Lamont Black, Ph.D.

Blockchain is an emerging technology that has the potential to transform financial services. In this session, we will discuss the basic features of blockchain technology and how it works.  This will cover aspects such as the distributed ledger and the consensus mechanism.  The focus will then shift to potential applications of blockchain in financial services.  There are numerous opportunities being explored by financial markets and institutions, including applications in insurance.

Lamont Black is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University in Chicago and the Academic Director for DePaul’s Center for Financial Services. He has taken an active role in the development of fintech and blockchain initiatives at DePaul.

Dr. Black teaches graduate courses on commercial banking and capital markets in the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul.  He also teaches money and banking at the undergraduate level. His main research interests are in the areas of financial institutions and small business finance.    His research has been published in several journals, including Journal of Financial Intermediation and Journal of Banking and Finance.  He is also a co-organizer of the annual Chicago Financial Institutions Conference.  Prior to joining the faculty of DePaul, Dr. Black was an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. from 2005 to 2013.  Dr. Black received a Ph.D. in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, as well as a Ph.D. in Economics.