BUCKHANNON W.Va. – West Virginia Wesleyan College announced recently that this year’s Frank Bayard/Kumaran Nair Economics Forum will be held virtually on Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m. and will center around ‘Global Financial Stability in a Changing World.’

David Parker ‘78, a former official at the International Monetary Fund who is an expert on financial and banking crises, will headline the lecture, which will focus on the impact of financial stability and bank resolution on world events and regional instability; how economic stimulus, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, impact global finance; as well as the role of the IMF in maintaining financial stability. 

Dr. Tuan Le, Associate Professor of Economics, will moderate the virtual conversation, which is presented by the College’s Thomas H. Albinson School of Business and the Office of Development. This event is free and open to the public; to attend, RSVP to alumni@wvwc.edu.

“Whether it was the housing market crash in 2008 or the coronavirus global health pandemic, this is a timely opportunity to examine and discuss the response to these global events and the impacts to global finance,” Le said. “David Parker will bring a unique perspective to this virtual conversation, with a wide-ranging set of experiences and expertise from Buckhannon to Bishkek.”

Parker, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from WVWC, has more than 35 years of experience with bank resolution, deposit insurance and crisis management. 

“I look forward to engaging with Wesleyan students around these important topics that will impact and shape our communities and world for years to come,” Parker said. 

Before serving at the IMF as a Senior Financial Sector Expert in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Parker worked for the United States Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance as the Resident Banking Adviser for Yugoslavia’s Federal Agency for Deposit Insurance, Bank Rehabilitation, Bankruptcy and Liquidation. Furthermore, he worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Resolution Trust Corporation for 17 years as FDIC Regional Manager for Operations in Atlanta, Georgia and as Senior Resolutions Specialist for RTC. He is the author of “Closing a Failed Bank – Resolution Practices and Procedures.” 

The Bayard/Nair Economics Forum was established by gifts from alumni to honor two of Wesleyan’s faculty members. Professor Bayard was a professor of economics from 1967 to 1983, and Professor Nair served as a professor of economics from 1969 to 1995. Both were passionate about economics and teaching.