Kimberly Cornaggia

Kimberly Cornaggia is a Professor of Finance and Department Head at the Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University. She holds the endowed Louis R. & Virginia A. Benzak Professorship and serves as Research Director of the Center for the Study of Financial Markets. Her roles include board memberships at the Eastern Finance Association and Western Finance Association.

Dr. Cornaggia specializes in corporate finance, credit risk, public finance, and household finance. Her research addresses topics like financial shocks, municipal bond markets, and opioid crisis impacts. Prior to Smeal, she taught at American University, College of William and Mary, New York University, and Indiana University. Her non-academic experience includes SEC and Department of Justice roles analyzing credit ratings and asset-backed securities.

She earned her PhD from Purdue University’s Krannert Graduate School (2000) and BS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1994), majoring in Actuarial Science and Finance.

Her work spans over two decades, with publications in top journals like the Journal of Finance and Journal of Financial Economics. Key themes include credit rating agency dynamics, municipal finance, and the intersection of public policy with financial markets.