Staff Profiles<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/06\/Luc_Marest.jpg” _builder_version=”4.9.10″ _module_preset=”default” alt=”Luc Marest” title_text=”Luc Marest” sticky_enabled=”0″ align=”center” border_color_all=”#000000″ border_width_all=”1px”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.10″ text_font=”Open Sans||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Building Futures: Luc Marest<\/strong><\/p>\nTeaching Hands-On Finance<\/p>\n
In November 2017 three QC students placed first in TD Ameritrade\u2019s annual virtual stock market challenge, turning their initial simulated investment into more than $2.6 million–a gain of 427 percent. They trounced 930 other teams, including second-place Columbia University, winning–in real money–$3,000 each and $30,000 for the college. The students had all been urged to participate by Professor Luc Marest (Economics).\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOur good students are really good–at the Ivy League level–and some are brilliant,\u201d says Marest, who wants to boost participation in national contests sponsored by TD, Bloomberg LP, and other financial firms and organizations. \u201cThrough these competitions, students apply theory to real life,\u201d he says, explaining that participants have to learn how to use the news and organize and analyze complex data in order to make wise buy-sell trading decisions. \u201cMaking money is a very difficult task,\u201d he says. \u201cThis hands-on experience is a huge advantage for students in a very competitive job market.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nMarest himself has the kind of international experience favored by high-powered finance corporations, but he has happily changed career paths, teaching at QC since fall 2015. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nRaised in a small town 30 miles from Paris, Marest is the son of a French business executive-turned-senator. After earning a master\u2019s degree in civil engineering, he worked for three years as project manager for the construction of two large residential buildings in Paris. \u201cIn time I realized that an MBA would open up my options,\u201d says Marest. \u201cAnd I was fascinated by the U.S.,\u201d he adds, noting that its business schools were regarded as better than those in Europe. He applied to Yale School of Management, earning his master\u2019s degree with a concentration in finance. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nDay trading for a Wall Street hedge fund provided him with four years of experience in the field but ultimately led to soul searching. \u201cI evaluated what I really wanted to do in life. I knew I wanted to stay in New York, and I knew I loved teaching,\u201d says Marest, who trained and developed explanatory materials for new traders and would later be named Instructor of the Year by Berlitz for his French language teaching in New York. Turning to academia, he went on to receive a fellowship from the CUNY Graduate Center to teach at QC while earning a PhD in economics. For extra income, he taught as an adjunct at Hunter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nQC\u2019s diverse student body is very appealing to Marest, who also teaches at a Shanghai university with ties to QC. \u201cI see so many ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds here,\u201d says Marest, whose students form their own teams for national competitions. \u201cIt\u2019s very satisfying to see people with roots from anywhere in the world developing friendships and coming together to solve concrete problems. This is amazing to witness.\u201d He also marvels at the energy and determination of students who manage to hold one or two jobs. \u201cI had a student from Mali who drives a taxi at night and attended my class. When does he sleep?\u201d he asks.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nMarest gladly shares his Wall Street experience and market insights with students who, not surprisingly, sometimes turn to him for advice before job interviews. \u201cThere is nothing more rewarding for a teacher than to see students learn, evolve, and establish themselves,\u201d says Marest, who serves as faculty advisor to both the Economics & Business Club and the Trading & Investment Club.<\/span>
Intermediate finance and investment analysis courses are Marest\u2019s primary focus, but he also has taught in the risk management master\u2019s program. Last year he co-taught a case study class in investment banking with QC alum Len Schutzman \u201967, the former CFO of PepsiCo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nIn Marest\u2019s opinion, a great challenge for all college teachers today is helping students develop critical thinking skills, which aren\u2019t emphasized in prior schooling. \u201cParticipating in competitive activities makes students aware that they have to do their own thinking to succeed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\nIn spring 2016 the Economics Department and the Economics & Business Club created a trading competition for QC students that has taken place every semester. Marest\u2019s goals are ambitious: to increase participation from 75-90 to 200-300 students, drawing from more majors. He also hopes to develop a course in trading; help to create \u201ca community and culture of traders\u201d; and build more relationships with QC grads on Wall Street who can offer internships to promising students.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m very fortunate to have strong support from the administration for my work and goals,\u201d says Marest, who cites the president and provost, the Social Sciences Division, the Economics Department and the Center for Teaching and Learning, the latter embracing student trading activities as experiential education, key to the CTL mission.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve liked Queens College since I taught here as an adjunct–the campus, the programs, the students. I am a U.S. citizen now and I will stay here all my life,\u201d he says. At QC, Marest\u2019s worldly background and personal desire for international experiences have found fertile ground.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Name: Luc Marest Title: Visiting Assistant Professor Department: Economics Degree(s): PhD, Economics, CUNY Graduate Center; MBA, Finance, Yale School of Management; Master\u2019s in Civil Engineering, \u00c9cole Sp\u00e9ciale des Travaux Publics Contact Information: Phone: 718-997-5455 Office: Powdermaker 306B Email: luc.marest@qc.cuny.edu “Our good students are really good–at the Ivy League level–and some are brilliant.”- Luc Marest Student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"page_category":[],"wf_page_folders":[137],"class_list":["post-1375","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1375"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1935,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1375\/revisions\/1935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=1375"},{"taxonomy":"wf_page_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_page_folders?post=1375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}