MS in Applied Finance Faculty

Davide Accomazzo
Instructor of Finance

Davide Accomazzo has been trading professionally since the mid-nineties. He started his career on Wall Street as a Euro-convertible bond and international equities trader for Jefferies and Company in New York. He left in 1998 to start a boutique hedge fund and a Commodity Trading Advisor practice (CTA). In 2004 and 2005 he engaged in private banking/wealth management first with a partnership in the Principality of Monaco and then with UBS. In 2006, Mr. Accomazzo co-founded Cervino Capital Management LLC where he was Managing Director and Head of Trading until October 2012. In 2007, he also joined the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business as an Instructor of Finance where he is still currently teaching courses on Global Finance, Portfolio Management, and Derivatives. Since 2011 he is the Chief Investment Officer of Thalassa Capital LLC.

Jillian Alderman
Associate Professor of Accounting

Dr. Jillian Alderman is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the Graziadio Business School at Pepperdine University. Prior to her academic experience, Jillian worked as an auditor at Deloitte, and is professionally licensed as a CPA (Florida) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). She is a current member of the AICPA, IMA, CalCPA, ACFE, and AAA professional organizations, serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Forensic Accounting Research, and is on the editorial board of Advances in Accounting and the Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting.  

Heather Boren
Practitioner Lecturer of Finance

Heather Boren first joined Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in 2017 and is currently a full-time Practitioner of Finance and the President of Estate Match Realty, a commercial real estate brokerage company. At Pepperdine Graziadio, she is an integral member of the real estate committee which oversees the MS in Real Estate program. With an attentive nature and collaborative approach, she is uniquely suited to focus on combining business with education having closed and consulted on over $1 billion in real estate transactions.

Joseph Cheng
Associate Professor of Finance

Dr. Joseph Cheng is an associate professor of finance and the Program Chair for the Master of Science Applied Finance Program at the Graziadio Business School. He had served as the director for the Master of Science in Finance Program at a university in Hong Kong and has taught finance courses for many years as a tenured associate professor before joining the Graziadio Business School faculty at Pepperdine University in 2019. He holds a PhD in Economics from Binghamton University.

Levan Efremidze
Assistant Professor of Finance

Dr. Levan Efremidze joined the faculty of Graziadio Business School in 2011. Previously, he served on the faculties and conducted research at Claremont Graduate University, UCLA Anderson School, and Pomona College. Currently, he teaches graduate-level courses in stock investments and portfolio management. He has previously taught econometrics, financial economics, behavioral finance, and risk management. At the UCLA Anderson Forecast, he did econometric modeling and forecasting for U.S., California, Los Angeles, and San Francisco economies. Dr. Efremidze also consulted on trading rules at the Caucasus Stock Exchange and managed marketing research at ATX and Nissin. He holds a PhD in Economics from Claremont Graduate University.

Maretno Harjoto
Professor of Finance

Dr. Maretno Agus "Augus" Harjoto received his PhD in economics from the University of Kentucky in 2002. Dr. Harjoto received the 2009 Moskowitz Prize Award from the Center for Responsible Business, University of California Berkeley for his research on the Economics and Politics of Corporate Social Performance. He also received the 2010 and 2012 Rothschild Research award and the 2011-2012 Julian Virtue Professorship from the Graziadio Business School. He was awarded the Howard A. White category 2 teaching award in 2011.

Sean Jasso
Practitioner Lecturer of Economics

Dr. Jasso writes, teaches, and consults in the areas of political economy, public policy, strategic marketing, and business ethics. He has worked several years in the hospitality and healthcare industries. He combines his training in service, leadership, and politics into his own consulting practice. Dr. Jasso delivers seminars, workshops, and speeches on the global economy, Sarbanes-Oxley, and leadership. Whether in teaching, research, and consulting, his objective is to build a transdisciplinary approach. He has a masters degree in public policy, an MBA from Pepperdine University and a PhD from Claremonth Graduate University.

Dongshin Kim
Associate Professor of Finance and Real Estate

Dr. Kim's research focus is on commercial real estate, mortgages, real estate investment trusts, and housing economics. His research work has appeared in premier real estate journals, including Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Journal of Real Estate Research. Dr. Kim holds a PhD in Real Estate from Georgia State University, MS in Real Estate from Georgia State University, MS in Finance from Seoul National University, and BA in Engineering from Seoul National University.

Clemens Kownatzki
Associate Professor of Finance

Dr. Kownatzki has been an executive in the financial services industry for over two decades. His experience ranges from management positions in brokerage and treasury operations to advising corporate and retail clients on risk management. He has been an active investor in options and derivatives markets. Having lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S., his investments span equity, international capital, and currency markets. In 2010, he joined Pepperdine University and is currently Associate Professor of Finance. Dr. Kownatzki earned his PhD in Economics and Management from Claremont Graduate University and an MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.

Rick Walton
Assistant Professor of Finance

Dr. Richard Walton is an assistant professor of finance at the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School. He earned a PhD in finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, an MBA from London Business School and a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University. His research interests are primarily in the realm of empirical corporate finance with a focus on corporate governance, corporate takeovers and behavioral finance. Dr. Walton has over fifteen years of professional experience in Hong Kong, the UK and Germany covering a diverse range of finance functions including venture capital, investment banking, marketing finance and financial control.