Most graduates of the MFE program make their professional homes on Bay Street. International banks and financial organizations, like the IMF, also employ a fair number of alumni. Choosing an academic path – and the salary reduction that entails — is less common for students of this professional program. And yet, that is exactly the journey new MFE grad Luka Vulicevic has decided to take. He will start PhD studies in finance at the University of California at San Diego next semester.

Not everyone is surprised by Luka’s choice.

“Luka has impressed me in many ways,” said Professor Jordi Mondria, Director of the MFE program. “Not only are Luka’s math, coding and data skills exceptional, but his maturity and intellectual curiosity deserve to be trained by the most brilliant minds in finance at the very top departments. He is an extremely positive and energetic student. He always has a smile on his face and shows his excitement when discussing research. It is a pleasure having discussions with him about managing discussant or referees’ comments. I believe he will be a reliable source of positive externalities to other students in the UCSD program.” [Read more…]