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James Noel Ward

Assistant Professor

  • Department: Economics and Management
  • Graduate Program(s): International Management
  • Office: 
    G-3A04
  • Office Hours: 
    By appointment

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A Mississippi native, Professor Ward joined The American University of Paris in 2001. After a first degree in Philosophy at Boston University (1985), he continued at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München before working as a financial aid officer, then a commercial fisherman in Sitka, Alaska. He served as Youth Minister at Christ Church, Greenwich, then tested a vocation as a Benedictine monk. He afterward worked in futures markets at the Chicago Board of Trade focusing on trading and research. After a decade as an analyst, database manager, statistician, and economist, he completed a Master of Science in Finance at The George Washington University (1999). He founded the credit hedge fund Andres, McKenzie & Ward which was acquired by Alternative and Derivative Investments (ADI) of Paris. He served as manager of high yield bond portfolios for ADI, and began part-time teaching at AUP to distract himself from market stress. Professor Ward joined AXA Investment Managers as Head of High Yield Investments, then joined AUP full-time as Assistant Professor of Finance in 2013, and currently is completing a doctoral thesis in Finance at L’Université Paris. In 2012 Ward resided and advised The Security and Exchange Commision and the Royal Bank of the Kingdom of Cambodia on fixed income and security regulation. Ward currently researches hedge funds, the persistence of excess returns, fixed income & credit markets, corporate capital structure, and exotic derivatives. In 2014 he was Visiting Professor of Economics at Deep Springs College where he taught computational and behavioral finance, and currently serves as Professor of Mathematical Finance at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology teaching courses on derivatives and applied financial economics.



Education/Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts, 1985, Philosophy and Religion, Boston University.
  • Master of Science in Finance, 1999, The George Washington University.
  • Chartered Financial Risk Manager (FRM®), The Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).
  • Chartered International Professional Risk Manager (PRM®), The Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA)

News

Professor Ward is quoted in the Bloomberg Article:"B. Riley’s Rout Forces Reckoning for a Founder’s ‘Labor of Love’ "

By Donal Griffin, David Voreacos, and Todd Gillespie

August 20, 2024 at 12:07PM EDT

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/2024/08/20/b-rileys-rout-forces-rec...

In April 2016, Professor James Ward had an article published on the USA election process and prediction markets where you can bet on outcomes.

Publications

The Luxury Beliefs of the Ruling Class

July-August 2024, The New Oxford Review

https://www.newoxfordreview.org/documents/the-luxury-beliefs-of-the-ruli...

Entering the Modern Areopagus

TO CONFRONT A NEW DELPHIC ORACLE

By James Noel Ward | October 2023, The New Oxford Review


Option Pricing with Numéraires: Models, Solutions and Code
Ward, James N., [forthcoming 2025,] published by Springer, Mathematics, Heidelberg, Germany.  ISBN: 1-XXXXX-XXX-Y.

Collective Bargaining And Health Care Cost Containment
Ward, James N., 1991. Published by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1231 25th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.  ISBN: 1-55871-240-2.

Expecting The Unexpected: Sick And Emergency Child Care
Ward, James N., et. al. The BNA Special Report Series on WORK & FAMILY, Special Report No. 53, September/October 1992, published by the BNA PLUS Research and Special Projects Unit of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.  ISBN: 1-55871-288-7.

Health Care Cost Controls: A BNA PLUS Resource Guide
Ward, James N., 1992, published by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1231 25th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.  ISBN: 1-55871-240-2.

Recognizing Non-Traditional Families
Ward, James N., The BNA Special Report Series on WORK & FAMILY, Special Report No. 38, February 1991, published by the BNA PLUS Research and Special Projects Unit of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.  ISBN: 1-55871-212-7.

Substance Abuse and the Family: The Worker and the Corporate Response 
Ward, James N., et. al. The BNA Special Report Series on WORK & FAMILY, Special Report No. 47, November 1991, published by the BNA PLUS Research and Special Projects Unit of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.  ISBN: 1-55871-269-0.

Telecommuting: Its Role And Value In Work & Family Programs
Ward, James N., et. al. The BNA Special Report Series on WORK & FAMILY, Special Report No. 50, March/April 1992, published by the BNA PLUS Research and Special Projects Unit of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.  ISBN: 1-55871-280-1.

Work & Family And The Bottom Line: Cutting Costs In A Recession
Ward, James N., et. al. The BNA Special Report Series on WORK & FAMILY, Special Report No. 49, January/February 1992, published by the BNA PLUS Research and Special Projects Unit of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.  ISBN: 1-55871-278-X.

Affiliations

  • Guest Lecturer: 2021-2022. Pyongyang University of Science
  • Technology (PUST), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). http://www.pust.co/
  • The Professional Risk Managers' International Association
  • The Global Association of Risk Professionals
  • The CFA Institute
  • Deep Springs College
  • The American Finance Association
  • The Financial Management Association
  • European Financial Management Association
  • l’Institut Louis Bachelier
  • The Bachelier Finance Society
  • International Association for Quantitative Finance
  • Association of Behavioral Economics and Finance
  • Association pour le développement de l'histoire économique
  • Association d'Études Sociales de la Finance
  • Association Française de Finance
  • Association Française de Gestion Financière
  • Association Française de Sciences Économiques
  • European Economics and Finance Society
  • The Ludwig von Mises Institute
  • The Mont Pelerin Society

Research Areas

  • Options
  • Exotic options
  • Capital structure
  • Time-series
  • Dispersion
  • Credit
  • Fixed-income
  • Speculative grade
  • Credit
  • Behavioral finance.

Awards, Fellowships and Grants

Curriculum Vitae