Reena Aggarwal (academic)

Aggarwal received a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Maryland and an M.M.S. from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), India.^[4]

Aggarwal’s work combines empirical research with institutional knowledge about financial market institutions and regulation. Her research and analysis have been cited in media outlets including Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Financial Times, Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.^[4]

She has held administrative leadership roles at Georgetown University, including Vice Provost for Faculty, Interim Dean, and Deputy Dean of the McDonough School of Business.^[5]

Aggarwal has also served as a Pembroke Visiting Professor in International Finance at University of Cambridge,^[6] Visiting Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management,^[7] as a FINRA Academic Fellow,^[7] and as an Academic Fellow at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.^[8] She was a Visiting Research Scholar at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a Fulbright Scholar to Brazil,^[3] a Distinguished Scholar at CAFRAL (Reserve Bank of India),^[3] and member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Financing and Capital.^[9]

She has served in leadership roles in professional associations, including as President of the Financial Management Association International, and has served on boards of the American Finance Association, Western Finance Association, and European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). She is a Senior Fellow of the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research.^[10]

In addition to academic work, Aggarwal serves on the boards of financial services firms.^[4]

• Poets & Quants “50 Best Undergraduate Business School Professors” (2025).^[11]
• Georgetown University President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers (2024).^[12]
• Favorite Professors of the ‘Best & Brightest’ Executive MBAs, Poets and Quants (2016).^[13]
• Voted as the Outstanding Professor by EMBA students (2012).
• BlackRock–National Association of Corporate Directors Global Challenge for Innovation in Corporate Governance Award (2015).^[14]
• Distinguished Alumnus Award by BITS Pilani, 2018.^[15]
• Allan N. Nash Distinguished Doctoral Graduate Award by University of Maryland, 2003.

In 2010, Aggarwal founded Georgetown University's Center for Financial Markets and Policy^[2] in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2022, the center was renamed the Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy following an $11 million gift from the Psaros family.^[16]

The center conducts academic research and convenes discussions on financial markets and regulation, with impartial programming that connects research, policy, and practice. At center events, Dr. Aggarwal has interviewed several financial leaders including the CEOs of JP Morgan^[17] and Goldman Sachs,^[18] the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,^[19] and vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board.^[20]