About Us

Jim is an Associate Professor of Finance at The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and a recognized thought leader at the intersection of AI, finance, and federal government innovation. He chairs the Johns Hopkins Innovation Factory, serves as on the advisory committee of AI Capital and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Portfolio Management. A former Vice President at The Carlyle Group's alternative assets group and a quantitative analyst at Morgan Stanley, Jim holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Finance from Columbia University. He lives near Baltimore with his wife and two daughters.

As the General Counsel and COO, Susan oversees operational strategy and ensures compliance, safety, and ethical frameworks across the firm’s AI solutions, technologies, and business operations. Susan’s extensive experience includes roles as CEO of SoKat's Federal Government practice, Chief Compliance Officer at a long/short hedge fund, and a contracts attorney at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, supporting IP commercialization. She She holds a BA in Political Science and Economics and a JD from the University of Maryland, and is admitted to the New York Bar.

Dr. Ahmad Ajakh is a Senior Lecturer in Finance at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, specializing in alternative investments, financial modeling, and quantitative risk management. He brings over 14 years of industry experience from roles at Morgan Stanley, AXA Investment Managers, and as co-founder of Fitzroy Capital Management. Dr. Ajakh holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Nantes and has published research on bond market risks and asset allocation strategies.

Frank J. Fabozzi is the Eugene Luskin Professor of Finance at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and one of the most cited scholars in finance worldwide. Over his distinguished career, he has authored more than 120 books and served as editor of The Journal of Portfolio Management and co-founder and co-editor of The Journal of Financial Data Science. Frank’s collaborations with four Nobel Laureates in Economics (Harry Markowitz, Franco Modigliani, Robert Shiller, and Robert Engle), his “Conversations with Frank Fabozzi” series for the CFA Institute and PM Research, and his roles on BlackRock’s Fixed Income boards underscore his influence at the nexus of advanced theory and real-world practice.

He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York after completing both his M.A. and B.A. in Economics at the City College of New York.

Dr. Tamás Budavári is an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University with appointments in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science. His research bridges Bayesian statistics, big data, and urban analytics—applying methods from astronomy to real-world challenges like modeling housing patterns in Baltimore. He holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Eötvös Loránd University and is a founding editor of the Journal of Astronomy and Computing.

Dr. Brian is a Professor of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He holds a BS in Mathematics and an MS and PhD in Statistics from the University of Florida. His work spans statistical computing, hierarchical models, longitudinal data, sleep and neuroimaging research, and educational innovation through MOOCs.

Dr. Jordan J. Green is a Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Ophthalmology, Oncology, Neurosurgery, and Materials Science. He co-founded the Translational Tissue Engineering Center and serves on the executive committee of the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. He holds dual BS degrees from Carnegie Mellon and a PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT, followed by a postdoc in Chemical Engineering at MIT.