Mark ShoreThe
Arditti Center for Risk Management was founded in 2006 to honor the late Fred Arditti, an acclaimed economist with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, with the goal of bridging the gap between industry and academia, which Arditti had done as a member of the college’s faculty. Today, DePaul finance alumnus Mark Shore (BUS ’87), a renowned expert on alternative investments and a professional lecturer at the college, hopes to continue that legacy as the center’s newly appointed executive director.
In January, Shore succeeded Cynthia Edwalds, who served as the center’s executive director for eight years before retiring.
The center fosters the growth of risk management through its
annual events, including conferences and programs for students, scholars and professionals. Two of the center’s largest events include the annual Cyber Risk Conference, jointly organized by the center, the College of Law and the Eugene P. Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul, and the
Actuarial Summer Academy, which brings together high school students to learn about actuary science. In his new role, Shore says he hopes to raise the center’s profile through additional speaker series events.
“Risk cuts through everything,” says Shore, who has more than 30 years of experience in capital markets. “It’s multi-disciplinary and I think that’s why we have an opportunity to connect with different parts of the university.
“I want to grow the Arditti Center and make it more active,” he continues. “I want to make it known to both industry and academia. The purpose is to help students and help the college, but we’re also helping industry. It’s a team effort.”
Recently, the center collaborated with Professor of Management and supply chain expert Nezih Altay to host a virtual panel discussion on risk management in supply chains. In addition, Shore hopes to create more networking opportunities for students through partnerships with employers in the finance, risk and actuarial industries. To that end, the center recently partnered with Morningstar, a Chicago-based financial services firm, to host a networking event for students.
A crucial component of ensuring the center’s connection to the Chicago business community is through its advisory board. In the past few months, Shore, who has served on the board for nine years, increased the number of board members from 11 to 17.
“Our board can see what trends are fading out and emerging in their respective industries, which will help inform us of skills students need,” he says.
Shore is the founder and chief research officer at the research consulting firm Shore Capital Research LLC. He’s also contributed chapters to commodity and hedge funds/ risk analysis books, and is a contributing columnist on NASDAQ.com. This year, Shore will graduate with a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul. He has taught a variety of finance graduate and undergraduate classes at the business college since 2011.
“The best part of teaching is being involved with the students and seeing the lightbulb go off,” says Shore, who also has led Bloomberg terminal workshops for students in the
Keeley Finance Lab. “On day one, they walk into the classroom, probably knowing very little to nothing about a particular topic, but at the end of the quarter, they walk out probably knowing more than some seasoned veterans.”
A native of Evanston, Ill., Shore recalls being attracted to the university’s connection to the business community when deciding to attend DePaul as an undergraduate student. “As a student, teacher and practitioner, I realize that what you’re learning and teaching is all about how you can apply it to the real world of business. You can learn all of these things, but how do you connect the dots? That’s what I hope to do at Arditti.”
Learn more about the BSB in Actuarial Science