Faculty Focus: Harikumar Sankaran, College of Business

Committing hard work and dedication to NMSU for 23 years, Harikumar Sankaran believes in guiding the next generation of finance scholars to success by the time they graduate. He currently serves as the head of the Finance Department in the College of Business and is also a prolific researcher.  
 
“We are like musicians,” he said. “For the audience to appreciate every nuance of the music, we need to keep our instrument tuned (research skills), have good sheet music (knowledge), and be immersed in the music when performing (teaching).”  
 
Sankaran joined NMSU in 2002 after working 12 years at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and four years at the University of Miami, Florida. He received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Houston in 1987.  

Aside from designing and teaching advanced courses, one of the highlights of his efforts at NMSU is to bring technology to the classroom.   
 
“With the help of Thornburg Investment Management and Thurman Case, a fellow NMSU alumnus, my colleague Ken Martin and I were able to obtain 12 Bloomberg Terminals for students in the College of Business,” he said. “This state-of-the-art facility enhanced students’ classroom experience and enabled many of them to find lucrative careers. Due to lack of continued funding, this facility was terminated.”  

He has mentored and published papers with several graduate students and junior faculty. The College of Business brown-bag seminars are one of many of his efforts toward mentoring.  
 
Sankaran said his hope as department head is to obtain sustained funding to bring back these terminals for students. He is currently in the process of revising the curriculum based on feedback from members of the Business Advisory Council.  
 
Other highlights in his career include researching topics like corporate investment efficiency, capital structure and CEO compensation. His work has appeared in leading finance and accounting journals, including the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.