Thomas Bates

Dr. Bates is Dean’s Council Scholar and Associate Professor of Finance at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. In his current role, Bates also serves as Director of Executive MBA programs for the W. P. Carey school. Prior to his current appointment, Bates served as Department Chair of the Department of Finance from 2010 until 2020. Dr. Bates has also held positions as an Associate Professor of Finance and McCoy Rogers Fellow at University of Arizona, and as an Assistant Professor of Finance at both University of Delaware and University of Western Ontario. Dr. Bates received a B.A. in Economics from Guilford College in 1991, and received his doctorate in Financial Economics 2000 from the University of Pittsburgh.

Professor Bates is a regular contributor to the academic literature in financial economics publishing in journals such as The Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Financial Management. His work addresses a variety of issues including the contracting environment in mergers and acquisitions, corporate liquidity decisions and cash holdings, the governance of corporations, and the role of automation on corporate financial policies. Dr. Bates serves on numerous national and international conference program committees, and currently holds a position as Associate Editor at the Journal of Corporate Finance.

Dr. Bates teaches corporate finance to students at the undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and Ph.D. level. In addition, Bates has designed and taught in a variety of custom corporate and executive education programs. Dr. Bates has served as an instructor to students around the world in countries as varied as China, Mexico, Canada and Ecuador. In recognition of his outstanding work in the classroom, Bates received the Scrivner teaching award from the University of Arizona.

Professor Bates is actively involved in the practice of finance. He has assisted as an advisor to the Financial Executives International (FEI) Arizona chapter, and currently serves as an advisor to the Investment Committee of the Arizona State University Foundation. Dr. Bates is also active in consulting and litigation support roles, advising corporations and law firms on issued related to the valuation of companies and their securities, corporate governance, and executive compensation.