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WorldQuant University instructor Joe Byers, PhD, has spent much of his career arriving at the right place at exactly the wrong time. Over more than three decades, he found himself in the middle of some of the world’s largest economic disasters.

He was working in the energy industry in 1990, when the First Gulf War sunk oil prices. He was on the trading floor for Williams, a U.S.-based gas company, when the Enron scandal collapsed the market. From there he went to Bear Stearns, which got swallowed by JPMorgan Chase during the 2008 financial crisis. Finally, he moved to BP, just before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

“My career has been a pinball,” Joe says.

Despite the turbulence, he rose through the ranks as a risk manager at several companies. He also earned an MBA at Fort Hays State University in Kansas and a PhD in finance at Oklahoma State University.

Now Joe shares his real-world experience in the Master of Science in Financial Engineering program at WorldQuant University, where he teaches risk management.

“My background ties in because I have experienced so many risk management disasters intimately—myself or with colleagues,” he says. “I know things behind closed doors that most people don’t know.”

Joe also teaches the Capstone course and works with his students on research.

“That’s been one of the benefits for me,” says Joe, who has collaborated with his students on more than 10 publications in the past three years. “They bring the ideas, and then we develop them through the course, polish them after graduation, and submit them for publication.”

Teaching has always been a passion for Joe, one of the earliest instructors that WorldQuant University hired after launching its first program in 2016.

“The students we have from all over the world are highly intelligent, motivated, and committed,” he says. “I’ve always noticed that at WorldQuant University. That’s one reason why I stayed with them because I get that exposure to all of these students. And it’s as enjoyable for me as I hope it is for them.”

Besides teaching at WorldQuant University, Joe is an assistant professor of professional practice at Oklahoma State University. Previously, he taught at Montclair State University in New Jersey and at the junior college level.

Throughout his life, Joe has remained a tinkerer. He took an interest in computers and taught himself coding while growing up in Austin, Texas, United States. Early in his career, he wrote an oil and gas production accounting system in dBASE. Later, he set up two servers in his home office for compiling market data. When something breaks, he grabs a manual and learns how to fix it.

The key is staying flexible and following opportunities.

“I’ve taken things on as they came,” Joe says. “It’s been interesting. It’s been fun. It’s been stressful.” 

Watch on YouTube:
• Faculty Spotlight: Joe Byers, PhD (2:57)
• High-quality Students (0:24)
• “A Rigorous Program” (0:30)