Terrence O'Brien Directory Page

Terrence O’Brien is an Associate Clinical Professor of Finance at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, the Faculty Director of the Private Credit Program, and an advisor in the DBA program. He primarily teaches quantitative finance courses in the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. In 2025, Terrence was awarded the Allen J. Krowe Award for Excellence in Teaching by the Smith School of Business. 

He studies empirical asset pricing specializing in fintech, cryptocurrency and machine learning. His work examines cryptocurrency exchanges manipulating trade volume and how it works to create false signals and risk to investors, as well as a negative impact on the overall market quality and investor confidence. He teaches Options and Derivatives, Fixed Income Securities, Corporate Finance, and Cryptocurrency & FinTech. Previously he was an executive for a private American company specializing in buying and selling Chinese macroeconomic and industrial government data. 

Terrence received his Ph.D. in Finance from Penn State University, and his M.S. in Finance and M.B.A. from the University of Delaware.