Maria Ogneva

Assistant Professor of Accounting

Age: 31

Institution: Stanford Graduate School of Business

Hometown: Moscow, Russia

Marital Status: Married

Children: Son, Aleksey, 4 years old

Education: University of Southern California, PhD, Accounting

Moscow State University, MS, Economics

Moscow State University, BS, Economics

Courses Taught: Financial Accounting

At Stanford since: 2008

Before Stanford: PhD student at the University of Southern California

Fun Fact: “I enjoy backpacking and I once spent a week in the summer above the Arctic Circle. It was daylight the entire time.”

Fresh out of her doctoral program at the University of Southern California, Maria Ogneva joined the Stanford Graduate School of Business. A year later she found herself teaching 57 Sloan Fellows in Stanford’s Sloan Masters Program. Just over 30 years old, she stood before a group of mid-career professionals and managers, teaching (of all things) financial accounting. Although it was her first time teaching in the program, it didn’t appear that way. Professor Ogneva excelled, earning praises from her students who then honored her with the 2010 Sloan Teaching Excellence Award. Upon accepting the recognition, she modestly turned the attention back to her students, stating, “This class would not have been a success without you.”

Aside from her teaching excellence, Ogneva displays thought leadership through her investigative look at the economic consequences of financial reporting; specifically, poor financial reporting. Her research seeks to uncover the effect of financial reporting quality on cost of equity financing. Ogneva’s work has also yielded an innovative accounting approach to estimating firm’s cost of capital that combines methods originating from research with industry valuation practices.

Students Say:

“We appreciated that she cared about our learning and worried about us when she thought we weren’t keeping up.”

Students also praise Professor Ogneva for soliciting feedback and constantly fine tuning her teaching to meet student needs.

Maria Ogneva is among “The World’s 40 Best B-School Profs Under the Age of 40“