Alper Koparan is an Associate Teaching Professor at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business, where he teaches and researches at the intersection of financial technology, digital assets, and global finance. His work examines central bank digital currencies, decentralized finance, and the regulatory and behavioral forces shaping how new financial technologies are adopted.
Before entering academia, Koparan spent nearly a decade with the Turkish Treasury across various roles in domestic and international debt management. He holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Kent State University, a Master of International Business from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkiye.
At Northeastern, Koparan teaches Fintech and Financial Innovation, Fintech, Financial Innovation and Blockchain, International Financial Management and Fixed-Income Securities along with graduate courses in financial management and finance electives. His research has appeared in Investment Management and Financial Innovations, The Case Journal, and Multinational Business Review.
His teaching has been recognized with the D'Amore-McKim School of Business Teaching Innovation and Excellence Award (2025) for his Blockchain and Decentralized Finance Simulations Module. He is a Faculty Innovation Fellow with the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) and a Teaching Innovation and Excellence Fellow with Northeastern's Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR).
Education
- PhD Finance, Kent State University
- MIB International Business and Finance, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
- BA Business Administration, Middle East Technical University
Awards & recognition
- Teaching Innovation & Excellence Award, D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, 2025. Awarded for the “Blockchain and Decentralized Finance Simulations Module.”
- Faculty Innovation Fellow, Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), 2025.
- Teaching Innovation and Excellence Fellow, Northeastern University CATLR, 2025.
Selected publications
- Koparan, A. Foundations of Fintech: An Introduction to Financial Innovation, Blockchain, and Digital Finance. Cognella Academic Publishing, forthcoming 2026.
- Koparan, A. (2025). Central Bank Digital Currencies: A Review of Global Trends in Adoption, Financial Inclusion, and the Role of Country Characteristics. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 22(1), 107-121.
- Koparan, A., and Koparan, I. (2025). The ConstitutionDAO: Redefining Crowdfunding in the Age of Decentralized Finance. The Case Journal.
- Koparan, I., and Koparan, A. (2025). To Go Green or Not: The Impact of Competition Intensity and Global Institutional Diversity on Multinational Enterprises' Investments in Dynamic Green Capabilities. Multinational Business Review, 33(2), 297-321.
