Some people are drawn to mathematics because of its certainty. Two plus two, after all, will always equal four.

But for Assistant Professor of Finance Mike Dong, the math gets more interesting when things are less certain, as in financial economics.

“I like that they're not so perfect, because you have to make a lot of assumptions to build models so you can explain things,” he said. “You can have different people having very opposite opinions on the same asset or on the same issues, and no one's right or wrong all the time.”

Exploring multiple viewpoints is a hallmark of Dong’s classroom — and one of the reasons students selected him for the 2024-25 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Graduate Core Courses.

Diverse opinions and open discussion

In voting for Dong, students said: “He clearly loves what he does and delivers a high-value course;” “he teaches a difficult subject yet makes it understandable and enjoyable;” and “he’s a solid dude!”

But Dong credits the students themselves for creating an engaging environment in his classes.

“It is wonderful for me to meet with students from such diverse backgrounds and majors and cultures,” he said. “We have a lot of international students, and we have different ethnicities of students as well. And they all have different opinions about how financial market should work or how different assets would be valued, how different companies should be valued, or how confident they are in the market and different perspectives.”

Dong often starts his class by asking students what they want to discuss — about their daily lives or topics in the news that relate to finance or economic policies.

“We have had great discussions about terrorism, about interest rates, about COVID, about where the market should go,” he said. “I think one of the reasons students like the class is because they can hear what other people's opinions are on the things that interest them.”

These discussions can reveal details and perspectives beyond numbers. Dong said he encourages the students to not just state their opinions but to build their cases, make predictions and — most importantly — to find ways to convince others.

“One of the most valuable skills in the finance industry is how persuasive you are,” he said. “A lot of things in the financial market are very hard to price. I think it's worth $20. You think it's worth $30. How do I persuade you that you are overspending on this? Or how do you persuade me that it's actually worth more than what I think?”

Putting concepts to the test

The practice of making the case for a point of view also relates to what draws Dong to teaching— as opposed to focusing strictly on research.

“I think teaching is a great way to validate your research because one of my beliefs is that you never truly understand something until you can easily explain it to other people,” he said. “And if you can get them interested in what you're talking about, it means that you truly understand it and the significance of it.”

Dong also tries to show students how what they are learning is meaningful, not just for a grade but in their own lives. For example, he created a website with financial tools for students to explore. They can apply the time value of money to calculate the payment for a mortgage or car loan. They can estimate depreciation for companies based on variable assumptions or visualize returns on investment strategies.

“I really encourage them to test it on their own and see if things work their way,” he said. “I want them to be able to form their predictions and test them out. This is a way to see whether what they're learning is true or not.”

How numbers influence behavior

Dong’s interest in the intersection of mathematics and human perspective is evident in one of his research focuses, behavioral finance. While investor sentiment clearly is influential on the financial market, he is considering exploring the flip side: how market fluctuations influence real- life decisions — like buying a lottery ticket.

“So one thing you could imagine when everybody’s happy, the S&P 500 is going way up, everybody's earning money, they feel wealthier, they feel more confident, and they feel optimistic, and that's when they might take on risk,” he said. “What things are safely risked outside the financial markets? Well, it’s gambling, it’s lottery tickets. When I have time, I might look at speeding tickets as well.”

In the end, two plus two still equals four. But human perspective remains important. That’s why Dong encourages open discussion and debate in his classroom.

“I think math is interesting from the start because it can quantify things, but the story is equally important,” he said. “You can have different people having very opposite opinions on the same asset or on the same issues.”

And there’s a larger lesson there beyond finance, Dong said.

“We need to have more conversations in general between people with different opinions,” he said. “We need to sit down with people with different opinions to talk about it, to understand each other more.”