Faculty Experts Guide

Anil Makhija

Dean’s Distinguished Professorship
Professor of Finance

Biography

Professor Anil K. Makhija holds the Dean’s Distinguished Professorship in Finance at the Fisher College at The Ohio State University, where he has been on the faculty since 1999.   In the past, he has chaired Fisher College’s Department of Finance, served as an Associate Dean, and held the David A. Rismiller Professorship in Finance.

Professor Makhija’s research and teaching interests are in the field of corporate finance, and focus on issues relating to capital structure, corporate governance, and utilities.  He is currently working on how the personal leverage of CEOs is related to corporate leverage, how CEO age affects corporate investment policy, why some CEOs work for a one-dollar salary, and the relation between non-debt tax shields and firm leverage.  Recently, he was awarded the Best Paper Award at University of Michigan’s Mitsui Conference for his co-authored work on the relation between CEO personal and corporate leverage.

Professor Makhija’s work has appeared in major academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Business, Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Management Journal, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, etc.  He is currently co-editing with Prof. Kose John (NYU) Advances in Financial Economics, and has served on several editorial boards.

Professor Makhija is the recipient of numerous teaching awards.  Executive MBA classes at Fisher have chosen him for their Outstanding Faculty Award for eight out of the last nine graduating classes.  He has also received the Outstanding Teacher Award multiple times from the full-time and evening MBA students. He was awarded the Pace Setter’s Teaching Award, the highest honor for teaching at Fisher, for sustained excellence in teaching.  Prior to moving to Fisher in 1999, he was bestowed with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Pittsburgh, the highest teaching honor at that institution.  Recently, he was also awarded the Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award at Ohio State, thus earning the highest teaching honor at Ohio State as well.  Dr. Makhija has chaired over ten doctoral theses.

During Professor Makhija's tenure, the finance department at Fisher, which consisted of some 20 faculty members, ranked among the top 10 or top 20 in comparisons of finance departments internationally (e.g., in surveys by Financial Management Journal and Journal of Financial Research). It consistently ranked in the top 10 for research productivity according to ASU Finance Rankings.

Professor Makhija has participated in consulting or executive education programs in the U.S. and abroad for dozens of organizations, including American Electric Power, Dayton Power and Light, Huntington Bank, GKN (US., U.K., Spain, Australia), Dubrovnik Banking and Finance Series and IFC (Croatia), Nationwide Insurance, Mellon Bank, BARNA (Dominican Republic), , Chilectra (Chile), Textron—Cessna, Bell, Ryder, Czech Management Center (Czech Rep.), Weirton Steel, Westinghouse, Duquesne Light, Banc One Leasing, Universidad del Pacifico (Peru), ENDESA (Chile), Wisconsin Electric, Limited Brands, Santa Maria (Ecuador), American Gas Association, Ross Heart Hospital, Life Style Real Estate Communities, New Sabina, Diamond Power, King Abdullah Institute (Saudi Arabia), Alliance Data, RG Barry, Scotts Miracle Grow, etc. As associate dean for executive programs, Makhija was responsible for the development of the college’s Executive MBA program and its non-credit offerings to practicing executives.  Under his direction, Fisher’s Executive MBA program ranked 14^th in the world by Business Week.  For non-degree offerings, The Economist ranked Fisher’s Customized Programs 1^st or 2^nd in the world.

Professor Makhija has served as an expert witness in public utility commission, law court, and Financial Accounting Standards Board proceedings, besides submitting sponsored opinions to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. His research work has been featured on Fox Business News, US News and World Report blog, Chicago Tribune, The Motley Fool, Columbus Dispatch, St. Lois Dispatch, Business First, etc.

Professor Makhija received a PhD in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MBA from Tulane University (Dean’s List, Beta Gamma Sigma Honors Society), and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi (Dean’s List).

Contact Information

700E Fisher Hall
Fisher College of Business
2100 Neil Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
(614) 292-1899
makhija_1@fisher.osu.edu