Written by Nicholas Kuehl
Dr. Joe Hahn teaches FIN 357H, which is Business Finance – Honors, in the fall semester. Along with teaching FIN 357H, Dr. Hahn also teaches FIN 372, FIN 374C, and he serves as the director of the MSF (Master of Science in Finance) program. One of Dr. Hahn’s favorite parts of teaching BHP students in FIN 357H is that BHP students are usually quite inquisitive, which helps foster lively discussions in class. Also, FIN 357H is one of the only Finance classes that BHP students who aren’t also majoring in Finance will take, so Dr. Hahn enjoys challenging these students’ assumptions about Finance and exposing them to the interesting theories and applications that could apply to their own fields of study.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Hahn also partakes in research. Since his background is in petroleum engineering, a significant portion of his research is focused on commodity pricing and forecasting, and utilizing these insights in investment in both fossil fuels and renewable sources of energy. Dr. Hahn particularly enjoys research problems involving important decisions coupled with uncertainty, as modeling this uncertainty can lead to exciting insights.
Dr. Hahn began his time at UT Austin as an undergraduate majoring in petroleum engineering. However, once he graduated, the market for jobs in the energy sector wasn’t good, so he went back to school to receive a Master’s in Civil Engineering. After going to graduate school, Dr. Hahn held several jobs in the energy sector, including an environmental engineering job where he was tasked with decommissioning a cooling tower. He worked on an Acquisitions & Investiture team where he picked up economic modeling skills. Eventually, he decided to come back to UT Austin to get an MBA, and he stayed on to get a PhD. After returning to the energy industry for a year, Dr. Hahn realized that his love for working with interns could translate to working in academia, so he left the energy industry and became a professor.
If you aren’t sure about what to ask Dr. Hahn about in office hours, he says that he is willing to talk about almost anything. He loves when students ask him about his family, his background, and, of course, UT sports! He also loves to give advice, and encourages student to learn how to become good at identifying opportunities. Coming from a small town where several people discouraged him from going to UT Austin, Dr. Hahn understands the value of thinking longer-term and evaluating opportunities, and he wants BHP students to think about decisions in a similar way.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Hahn, he invites you to come by his office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. His office is CBA 6.228, which is located in CBA North, near the Hall of Honors. Dr. Hahn loves to get to know his students, and he believes his office hours are the perfect opportunity for students to get both their academic and non-academic questions answered. After all, the students that Dr. Hahn sees the most in his office hours are often the students who end up doing the best in his class, so come on by, even if you just want to chat!