and squash.

Academic Directors provide guidance to the Wharton Global Youth team on instructor hiring and lead the development of program curriculum. Their responsibilities include designing course topics, recommending activities, selecting readings, and creating capstone projects that align with Wharton academic standards and enrich the summer learning experience. 

Instructors work closely with the Academic Director to deliver daily program lectures, facilitate group activities and coach students’ capstone projects.

Teaching Assistants consist of both undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania. TAs facilitate small-group discussions, ensure student understanding, assist with final project development, and hold office hours to answer student questions and share their Penn and Wharton experiences.