Irena Vodenska

Irena Vodenska, core faculty with the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is a Professor of Finance and Director of Finance Programs at Boston University’s Metropolitan College. She is also a chair of the Administrative Sciences Department at Metropolitan College, Boston University. 

Her research focuses on network theory and complexity science in macroeconomics. She conducts theoretical and applied interdisciplinary research using quantitative approaches for modeling interdependencies of financial networks, banking system dynamics, and global financial crises.

Vodenska models early warning indicators and systemic risk propagation throughout interconnected financial and economic networks. She also studies the effects of news announcements on financial markets, corporations, financial institutions, and related global economic systems. She uses neural networks and deep learning methodologies for natural language processing to text mine important factors affecting corporate performance and global economic trends.

Vodenska teaches Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management, International Finance and Trade, Financial Regulation and Ethics, and Derivatives Securities and Markets at Boston University. She holds a PhD in Statistical Finance and a Master of Arts (MA) in Economics from Boston University, an MBA from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer Information Systems from the University of Belgrade. She is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder. As a principal investigator (PI) for Boston University, she has won interdisciplinary research grants awarded by the European Commission (EU), the Network Science Division of the US Army Research Office, and the National Science Foundation (US)