Dr. Hesham Jamil Merdad is the former Dean of the KFUPM Business School (KBS) at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM). During his tenure, he spearheaded the school’s strategic transformation into a globally competitive, technology-driven hub for business education.

With more than a decade of experience in academia and leadership, Dr. Merdad 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.

Beyond academia, he has been actively engaged in industry collaboration and governance. He chaired the Investment Review Panel at Dhahran Techno-Valley Company (DTVC) and served on both the board and audit committee of its business services subsidiary.

Dr. Merdad earned his 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 interests center on advancing business education, fostering innovation, and strengthening ties between academia and industry at both the local and international levels.

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