Dr. Hesham Jamil Merdad is the Dean of the KFUPM Business School (KBS) at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), where he leads the school’s strategic transformation into a globally competitive, tech-driven business education hub. With a decade of experience in academia and leadership, he has held several key positions, including Chair of the Department of Accounting and Finance and Acting Director of the Center of Excellence in Islamic Banking & Finance.
Dr. Merdad has also played an active role in industry collaboration and governance, having chaired the Investment Review Panel at Dhahran Techno-Valley Company (DTVC) and served on the board and audit committee of its business services subsidiary. He holds a Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the University of New Orleans, along with master’s degrees in finance and financial economics from the U.S.
His professional focus lies in advancing business education, fostering innovation, and strengthening ties between academia and industry, both locally and internationally.
University of New Orleans, New Orleans LA – USA
Ph.D. in Financial Economics 2012
Dissertation: Two Essays in Islamic Finance and Investment
University of New Orleans, New Orleans LA – USA
M.S.c in Financial Economics 2009
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY – USA
M.Sc. in Finance 2006
Dissertation: Two Essays in Islamic Finance and Investment
King Saud University, Riyadh – Saudi Arabia
B.A. with Second Class Honor in Business Administration 2003
Area of Concentration: Financial Management
Asset Pricing
Corporate Finance
Islamic Finance
Risk Management
Merdad, H; Hassan, M. K.; and Alhenawi, Y., Islamic Versus Conventional Mutual Funds Performance in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study; Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, 2010, Volume 23 Number 2, 161-198.
Alhenawi, Y.,; Hassan, M. K.; and Merdad, H, The Relative Performance of Debt-restricted Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): Does Faith Matter?, Southwestern Finance Association Conference in Houston, Texas, March 10-12, 2011.
Jose Francisco Rubio; Hassan, M. K.; Merdad, H, “Non-parametric performance measurement of international and Islamic mutual funds”; Accounting Research Journal, 2012, Vol. 25 Iss: 3, pp.208 – 226.
Merdad, H; Hassan, M. K., Islamic Mutual Funds Performance in Saudi Arabia; Chapter 20 in Contemporary Islamic Finance: Innovations, Applications, and Best Practices, edited by Karen Hunt-Ahmed, published by John Wiley and Sons, March 2013, pp. 303-322.
Merdad, H; M. Kabir Hassan, William J. Hippler, The Islamic risk factor in expected stock returns: an empirical study in Saudi Arabia; Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Available online 20 April 2015.
Merdad, H; M. Kabir Hassan and Mohsin Khawja, Does Faith Matter in Mutual Funds Investing? Evidence from Saudi Arabia; Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Available online 01 Sept 2015
