Finance
PHD Students
William Blake Daniels
Email: wdanie13@vols.utk.edu
Blake Daniels is a first-year finance Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. His research interests include financial applications of organizational and behavioral economics. Prior to his doctoral studies, Daniels worked as a forensic economist at a boutique consulting firm where he prepared economic damage valuations for use in litigation.
Tim Dong
Email: tdong3@vols.utk.edu
Tim Dong is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Finance at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. With a background in programming and computational finance, he brings prior experience as an audit intern and part-time consultant at a hedge fund. His research explores cryptoeconomics, decentralized finance and trust in financial systems, using tools such as game theory and econometrics. Dong’s work has been accepted at several crypto-focused conferences, and he is currently on the job market.
Zyaire Li
Email: zli100@vols.utk.edu
Zhengzhuo (Zyaire) Li is a fifth-year finance Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. His interdisciplinary background informs his empirical research on corporate governance and executive decision-making. Li’s research seeks to uncover how leadership choices are shaped by governance structures, incentives and personal experience. Li’s work has been presented at major conferences, and he is excited to present at the upcoming 2026 AFA Annual Meeting.
Lan Nie
Email: lnie@vols.utk.edu
Lan Nie is a first-year finance Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Liaoning University in China, as well as a master’s degree in finance analytics from King’s College London. Her deep interest in empirical finance motivated her to pursue a doctorate and contribute to academic research.
Wenxuan (Laura) Sun
Email: wsun22@vols.utk.edu
Wenxuan Sun is a fourth-year finance Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business. Her research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance, innovation and labor and finance. Sun’s work has been accepted for presentation at multiple conferences, and her current projects explore how regulations and governance affect corporate investment and strategic decisions. Before beginning Haslam’s finance Ph.D. program, Sun gained industry experience as an auditor and credit analyst.