In addition to her role as an active researcher, Dr. Petrova is a distinguished expert in real estate and corporate governance, accumulating over 20 years of experience in the field. She has provided consultancy services to investment professionals globally, spanning the USA, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Dr. Petrova’s advisory expertise includes the development, acquisition, and disposition of various commercial real estate assets, M&As involving valuation and post-merger integration, corporate restructuring, and business plan evaluation. She has also been instrumental as an advisor in establishing REITs and implementing tax-deferred exchanges.

Prior to her academic career, Dr. Petrova gained experience in management consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton and project finance at Finnvera. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida, USA; master’s degrees from Hofstra University, USA, and Aalto University, Finland; and post-graduate certificates in industrial management from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, Fintech from Oxford University, the UK, and Applied Machine Learning from Columbia University, USA.

Professor O’Keefe is the 17th person in ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ history to hold the title of University Professor. A longtime public administrator, national security expert and aerospace industry executive, Professor O’Keefe has served in several top leadership positions in the U.S. government, higher education and industry.

Along with the faculty appointments, Professor O’Keefe will play a leadership role in building Maxwell’s partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), including research collaboration, expanding programming and executive education.

Professor O’Keefe’s expertise ranges over a variety of subjects like public management, national security policy and strategy, public finance and public budgeting, financial management, technology development and innovation management, executive leadership, looking ahead with military spending, threat of foreign affairs and terror, space and aviation, and procurement policies.

He is the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Airbus Group Inc. Immediately prior to joining Airbus, O’Keefe served as a vice president of the General Electric Company following his service as chancellor of Louisiana State University.  On four separate occasions, O’Keefe served as a presidential appointee. Prior to leading LSU, he was administrator of NASA. Earlier, he was deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House. He also served as secretary of the Navy, following service as comptroller and CFO of the Defense Department.  He began his career after graduate studies at Maxwell as a member of the inaugural class of Presidential Management Intern program, and later joined the US Senate Appropriations Committee staff.