Dr. Byron Hollowell Named Merrill Lynch Ambassador

Byron J. Hollowell, Ph.D., assistant professor of Business Administration at Penn State Worthington Scranton has been invited to serve as a participant in the Atlantic Fellowship, a component of the Merrill Lynch Global Ambassador? Program. This is an international investment banking development program, sponsored by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Merrill Lynch and the Secretary of State of the United Kingdom (UK). Merrill Lynch is dedicated to finding and developing top international "up and coming talent."
 
The Program gives exceptional high school students in underserved areas of the United State and the United Kingdom the opportunity to explore the business world firsthand and to discover a variety of careers in the financial services industry.  The Program offers a comprehensive overview of the financial markets, intensive workshops with leading executive training organizations, and face-to-face meetings with some of the most respected leaders of both Wall Street and London's financial districts. A vital aspect of Merrill Lynch's Global Ambassadors? Program - the Atlantic Fellowship teaches young people to appreciate and understand different cultures, perspectives, governments and global issues.
 
Dr. Hollowell will serve as a program mentor both as a former industry leader and as a contemporary international business researcher. Dr. Hollowell has several years of international business experience in mergers and acquisitions where he focused on off-shore banking operations and developing Asian markets.  In addition, Dr. Hollowell has worked as a Trust Accountant and Assistant Controller in South Florida where he managed over $85 million dollars in assets and was part of the accounting task-force that successfully converted a savings and loan institution to a commercial bank. 

Dr. Hollowell has extensive student mentoring experiences. He has serves as an Upward Bound Counselor, Inroad Faculty Liaison, Black Executive Exchange Speaker, SOAR mentor, FYS co-coordinator, and Wall Street Student Educational Opportunity, (SEO), summer orientation program leader.

Dr. Hollowell earned his doctorate degree in Finance and quantitative economics and statistics from Florida State University and successfully completed doctoral level studies in Quantitative Economics and Statistics also at Florida State University. He was voted the top graduating finance doctoral student by the faculty at Florida State University's Department of Business and represented the university at a national symposium with over 100 other top doctoral students in Toronto, Canada.  He earned the bachelor in business administration degree from LeMoyne-Owen College, earning Faculty Assembly Service Award and graduating as Valedictorian with Highest Distinction.

Dr. Hollowell taught Finance at Florida State University and was assistant professor of finance at University of La Verne, Los Angeles, CA. He was business professor and MBA director at Mount Marty College.

Dr. Hollowell served as assistant controller at Guardian Bank, Boca Raton, FL and was an actuary with the American International Group in New York City. He also served at J.P. Morgan, Inc. where he focused on international mergers and acquisitions and as a Wall Street financial analyst.

Dr. Hollowell's research interest lay in agency theory, banking efficiency, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, ethics, corporate control, initial public offerings, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

He has published research articles in the Journal of Bank, Accounting and Finance, Journal of Business and Economics, Teaching Excellence Journal, Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal and Contemporary Finance Digest. He recently published an article on mergers and acquisitions in International Finance Journal. He is also a prolific presenter and is available to discuss his recently published findings.

Dr. Hollowell's academic service credentials are varied. These include service as the program committee chair for the Southern Finance Association, membership of the organizing committee for the International Financial Management Association, peer reviewer for six elite finance and economic journals, alumni activity for the KPMG sponsored PhD. Project, and membership of The Forum on Black Affairs at Penn State University, University Park.