Prof. Agrrawal inducted into Phi Kappa Phi

MBS associate professor of finance Pank Agrrawal has been inducted into the UMaine chapter of Phi Kappa Phi honor society.

The nation’s oldest, largest and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines in higher education, Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 at UMaine by 10 seniors to recognize outstanding students, faculty and staff. With a mission “to recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others,” the society has more than 1.25 million members from approximately 300 campuses around the United States and Philippines.

Agrrawal exemplifies the land grant tripartite mission of scholarship, teaching and service, which is an integral part of Phi Kappa Phi, says UMaine professor Daniel Sandweiss, the national Phi Kappa Phi vice president for chapter development.

“Pank is a strong scholar with a national reputation, an exceptional educator with outstanding teaching evaluations, and a dedicated supporter of UMaine who provides tremendous service on campus,” says Sandweiss, a professor of anthropology and climate change, who nominated Agrrawal for the society.

Each spring, the UMaine chapter of Phi Kappa Phi inducts up to five new faculty/staff members and around 50 students.

“The best part of the induction ceremony was seeing top students campuswide,” Agrrawal says. “Phi Kappa Phi celebrates cross-disciplinary scholarship at a national level and I feel humbled and privileged to be part of it.”

Agrrawal spent eight years in quantitative research and portfolio management in the investment management industry before joining the MBS faculty in 2005. He has served on and helped establish several UMaine committees related to research and graduate studies.

“Pank is a constant advocate for quality and intellectual rigor both in education and research,” says David Neivandt, a Phi Kappa Phi member and UMaine’s associate vice president for research and graduate studies. “His contributions to the research and graduate studies missions of the University of Maine have been outstanding.”

In 2013, the Maine Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon recognized him as  the faculty member of the year. He also appeared on Yahoo Finance for being listed as one of 17 influential business school professors by ETF Database (ETFdb), a global leader in market analysis, tracking and ratings. Committed to enhancing the MBS student experience, he created the MBS Finance Society, a meeting ground for students who are passionate about finance and want to explore topics that go beyond the course curriculum.

Agrrawal has delivered more than 25 papers at refereed conferences, published 14 peer-reviewed papers, been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, and developed and released the ReturnFinder app via Apple’s App store. His biographical profile is included in “Who’s Who in Finance and Business,” a publication of Marquis Who’s Who. He is a member of the CQA (Chicago Quantitative Alliance) and is an active reviewer of many peer-reviewed journals.

Written by Ruth-Ellen Cohen, Writer for the Maine Business School.