AUC mourns Associate Dean Stephen Everhart

The American University in Cairo today remembers colleague Dr. Stephen Everhart as a remarkable and driven scholar, intent upon raising the bar for business education and entrepreneurship in Egypt and other developing nations.

Dr. Everhart, associate professor of finance and associate dean for undergraduate studies and administration at the School of Business, was killed yesterday morning in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near his car as he was returning to the US Embassy compound from meetings at a Baghdad university. He was on a short-term consultancy to USAID devoted to developing entrepreneurship education in Iraqi university schools of business and commerce.

AUC President Lisa Anderson addressed the tragedy today: “The entire AUC community mourns the tragic and untimely death of Dr. Stephen Everhart. A dedicated member of our community and a model representative of our University, Steve worked with skill, humor and unflagging devotion to utilize the resources of AUC to nurture entrepreneurs and business leaders across the Middle East, and particularly, of course, in Egypt. His infectious enthusiasm, his curiosity, passion and wisdom made him a skilled alliance-builder and formidable advocate for business as an engine of growth and prosperity in the developing world.

This loss is felt throughout the University. Steve’s warmth and intelligence, his affection for his students and colleagues, and the contributions he had already begun to make to a better Egypt will all be deeply missed.”

Dr. Everhart joined the faculty of The American University in Cairo in September 2008 and was named Associate Dean of the School of Business the following June. Previously, he served as Managing Director of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in Washington DC, part of the team managing a $14 billion portfolio invested exclusively in emerging markets. 

Prior to joining OPIC as the Director of Risk Management, he held a number of senior positions within the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation ( IFC), advising on energy policy, taxation, and financial risk in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, México, Russia, and Venezuela. He also taught at the World Bank Institute. The financial vulnerability models he developed for the central banks in México and Lithuania are still in use today. He began his career in 1979 on Wall Street, working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and subsequently held analyst/portfolio manager positions with EF Hutton, Merrill Lynch, and Pru-Bache Securities.

Dr. Everhart earned a B.S. and M.S. in Finance from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He has published in the American Economic Review, Applied Economics, the World Bank Policy Research Paper Series, the International Finance Corporation Discussion Paper Series, Housing Finance International, Journal of the National Tax Association, Southern Banker, Small Business Economics, the Quarterly Monetary Review of the Central Bank of Lithuania, and contributed chapters in a number of books. Recent publications include a review of green energy finance and the link to sovereign wealth funds.

A founding investor of Bank Meridian in Hilton Head, SC, Dr. Everhart also served on the Editorial Board of Banking and Finance Review, and as reviewer for Applied Economics. He was a member of the American Finance Association, the Global Association of Risk Professionals, the Professional Risk Managers' International Association, and the American Economic Association.

The University will hold a memorial remembrance in the fall.