fintech-center

Hester M. Peirce was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was sworn in on January 11, 2018. Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney [...]

Richard Johnson founded Texture Capital in 2019 to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the digital securities space. Texture Capital is in the process of applying to FINRA for broker-dealer registration. Richard’s career spans over 20 years having held senior roles in electronic trading at Societe Generale, Liquidnet, and ITG. Recognizing the revolutionary potential of the technology, Richard pivoted to the cryptocurrencies and blockchain space in 2015, including as a research analyst at Greenwich Associates covering crypto, blockchain and equities market structure. Richard holds a BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Exeter. [...]

Harry L. Williams serves as President & CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF’s 47 member-schools make up the publicly supported Historically Black Colleges (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) which represent nearly 300,000 students. Dr. Williams has served as President of Delaware State University and held senior positions at the University of North Carolina General Administration, Appalachian State University, and North Carolina A&T State University. Dr. Williams earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Appalachian State University, a Doctorate from East Tennessee State University, and is a member of Alpha [...]

Mr. Jai Singh Arun is a senior technology business executive and he has been driving IBM’s Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing related innovations, solutions and services business strategy, development and go-to-market execution. He is a co-author of the book “Blockchain for Business” published in April 2019.  Mr. Arun  earned an MBA in Strategy, Marketing and Finance from Kenan-Flagler Business School at University North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a Master of Engineering in Computer Engineering from VJTI, University of Mumbai, India and a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India. He [...]

Dr. Bina Ramamurthy Recipient of 2019 SUNY Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award, is a Professor of Teaching in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. She is the creator and instructor of a four-course blockchain specialization on Coursera online platform for a worldwide audience. She has written her own e-book on the technical and business aspects of blockchain, Blockchain in Action. Dr. Ramamurthy provided detailed information and hands-on experience: Building blocks of a blockchain using a live exploration of Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. Deploying and interacting with three decentralized applications (Dapps) with audience role-playing as peer participants. Blockchain curriculum development for teaching and undergraduate research. [...]

Our HBCU Blockchain Curriculum Development Institute brought together 45 faculty from over 30 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. They synthesized the latest research, trends, and breakthroughs in the blockchain space by working with mentors, brainstorming and sharing resources.  As a result of the Institute, over 1,000 students will  be taught simultaneously about blockchain and FinTech in the  Spring Semester of 2020. Many thanks to our mentors: Lee Reiners, the Executive Director, Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School Andrew Wu, Faculty Director, FinTech Initiative at the University of Michigan Luke Kowalski, Professor at UC Berkeley. [...]