Iftekhar Hasan (Fordham University, USA) was the recipient of the FEBS Distinguished Scholar Award for 2011 for his outstanding contributions to finance research. Iftekhar Hasan is the E. Gerald Corrigan Chair in International Business and Finance at Gabelli School of Business and co-director of the Center for Research in Contemporary Finance. Professor Hasan serves as the scientific advisor at the Central Bank of Finland. He is the managing editor of the Journal of Financial Stability. Professor Hasan's research interests are in the areas of financial institutions, corporate finance, capital markets and emerging economies. Professor Hasan has more than 325 publications in print, including 16 books and edited volumes, and more than 225 peer-reviewed articles in finance, economics, accounting, and management journals such as JFE, JFQA, JoB, JME, RoF, JFI, JMCB, JCF, FM, JEF, JIMF, JBF, SMJ, HRM, BJM, RP, JAR, CAR, JAPP, JAAF, MS, EJOR, and JMIS. Professor Hasan has presented his research at more than 550 professional meetings and institutions worldwide and has been a consultant or a visiting scholar for numerous international organizations, including the World Bank, the IMF, the United Nations, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency of the U.S. Treasury, the Banque de France, Development Bank of Japan, and the Italian Deposit Insurance Corporation. Professor Hasan has been serving as a research fellow at the Financial Institution Center at the Wharton School and a visiting fellow at the Finance Department of the NYU Stern School of Business. He is a Fulbright Scholar and holds an honorary PhD from the Romanian-American University in Bucharest. Professor Hasan has held visiting faculty positions at several American and European universities, including the University of Rome, Italy; the University of Strasbourg, France; the University of Carlos III, Madrid; EPFL at Lausanne, Switzerland; the University of Limoges, France; National Taiwan University at Taipei; the University of Romania at Bucharest; University of Sydney, Australia, and NYU's Stern School of Business.