Elias Tzavalis (Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece) was the recipient of the 2018 FEBS National Award for his outstanding contributions to finance research. Elias Tzavalis studied economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business (BSc, MSc) and obtained his PhD from London Business School in finance and econometrics (1993). Upon the completion of his PhD, he was elected lecturer and later associate professor at the University of Exeter. In 1999 he was elected as professor at Queen Mary, University of London. In 2005 he returned to Greece as professor of financial econometrics at the Department of Economics of the Athens University of Economics and Business. He has published many papers in premier journals in economics and econometrics. His most recent research works focus on issues related to credit risk modeling, asset valuation, and financial econometric models.