Leavey School of Business Welcomes Five New Tenure-Track Faculty Members
The Leavey School of Business is delighted to welcome five new tenure-track faculty members this fall. Representing the fields of economics, finance, and accounting, they bring a wealth of expertise in topics ranging from international finance and organizational economics to taxation and venture capital. Together, their diverse experiences and impactful research will enrich our classrooms, advance scholarship, and strengthen the school’s academic community.
Colin Koutney
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Colin Koutney joins the Department of Accounting with research interests in corporate and individual taxation, as well as financial accounting topics such as non-GAAP disclosures and interim reporting. His work has been published in the Review of Accounting Studies.
Koutney previously taught at George Mason University and earned his Ph.D. in accounting at The University of Texas at Austin. His professional background includes work at Deloitte Tax LLP and volunteer service with the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Outside of academia, he enjoys hiking and listening to audiobooks—especially about his favorite U.S. presidents.
Wentong Chen
Assistant Professor of Economics
Wentong Chen joins the Department of Economics with research at the intersection of international finance, macroeconomics, and banking. Her work examines how monetary and foreign exchange shocks ripple across markets, with particular attention to the feedback effects created by frictions and spillovers.
Chen earned her Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University, an M.A. in economics from New York University, and an M.P.A. in international finance policy from Columbia University. She also holds a B.A. in international politics and journalism from Renmin University of China.
Satoshi Fukuda
Assistant Professor of Economics
Satoshi Fukuda specializes in microeconomics, economic theory, game theory, organizational economics, and financial economics. His articles have been published in leading journals such as American Economic Journal: Microeconomics and Journal of Economic Theory. He also serves as an associate editor of the International Journal of Economic Theory.
Fukuda joins Santa Clara from Bocconi University in Milan, where he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. and M.A. in policy studies from Chuo University in Tokyo.
Yifei Mao
Assistant Professor of Finance
Yifei Mao’s expertise lies in empirical corporate finance, with a focus on venture capital, entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercial real estate. Her research has appeared in leading journals including the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. She has presented at top academic conferences such as NBER, WFA, and AFA.
Before joining Santa Clara, Mao was an Assistant Professor of Finance at Cornell University, where she earned the Nolan School Ted Teng ’79 Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, an M.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in economics from Tsinghua University.
Alexander Zentefis
Assistant Professor of Finance
Alexander Zentefis’ research explores the structure of institutions, including organizations and markets. His work spans topics such as corporate culture, gerrymandering, bank competition, inequality in bank access, regulation of oligopolies, and capital market liquidity. His research has been featured in national media outlets, including MarketWatch and Forbes.
Zentefis earned his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Washington University in St. Louis. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.