H. Kent Baker University Professor Finance and Real Estate
- Degrees
- Professor Baker received a B.S.B.A. (management), from Georgetown University; an M.B.A. (finance), M.Ed. (educational administration), and D.B.A. (finance), from the University of Maryland; and an M.S. (quantitative methods), M.A. (training and career development), Ph.D. (educational administration and organization development), and Ph.D. (counseling and student development) from American University.
- Bio
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Professor H. Kent Baker, CFA, CMA, is University Professor of Finance at the Kogod School of Business at American University. He served as Chair of the Department of Finance and Real Estate for 11 years and headed the Finance Center of Excellence for 8 years. Professor Baker previously held faculty and administrative positions in the business schools at Georgetown University and the University of Maryland. He is the past president of the Southern Finance Association and has served on several boards of directors. Professor Baker has been the Dean of the Executive Management Institute (EMI) since 1981 and has taught at EMI since 1976. He is a professional musician who plays five instruments and has taught music, recorded with Inner Circle, and toured with the Starliners.
Professor Baker has received many teaching, research, and service awards including University Scholar/Teacher of the Year at American University. He was also Southern Finance Association's 2019 Distinguished Scholar.
Professor Baker has extensive industry experience and has provided consulting and training services to more than 100 organizations. Examples include the American Bankers Association, AT&T, Central intelligence Agency, Comptroller of the Currency, Ernst & Young (EY), Saudi Aramco, and Xerox.
Professor Baker has decades of experience with the CFA Program. For 20 years he served as a grader, senior grader, level coordinator and headed the team responsible for writing the CFA Level I examination. Professor Baker was also a member of the Candidate Curriculum Committee, Council of Examiners, and Editorial Board of The CFA Digest at the CFA Institute. He has presented more than 130 CFA prep programs in the United States, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom for Kaplan Schweser, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, UBS, the World Bank, Study Seminar for Financial Analysts, and CFA Societies in Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC. Professor Baker served as the Washington, DC coordinator of CFA programs for Kaplan Schweser. The CFA Magazine profiled him as "most credentialed." Besides conducting CFA programs, Professor Baker has also presented more than 650 other management training and executive programs.
Professor Baker is a highly prolific researcher and author. The Journal of Finance Literature recognized him as among the top 1% of the most prolific authors in finance during the past 50 years. He is one of the leading survey researchers in finance and an authority on dividend policy and behavioral finance.
Professor Baker has published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles, 130 publications in professional outlets, and 350 book and article reviews. His research has appeared in such publications as the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Review of Accounting Studies, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Financial Management, European Financial Management, Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Review of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, and Harvard Business Review. His publications have received around 19,000 Google Scholar citations.
Professor Baker is an award-winning author/editor of 45 books including several textbooks such as Understanding Financial Management: A Practical Guide (2005). He received the 2015 USA Best Book Award in the personal finance/investments category for The Psychology of Financial Planning and Investing. His book Investment Traps Exposed: Navigating Investor Mistakes and Behavioral Biases was the 2017 Book Excellence Award Winner and he also won the 2018 Axiom Business Book Award (Bronze Medalist) in personal finance. Professor Baker edited two book series: Financial Markets and Investments (Oxford University Press) and the H. Kent Baker Investments Series (Emerald Publishing). His publishers include Oxford University Press, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Palgrave Macmillan, Emerald Publishing, World Scientific, Edward Elgar Publishing, and Blackwell.
Some of his books include include:
- The Emerald Handbook on Fintech: Reshaping Finance (2024)
- The Palgrave Handbook of Sovereign Wealth Funds (2024)
- An Advanced Introduction to Behavioral Finance (2023)
- Working Capital Management: Concepts and Strategies (2023)
- The Emerald Handbook on Cryptoassets: Concepts and Strategies (2023)
- Sustainable Finance: What Everyone Needs to Know (2022)
- The Savvy Investor's Guide to Building Wealth Through Alternative Investments (2021)
- The Emerald Handbook of Blockchain for Business (2021)
- Corporate Fraud Exposed: A Comprehensive and Holistic Approach (2020)
- Equity Markets, Valuation, and Analysis (2020)
- The Savvy Investor's Guide to Building Wealth Through Traditional Investments (2020)
- The Savvy Investor's Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls, Frauds and Scams (2020)
- Debt Markets and Investments (2019)
- Navigating the Investment Minefield: A Practical Guide to Avoiding Mistakes, Biases, and Traps (2019)
- The Savvy Investor's Guide to Pooled Investments: Mutual Funds, ETFs, and More (2019)
- Behavioral Finance: What Everyone Needs to Know (2019)
- Commodities: Markets, Performance, and Strategies (2018)
- Hedge Funds: Structure, Strategies, and Performance (2017)
- Financial Behavior: Players, Services, Products, and Markets (2017)
- Investment Traps Exposed: Navigating Investor Mistakes and Behavioral Biases (2017)
- Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds: Building Blocks to Wealth (2016)
- Private Equity: Opportunities and Risks (2015)
- Investment Risk Management (2015)
- Public Real Estate Markets and Investments (2014)
- Private Real Estate Markets and Investments (2014)
- Investor Behavior: The Psychology of Financial Planning and Investing (2014)
- Market Microstructure in Emerging and Developed Markets (2013)
- Alternative Investments: Instruments, Performance, Benchmarks, and Strategies (2013)
- Portfolio Theory and Management (2013)
- International Finance: A Survey (2012)
- Socially Responsible Finance and Investing (2012)
- Survey Research in Corporate Finance (2011)
- Capital Structure and Corporate Financing Decisions: Financial Analysis for Today’s Investment Projects (2011)
- The Art of Capital Restructuring: Creating Shareholder Value through Mergers and Acquisitions (2011)
- Behavioral Finance: Investors, Corporations, and Markets (2010)
- Corporate Governance: A Synthesis of Theory, Research, and Practice (2010)
- Dividends and Dividend Policy (2009) .
Professor Baker serves on 15 editorial/advisory boards, including Managerial Finance, Journal of Emerging Markets, and Journal of Financial Economic Policy. He has appeared in 16 biograhies, including Marquis Who's Who, Who's Who in Finance and Industry, and Outstanding Educators of America.
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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FIN-614 Financial Management
Spring 2025
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FIN-614 Financial Management
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FIN-671 Advanced Financial Management
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Corporate finance, dividend policy, corporate governance, behavioral finance, change management, organization transition, diversification, risk management
Additional Information
H. Kent Baker has written or edited more than 10 books, including Behavioral Finance—Investors, Corporations and Markets; Corporate Governance—A Synthesis of Theory, Research and Practice; Survey Research in Corporate Finance; Dividends and Dividend Policy; and Understanding Financial Management: A Practical Guide. He has published more than 225 articles on accounting, finance, education, and management. Baker’s articles have appeared in such journals as the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Financial Management, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management and Harvard Business Review.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.