Michael Kender

Biography

Michael Kender has been teaching Finance at Virginia Tech since 2009.  He has taught a variety of courses at both the undergraduate and MBA level, including Introduction to Finance, Corporate Finance, Fixed Income, Asset Valuation, and Venture Capital and Investment Banking.  He also serves as a Career Advisor for the Finance Department’s students, coordinates and teaches the department’s introductory Survey of Finance Careers course, and oversees the department’s company and alumni speaker series. Mr. Kender won the university’s William Wine Award for outstanding teaching in 2022 and won the university’s Award for Excellence in Career Advising in 2023.

Mr. Kender came to Virginia Tech after retiring as a Managing Director from Citigroup, where he spent 16 years as a debt analyst, covering high yield bonds and leveraged loans in the automotive, building, and industrial sectors. In addition to his role as an analyst, Mr. Kender also headed the firm’s High Yield Debt Research department between 2001 and 2005. From 2005 through his retirement in 2008, Mr. Kender headed Citigroup’s Loan Analysis and Strategy group, which provided analytical support for the firm’s loan sales and trading business and its clients.

Prior to joining Citigroup, Mr. Kender worked as an investment banker for Thomson McKinnon and TM Capital (a firm formed by Thomson McKinnon investment bankers), where he worked on a variety of corporate financings, mergers, and acquisitions.  He began his career as a financial analyst and process engineer at Allied-Signal (now Honeywell) in Morristown, New Jersey and Richmond, Virginia.

Education & Certification

M.B.A., University of Virginia, 1987

B.S., Virginia Polytechnic and State University, 1983

Additional Information

Professional Achievements 

While working at Citigroup and its predecessor firms, Mr. Kender was named to Institutional Investor magazine’s annual Fixed Income Research All-America Research team every year between 1995 and 2004, winning recognition in multiple categories during most of those years. In addition, Mr. Kender’s team at Citigroup was twice rated #1 among sell-side firms for loan trade ideas in Credit Investment News’ annual loan market poll.

Service Related Contributions

As a faculty member and alumnus, Mr. Kender has served Virginia Tech in multiple ways. He is currently serving as a Career Advisor for the Finance Department and chairs the department's Career Planning and Placement Committee. In addition, he serves on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committees for both the Finance Department and the Pamplin College of Business and is a faculty advisor for two Virginia Tech student organizations: the Finance Club and the Investment Banking Group. 

Mr. Kender is also very actively involved in expanding the university’s presence and alumni network in New York City, including helping to organize and grow the annual “Hokies on Wall Street” alumni event. Away from Finance, Mr. Kender has served on the Board of Directors of Virginia Tech’s Alumni Association, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering’s Advisory Board, and the Chemical Engineering Department’s Advisory Board. He is also a member of Virginia Tech’s Ut Prosim Society and the College of Engineering’s Committee of 100.