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Academic Appointment

• 2021 - Present, Associate Professor of Finance, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. 

2026 - Present, Academic Director, MS in Finance (MSF) Program (Concurrent)

• 2019 - 2020, IPA Financial Economist, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Washington, D.C.

(while on leave from Iowa State).

• 2014 - 2021, Assistant Professor of Finance, Iowa State University, Ames, IA. 

(Tenure clock extended under pandemic-era policy and a visiting IPA appointment at the U.S. SEC; moved to George Mason University before completing the tenure clock.)

• 2012 - 2014, Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.  

(Departed in the second year for a more research-intensive position at Iowa State University, prior to the third-year mid-tenure review.)

Education

• 2012, Ph.D., Finance, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

• 2006, M.S., Industrial Mathematics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

• 2000, B.S., Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing

Reviewer for:

• NSF CAREER Award (2),  American Economic Review: Insights, 

• Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science,

• Research Policy, Review of Finance, 

• The Accounting Review, Journal of Corporate Finance,

• Journal of Banking & Finance, Journal of Business Ethics,

• Journal of Business Research, Journal of Economics and Business, 

• The Financial Review, Journal of Futures Markets 

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Financial Studies, British Accounting Review

• ...

Awards and Grants

• GCI (Grand Challenge Initiative) Grant,  Co-PI, 2026

• AoF Best Paper Award, 2025

• AFA - ANZ (The Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand) Best Paper Award, 2022 

• EFA (Eastern Finance Association) Outstanding Paper Award, 2016

• Financial Management Association Asia Pacific Best Paper Award Finalist (2), 2019, 2018

• Financial Management Association Best Paper Award Semi-Finalist, 2017

• U.S. SEC. IPA Grant, PI, 2019

• U.S. Central Plains Federal Statistical Research Data Center (CPRDC) Research Grant, PI, 2020, 2019

• Summer Research Grant, PI, 2019

• Research Acceleration Grant, PI, 2020

• Principal Financial Faculty Professional Development Grant, PI, 2014

• Woodruff Award,

• Comer Award

• Canon Scholarship

• Motorola Scholarship

• ...

BIO: Dr. Gao is an associate professor of finance at George Mason University, where he teaches courses on corporate finance, investments, and empirical methods in finance. Dr. Gao has taught at Iowa State University, University of Memphis, University of Georgia, and Michigan State University. Dr. Gao is an active member of the American Finance Association and  Financial Management Association. His research interests include market structure, investments, lending, corporate finance, and FinTech. His research has been published in top journals such as the Proceedings of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA (PNAS),  Journal of Financial Economics (JFE),  Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (JFQA), and Research Policy(RP) among others. Dr. Gao's research has been featured in national news media, including ABC, Bloomberg, CNN, Financial Times, Fortune, NBC, Washington Post, and academic press, including ASSA, etc.  His publication at PNAS about COVID-19 is one of the outputs of his COVID-19 project, which the CDC has adopted to forecast the mortality of COVID-19 in the U.S.  and fight the pandemic. His publication at PNAS about Fair Lending is ranked by the Financial Times as #15 in its "Top 100 Business School Research with Social Impact" globally. Dr. Gao has given a speech at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about fair lending. He has also been invited to be an expert witness before the U.S. Congress and his research has been the base for the testimony. His publication at JFE about "Market Intraday Momentum" is one of the most downloaded papers at SSRN in concurrent research. His research about short-selling regulation at JCF has been featured in the Cato Institute Research Brief.  Dr. Gao has been a Financial Economist at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he provides economics analysis and memos to support the Commission's enforcement and regulation, Protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets; facilitating capital formation. Dr. Gao earned a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Georgia, an M.S. in Industrial Math from Michigan State University, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Peking University. 

Dr. Gao has served as a reviewer for the NSF CAREER Award and top academic journals, including American Economic Review: Insights, Management Science,  Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Research Policy, Review of Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Journal of Business Ethics, etc. Dr. Gao has delivered many presentations and talks at academic conferences, University seminars, Governments, and research institutions.