A former U.S. government official assumed the role of the executive director of Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy on March 23.
Michael Piwowar (GRD ’94), who previously served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was most recently a senior advisor at the Milken Institute, an economic think tank, began the new position March 23. Georgetown established the Psaros Center, a hub for research and leadership in economic policy within the McDonough School of Business (MSB), following the Great Recession of 2008, to focus on thought leadership at the intersection of finance and policy.
Piwowar said being appointed executive director is a major accomplishment and culminates decades of his work in finance and with the center.
“It’s sort of a capstone in my career,” Piwowar told The Hoya. “I’ve been an academic and I’ve worked at the intersection of financial markets and policy my entire career. I’ve worked with the center in various capacities over the past several years — I’ve been a distinguished fellow, I’ve been on the advisory board — and when the opportunity came up, it was just the perfect time and the perfect opportunity for me to join.”
After earning his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, Piwowar worked as a professor at Iowa State University before entering the public sector. Following his time at the SEC, Piwowar began working at the Milken Institute while remaining on the Psaros Center’s advisory board.
Reena Aggarwal, the Psaros Center’s founding director, said she created the center to foster financial leadership and combine research with policymaking.
“I started the center with the global financial crisis 15 years ago, when there was a leadership void inside of the financial sector and policy area,” Aggarwal told The Hoya. “My belief was that Georgetown has to be responsible and step up and help both market participants and policy makers after the crisis.”
“Georgetown is very well known in policy, Georgetown is very well known in finance and it brings both finance and policy together,” Aggarwal added. “It’s a huge competitive advantage for us at Georgetown.”
Aggarwal said Piwowar’s experience in both the public and private sectors — including serving as the executive director of the Milken Institute and on the Council of Economic Advisers for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama — prepared him to take on the executive role.
“He has been in the policy and regulatory world at the highest levels for a long time, including at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House,” Aggarwal said. “He has a tremendous background in the policy world. He also has really good connections to the private sector, and he appreciates an academic institution.”
“He understands Georgetown’s values, and he embraces them,” Aggarwal added. “He works very collaboratively, and he’s known as a thought leader. It was an easy decision.”
Maude Ashra, one of the center’s associate directors, said Psaros fills a gap in nonpartisan financial research, and Piwowar’s experience in academics will enhance the center.
“We really want to be the destination, and we’re kind of unique in our own way,” Ashra told The Hoya. There are no other centers like this in any other institutions — if we talk about think tanks, they’re always one way or the other, Democrat or Republican, and we’re kind of right in the middle there, unbiased.”
Piwowar said he aims to engage with students and support their research while leading the center.
“The opportunity to work at a center where they really place a premium on student engagement in terms of policy related research was a great draw for me, and it’s something I want to make sure that I work on over the next year,” Piwowar said.
Piwowar, who had Aggarwal as a professor while earning his master’s of business administration (MBA) at Georgetown, said she directly influenced his decision to pursue a career in finance.
“I was a student back in the 1990s and Professor Agarwal was my core MBA finance professor,” Piwowar said. “Up until that point, I hadn’t really considered finance in terms of a career. I had my background, my undergraduate was in liberal arts, and I really liked economics and statistics, but I hadn’t really had exposure to finance, and that was really where my love and passion for finance began.”
“I’ve always remained connected with Reena in various ways, and when she started the center in 2008 I was so happy to see her do that,” Piwowar added.
Aggarwal said having two former students directly involved with the center is gratifying.
“One former student, Mike Psaros, made the investment and made the Psaros center possible because of the transformational gift and commitment,” Aggarwal said. “Then to have another student — Mike Piwowar, another former student of mine — to come in and lead the center in the next phase and be the executive director, as a professor it’s just so rewarding and satisfying. Two very distinguished people who have had amazing careers, and they come together in different ways to really take Georgetown to the next level.”
