Dr. D. Brian Blank is an assistant professor of finance at Mississippi State University. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business, where he developed expertise researching corporate finance and governance. Blank's dissertation focused on corporate political contributions. He has published in journals including the Journal of Corporate Finance, European Financial Management, Financial Review, the Journal of Financial Research and the Journal of Housing Research. Blank also received the 2016 American Accounting Association Ohio Region Meeting Andrews Best Paper Award. He has received invitations to present his research at conferences such as the Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association, European Financial Management Association Annual Meeting and the American Real Estate Society Annual Meetings. Dr. Brandy Hadley is an associate professor of finance and the David A. Thompson Distinguished Scholar of Applied Investments at Appalachian State University. She earned her Ph.D in Finance from the University of Tennessee with a Collateral in Economics. She teaches courses in FinTech & InsureTech, Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling & Valuation, and Investments. In addition, she has facilitated executive training in Data Analytics & Programming as a Teaching & Research Fellow with the Center for Analytics Research & Education at Appalachian State. Dr. Hadley is an active researcher in the areas of Corporate Governance and Political Financial Influence. Her 16 research articles have been published in the Journal of Corporate Finance, The Financial Review, European Financial Management, Managerial Finance, the Journal of Applied Financial Research, and the Journal of Financial and Economic Practice, among other academic and trade journals, earning four Best Paper Awards. In addition, she has made over 35 presentations at national and international industry conferences and has contributed as a financial expert to outlets such as MarketWatch, Bloomberg, and The Conversation.