Announcing Dr. Yingmei Cheng as the Lloyd F. Collette Endowed Chair of Financial Services
July 15, 2024
Yingmei Cheng
BATON ROUGE, La. – Yingmei Cheng, a renowned scholar in financial economics, will serve as the next Lloyd F. Collette Endowed Chair of Financial Services, the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business announced Monday.
Cheng previously served as the Patty Hill Smith Eminent Scholar in Finance at Florida State University’s College of Business, where she led the college’s PhD program in finance and taught undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral courses in finance and economics. In her new role at LSU as the Collette Endowed Chair and department chair, Cheng will oversee all aspects of the Ourso College’s thriving Department of Finance — which now boasts nearly 500 students supported by 18 dedicated faculty — spearheading initiatives to grow the department’s national prominence in research, instruction, and private industry connections.
"I am deeply honored, genuinely excited, and truly grateful to join the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business," Cheng said. "My visit to LSU in January 2024 left me profoundly impressed by the welcoming and nurturing culture of the college. The beautiful and vibrant campus immediately made me feel at home. I am eager to serve the students, faculty, staff, and the broader LSU community with unwavering dedication and determination.”
Cheng’s research, which focuses on theoretical and empirical corporate finance, has been published in premier finance and economics journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, The Review of Economics and Statistics, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Additionally, her papers have been accepted by highly selective conferences, such as American Finance Association Meeting, Western Finance Association Meeting, Utah Winter Finance Meeting and NBER Spring Meeting.
“I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Yingmei Cheng as the new leader of our Department of Finance," said Jared J. Llorens, Dean of the E. J. Ourso College of Business. "In an era of rapid business transformation, Dr. Cheng’s forward-thinking approach to business education and commitment to research excellence will be critical in advancing the mission of the college, and in ensuring our undergraduate and graduate students receive a premier finance education that prepares them for the most competitive opportunities in the broader labor market."
The Lloyd F. Collette Endowed Chair of Financial Services, named for LSU alumnus and United Credit founder Lloyd F. Collette, was established in 1985 to support the continued growth and development of financial services education at LSU.
Cheng earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Science and Technology in China. She has a master’s degree in chemistry from Princeton University and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Miami. Her Ph.D. is in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
About the Department of Finance
The Department of Finance within the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business offers high-quality curricula to undergraduate and graduate students interested in careers in corporate finance, asset management, real estate, insurance, banking, financial planning, and business law. Students receive invaluable hands-on experience in the fast-paced world of global finance through innovative tools and resources such as the Securities Markets Analysis Research and Trading (SMART) Lab, a simulated trading floor where students use the latest analytics software to advise the LSU Foundation on investment strategies.