Chair of Academic Council

Andrei Simonov was born in Chisinau, Moldova. Andrei is Frederick S. Addy Distinguished Chair in Finance and Chairperson of the Finance Department at Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business. Additionally, he is a CEPR Research Fellow in the Financial Economics program. He received a Ph.D. in Finance from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD, 2000). He also holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics (Moscow State University, 1991). Prior to joining MSU in 2008 as an Associate Professor,  he worked at the Stockholm School of Economics. He was a founder and Scientific Director (2011-2021) of the Research Center for Empirical Finance at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy. His publications appear in leading Finance and Management journals, including, among others, the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Finance, and Management Science.

Chair of Executive Committee 

Shlomo Weber is an Israeli-American economist with a PhD in Mathematical Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has held academic positions at Haifa University and Southern Methodist University, where he chaired the Department of Economics. His work has advanced economic education and research in transitioning economies, fostering a new generation of economists and reformers.

As a former Rector and current President of the New Economic School (NES). He served as Academic Director of the International School of Economics in Tbilisi, Georgia. Weber participates in developing economic education in Georgia, Mongolia, and Ukraine, and now contributes to projects in Uzbekistan and Moldova. 

Weber is a prolific scholar with over 150 publications in leading journals such as Econometrica and Review of Economic Studies, and he has been recognized internationally, including receiving the Humboldt Research Award.

Provisional Board Member

Luc Laeven is the Director-General of the Research Department of the European Central Bank. His research focuses on banking, international finance, and monetary transmission issues and has been published in major academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. He has also published books on Systemic Risk, Crises, and Macroprudential Regulation (MIT Press), Systemic Financial Crises: Containment and Resolution (Cambridge University Press), and Deposit Insurance Around the World (MIT Press). He is also a Professor of Finance at Tilburg University and a CEPR Research Fellow. 

Provisional Board Member

Sergiu Hart is an Israeli mathematician and economist. He was born in Bucharest, Romania. He is the Chairperson of the Humanities Division of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the past President of the Game Theory Society (2008–2010). He is emeritus professor of mathematics and emeritus professor of economics, and member of the Center for the Study of Rationality, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Sergiu Hart has made field-shaping contributions in many areas, particularly in game theory and economic theory, with additional contributions in mathematics, computer science, probability and statistics.

Vitalie Sprînceană is a sociologist. He is studied political science in Bulgaria, philosophy in Moldova and social sciences at George Mason University in the USA. He is co-editor at platzforma.md, a web platform for social, economic and political critique and a participant of such projects as "Moldova for Peace" and The Public Association Active Communities for Participatory Democracy (CADP).

Provisional Board Member

Andreu Mas-Colell is the founder of the BSE and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is also a BSE Emeritus Research Professor.

Previously, he has been professor of economics at Harvard University (1981-96) and of economics and mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley (1972-80). He has also been president of the Scientific Advisory Committee of Telefónica Investigación y Desarrollo (2005-2008) and Secretary General of the European Research Council from (July 2009-August 2010). He served as Minister of Economy and Knowledge in the Catalan Government from December 2010 until January 2016.

Mikhail Freer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Essex. Previously he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the ECARES at the Université libre de Bruxelles and held a Research Associate position in the Department of Economics at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). He has received his Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason University. Mikhail is a Board Member of the European Association of Young Economists (EAYE).

Provisional Board Member

Prof. Eugene Kandel is the founder and the Chairman of RISE Israel Institute. Prof. Kandel (BA, MA Hebrew University in Jerusalem; MBA, Ph.D. The University of Chicago) is an Emil Spyer Professor of Economics and Finance at the Hebrew University. Prof. Kandel published extensively in Finance and Economics.

Kandel served as Head of the National Economic Council and Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel from 2009-2015, advancing many important economic policies and reforms.

Provisional Board Member

Eugene Kandel is the Emil Spyer Professor of Economics and Finance at the Hebrew University. He is a member of the Center for the Study of Rationality at Hebrew University, a Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy and Research in London, and a Fellow of the European Corporate Governance Institute.

He is an expert in Financial Markets and Financial Intermediaries, and his areas of research include Financial Intermediation, Market Microstructure, Information in Financial Markets, Executive Compensation, and Corporate Governance.