Brandeis International Business School

Financial technology is rapidly changing the world of finance.

Established companies and startups alike are hiring more employees who can harness the power of unstructured data, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and other innovations.

“FinTech is shaking up the finance landscape,” said Debarshi Nandy, associate professor of finance at Brandeis International Business School. “The impact is being felt at firms of all sizes as we move to a digitized and data-intensive environment.”

To help students prepare for these shifting workforce demands in finance, the International Business School is launching one of the first full-time FinTech programs in the United States.

Beginning in the fall of 2019, the new FinTech concentration at the business school will be available to students participating in the Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program.

The MSF program is a STEM-designated, 18-month graduate program with a rigorous, quantitative focus in finance. The FinTech concentration will blend quantitative applications in financial analytics that are grounded in financial theory, state-of-the-art coding capabilities, and experiential field projects with financial technology startups in partnership with the newly created MassChallenge FinTech accelerator.

Nandy has worked closely on the design of the new curriculum. He announced the creation of the FinTech concentration on November 6 at MassChallenge headquarters, during the 2018 MassChallenge Israel Awards Celebration — a showcase of top Israeli entrepreneurs sponsored by the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship.

“We need to prepare our students to think outside the world of structured data and give them the tools to develop insights that will drive new financial thinking and processes, and deliver innovative financial products and strategies,” said Nandy. “I am proud that the International Business School is on the forefront of offering such an important new concentration.”

The FinTech concentration is the latest curriculum innovation at the business school and part of a larger commitment to providing students with rigorous, cutting-edge programs.

“We are proud to be among the first business schools in the country to offer our students a full-time concentration in FinTech,” said Robert Reitano, MSF program director. “The students who come through our program will be ready to tackle the dramatic changes taking place in our economy and help financial firms succeed in a world where technology is playing an increasingly important role.”

International Business School Dean Kathryn Graddy said students who participate in the FinTech concentration will enter the workforce with a deep understanding of how the growing intersection of finance and technology is shaping financial innovation worldwide.

“Our Master of Science in Finance program attracts students from across the globe because of our dedication to providing curriculum that evolves to address the ever-changing transformations in finance,∏ said Graddy. “The FinTech concentration is yet another forward-looking and innovative program built by our talented faculty here at the International Business School.”