Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, a financial policy research hub in the McDonough School of Business (MSB), selected 15 students as finance and policy scholars April 1.

The students, who were selected from all of Georgetown’s undergraduate schools, will serve as FinPolicy scholars and participate in visits to financial organizations in Washington, D.C. and New York City. The FinPolicy program was established in 2023 and chooses 10 to 15 undergraduates annually to engage with experts and agencies in finance and policymaking.

Michael Piwowar (GRD ’94), the center’s newly appointed executive director, said the Psaros Center places students in the epicenter of policymaking and financial services.

“The Psaros Center is really about the intersection of financial markets and policy,” Piwowar told The Hoya. “It was created in the wake of the global financial crisis, when the faculty director, professor Reena Aggarwal, noticed that there was a need to educate policymakers about the financial services industry and vice versa.”

“What the FinPolicy scholars get an opportunity to do is to see exactly what that nexus is,” Piwowar added. “So here in Washington, D.C., and then also in New York City, they get to see how markets influence policy, and how policy influences markets.”

Aniya Jain (MSB ’29), a newly-selected scholar who is interested in a career in finance, said she hopes engaging with the Psaros Center’s programming will expose her to new subfields and enhance her career trajectory.

“I think the biggest thing is learning a lot from some of the people that we meet, and being exposed to the financial policy space, because I feel like it’s not something I’m super-duper knowledgeable about,” Jain told The Hoya. “I’m excited to just learn.”

“I think learning about regulation and policy is definitely super important for that career path,” Jain added.

Michael Chen (MSB ’28), a FinPolicy scholar who has attended Psaros Center events, said he applied to the program a year after first learning about it to gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between business and government.

“I waited for a whole application cycle, until now, as a sophomore, to apply,” Chen told The Hoya. “To me, it’s just a great opportunity to increase my involvement with the center to actually take a step forward in terms of that understanding that the Center hopes to bring me — that understanding of business and the government.”

Past trips for the program have included visits to government offices in D.C., including the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Securities Exchange Commission, and notable financial firms in New York, including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs.

Chen said he hopes to explore his own interests and hear from experts about current issues in financial policymaking.

“I think going on the trek could potentially help me refine my own interest in finance and policy a little bit more and help me better understand where I want to focus going forward,” Chen said. “And then, to explore a little bit more about the current topics that are relevant in markets and policy and see how industry leaders think about the same issues.”

Jain said a friend recommended the program to her, and that she applied because it coincides with her interests. 

“I was actually referred by one of my friends in one of my clubs, and she said she really enjoyed the experience, and so she encouraged me to apply,” Jain said.

“I’m majoring in finance and accounting, so it definitely aligns with my majors,” Jain added.

Chen said he hopes being a FinPolicy scholar will expose him to different viewpoints on careers in finance as he considers his own future.

“I study finance and accounting in the business school, and I do hope that I go into finance in the future,” Chen said. “So to me, going on the trek, and being involved as a FinPolicy scholar, I think allows me to actually get a greater focus on what each of the careers in finance actually does, and to hear from the people who’ve probably done it for their entire lifetime on how they would reflect about their careers and and see whether the work is actually something that interests me.”