Dr. Ashvin Vibhakar has been appointed to the prestigious Joe T. Ford Chair of Finance position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business.

Alltel Corp. established the Joe T. Ford chair in honor of Joe Ford, one of the company’s co-founders.

In his new position, Vibhakar will collaborate with the Arkansas business community to determine new curriculum opportunities in finance and accounting. He also will create a student-based business ethics event, and he will work with students for the CFA Global Challenge, an international event that provides students with financial analysis mentoring and training.

Vibhakar previously served as managing director and executive sponsor of the CFA Institute’s Future of Finance Initiative. Prior to that, he was managing director of Asia Pacific for the CFA Institute and resided in Hong Kong for about five years.

Before 2007, Vibhakar was a 27-year UALR faculty member, holding numerous positions within the College of Business.