MSCF Names New Executive Director

Following Rick Bryant’s June 1 retirement, the MSCF Program at Carnegie Mellon University has named Robert S. Simon as its new Executive Director. 

Robert graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1993 with a dual Information Decision Systems and Business degree and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University. He most recently served as Managing Director at Barclays Capital Markets.

“Having worked on Wall Street for nearly 30 years, I’m excited to bring my own personal network and marry it with the current platform MSCF offers. The training that CMU provided to me as an undergraduate, even back then where it wasn’t pieced together as closely as it is now, really led me to pursue quant finance in the future. I’m excited to get to be a part of innovating the curriculum in the future with coming industry changes and to help breed the culture of Wall Street both in and out of the classroom,” Robert says.

Robert’s career spans multiple firms and asset classes, and he has extensive experience in both domestic and Asian markets. Having spent 7 years in Hong Kong, he looks forward to using his breadth of industry knowledge to benefit the program.

“I can’t wait to work with recruiters and market the MSCF program to them. The Street is lucky to have these students. While I was involved in hiring decisions at Barclays, there was never a question of academic training and rigor for MSCF graduates. I have not found a better school or a better training for quants than MSCF.”

MSCF Program co-founders John Lehoczky and Steve Shreve are equally excited for Robert to begin his tenure. 

Lehoczky says, “Bob is an absolutely ideal choice to lead the MSCF Program. He brings a wealth of experience and leadership in the financial services industry, having served as Managing Director at several of the most prestigious institutions in the industry. As a graduate of CMU, he fully understands the breadth, depth and uniqueness of the MSCF curriculum.”

“It is a testament to his high regard for MSCF that he has agreed to become our Executive Director.  Given his wealth of experience in the finance industry and his proven management skills, he is the perfect person to move MSCF forward,” says Shreve.

Robert Simon will be the second executive director in MSCF Program history since its inception in 1994.  He will join Carnegie Mellon University on July 1.