Burcu Esmer is the Academic Director at Wharton Harris Family Alternative Investments Program and a Senior Lecturer at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Esmer earned her BSc in Economics and Minor in Mathematics from the Middle East Technical University (Turkiye) with Highest Honor (Summa Cum Laude), her MA in Economics and PhD in Finance from the University of Iowa. Dr. Esmer’s primary areas of research are empirical corporate finance, banking and private equity.
Dr. Esmer is the academic director of Wharton–AltFinance Virtual Institute as well as Wharton-Girls Who Invest (GWI) Program.
Dr. Esmer also serves on the Advisory Board of Girls Who Invest (GWI).
Dr. Esmer is the recipient of Wharton Teaching Excellence Reward for the academic years 2018-2019 and 2022-2023.
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Recent Media Mentions
Dollars and Sense: How Wharton and AltFinance Carve New Opportunity, Wharton Stories, January 22 2024
Not a Single Female CEO, But Private Fund Managers Make C-Suite Moves, FundFire Alts (a Financial Times publication), December 13 2023
What is APR and How Does it Work? Guide for 2023, WalletHub, August 7 2023
Wharton Global Allocators Summit Convenes World-Class Investors, Wharton Magazine, June 20 2023
Private equity firms to invest $1 trillion in 2021, Marketplace, December 20 2021
Women in finance – has the pandemic set them back?, Wharton Business Daily, June 2 2021
How Firms Use Pre-IPO Confidentiality to Fend Off Lawsuits, Knowledge@Wharton, August 24 2020
Does Reducing Disclosure Mean Fewer Pre-IPO Lawsuits?, The CLS Blue Sky Blog, Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, June 12 2020
Girls Who Invest Scholars From 63 Colleges and Universities Secure Internships at Elite Investment Firms in U.S., Canada, UK, Business Wire, August 7 2019