The Center for Integrated Health and Wellness selected Amit Bansal to lead the team because of his rich and diverse background in finance and banking.
He grew up in Agra, India, received a bachelor’s degree in electrical and communications engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Manipal, and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering and an MBA from OSU. While earning his MBA, Bansal was an intern at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
His industry experience includes corporate banking with ABN Amro Bank in Chicago and New York City, and later as assistant vice president of institutional equity sales at a broker-dealer firm with offices in those cities. He has also established a business relationship with New York City-based broker-dealer Third Seven Capital to explore cross-border M&A and financing for small companies in India and the U.S.
Bansil has called Stillwater home for most of the past five years, teaching finance courses for Spears Business.
What is the Center for Financial Wellness?
The Center for Financial Wellness is a new center designed to significantly improve the financial literacy of Spears Business graduates and OSU students more broadly. The center will promote financial literacy programs in high schools and the community.
Why did you accept this role as a leadership center?
I have always been a strong supporter of financial literacy. Even when I was an adjunct instructor in the Finance Department, I conducted financial literacy workshops for the master’s students in the Spears Business Ph. Residential Life students and faculty, as well as high school students. When the opportunity arose, I accepted the offer so that we could promote financial literacy not only to our students, but also to our staff and community members.
What is your vision and goals for the center?
The center’s vision is to provide students, faculty and staff with financial education and tools to help them make informed financial decisions, achieve financial independence and succeed. It will also provide financial well-being education in Oklahoma high schools and communities.
Why should Oregon State University business students be interested in the center and its goals?
Many college students have student loans and excessive credit card debt. A significant number of students are struggling financially and are not prepared for financial emergencies, let alone a stable retirement. The Center will provide students with one-on-one financial counseling to help educate them on personal finance and saving and investing now and after graduation.
What would you like to see the Center accomplish in 5 and 10 years?
In five years, I hope to have 100 percent of Spears Business graduates financially literate, a high percentage of OSU graduates financially literate, and all faculty and staff financially literate enough to support their children’s education, their own retirement, and build generational wealth. in 10 years, I hope to have 100 percent of the Center’s financially literate graduates each year, allowing Oklahoma’s 100,000 citizens and its 37 federally recognized Native American tribes to receive high-quality financial literacy education and training.
