Ali Sanati

Ali Sanati is an Associate Professor of Finance and Kogod Research Professor at the Kogod School of Business, American University, where he serves as Director of the MS in Finance program. He joined American University in 2018 after completing his PhD in Finance at the University of Minnesota, bringing industry experience as a former financial analyst and engineering startup CEO.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Finance, University of Minnesota
• MBA in Finance, Sharif University of Technology
• BSc in Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology

Professor Sanati's research centers on corporate finance with emphasis on financing decisions, capital raising inefficiencies, and public/private market investments. His work spans capital structure dynamics, equity financing mechanisms, private market analysis, and machine learning applications in finance. He examines critical issues like labor mobility's impact on leverage, tax reform consequences, and the public listing decline through empirical and structural modeling approaches.

His publications in top journals like the Journal of Financial Economics and Review of Financial Studies reveal consistent focus on empirical corporate finance trends. Recent work analyzes post-2017 tax reform debt financing behavior, labor market-corporate policy linkages, and public market listing gaps. His research bridges academic theory and policy relevance, frequently presented at AFA, NBER, and to institutions including the Federal Reserve and SEC.

His scholarly recognition includes:

• Best Paper Award at the 2023 University of Minnesota Finance Conference

As MS in Finance Director, Sanati shapes program curriculum while teaching Business Finance to undergraduates and Advanced Quantitative Methods and Machine Learning in Finance to graduates. His industry background informs practical pedagogy, with media coverage in Deutsche Welle, Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, and Duke University's FinReg Blog highlighting real-world impact. Ongoing projects examine AI adoption effects on firm productivity and private equity's household portfolio implications.