By Caroline Barnhill
As the Poole College of Management expands to include new and emerging industries, having professionals with unique insight into those industries is critical. It’s one of the reasons individuals like Amir Mehr are appointed part of the college’s Advisory Board.
Mehr, who graduated from the college with an accounting degree in 1992, has served on the Poole College Advisory Board since 2019. He brings with him nearly 30 years of experience working in the financial services industry across New York and London in fixed income capital markets. Since 2015, he has worked for Kensington Mortgages as portfolio strategy, credit and analytics director where he is responsible for credit risk and policy, asset management and portfolio strategy, as well as analytics.
During his time on the board, Mehr has provided valuable insight into the world of data analytics and finance – two key areas for the college.
“My background is in finance is coupled with heavy analytics background – particularly using analytics for decision-making within the context of banking and finance,” Mehr shares. “I bring extensive fixed income capital market knowledge and understanding of corporate finance, which I believe is helpful to the college.”
And it couldn’t come at a better time.
“For years, a lot of businesses would make decisions based on anecdotal experience instead of a data-led approach. But if you look closely, you’ll see the companies trading at the highest levels are the ones who have really engrained data analysis throughout their organization,” Mehr explains. “Today, we’re seeing data everywhere and we have better ways of capturing it. The accessibility of data itself, the advances in tools to collect and analyze the data, and the expansion of what form data can take has resulted in significant changes in the business world.”
Therefore, Mehr believes, Poole College’s embrace of areas like analytics – combined with its home within NC State – sets it apart from peer business schools.
Being a part of the broader NC State community – of which STEM is such a foundation – it makes sense that a natural extension of Poole College should be in creating analytically inclined students who are able to take advantage of the university’s strengths.
“Being a part of the broader NC State community – of which STEM is such a foundation – it makes sense that a natural extension of Poole College should be in creating analytically inclined students who are able to take advantage of the university’s strengths,” Mehr says. “It’s nice when you can marry the culture of the university overall with what’s happening within the business school.”
Mehr’s dedication to the future of the college doesn’t just come from his own prior education and professional experience. He’s a father of three children – two of which are currently enrolled at Poole. His oldest son is studying supply chain management and his daughter is planning on double majoring in finance and political science. His third child is still in high school.
“From my vantage point, if Poole continues to capitalize on key industries like supply chain management and data analytics, the college will continue to make a name for itself going forward,” he concludes.
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