Dr. Mustafa U. Karakaplan

I am a financial economist at the OCC of the US Department of the Treasury. Since 2023, I have served on the OCC’s AI Tech Working Group and represented the OCC on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s AI Working Group. In the past, I held appointments at the academia including Utah State University, Georgetown University, and the University of South Carolina. I earned my PhD in economics from Texas A&M University, MA in economics from Bilkent University, and BS in economics and philosophy from METU and Tilburg University. I also completed Stanford University’s Graduate Program in Artificial Intelligence (2021–2024), specializing in financial AI and machine learning (ML).

My research interests include Banks, FinTech, Financial Stability, Corporate Finance, International Finance, Valuation, Financial AI and Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Cryptocurrencies, and Applied Econometrics. My research is published in leading peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Banking & Finance, Journal of Financial Stability, Stata Journal, Journal of Productivity Analysis, Empirical Economics, and Applied Economics. Also, I published an Elsevier research book, “The Economic and Financial Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis Around the World: Expect the Unexpected” jointly with Allen N. Berger and Raluca A. Roman.

My Google Scholar citation-count is 965 (as of July 13, 2026) and my h-index is 13.

I have extensive teaching, advising, mentoring, and supervising experience. For many semesters, I taught entry-level, advanced, and graduate-level Finance courses including Corporate Finance; Banking Practice and Policy; International Economics and Finance; and Money, Banking, and Financial Markets in a wide range of classroom settings. In the past, I was honored with a senior thesis advisor award, a student-led award for teaching excellence, an award for outstanding teaching, and a recognition for advancement. According to fifteen-year average of my student evaluations, 92% (986/1070) of my students agree with that the course was excellent, and 91% (992/1085) of my students are satisfied with me as the instructor.

I have also been a coinvestigator of a $19 million policy randomized control trial research project funded by the US federal and state agencies and private organizations. I presented this project at the annual meeting of the Allied Social Science Association (ASSA) in 2015, and my team met with the US Secretary of Education and provided legislative expert testimony to the Senate in 2016.

I greatly enjoy working together with people from diverse backgrounds, and giving speeches to international audiences. In the past, I had many opportunities to present my research at leading venues. On many occasions, I met with state and federal government officials, and private institutions to conduct research and discuss financial policies. As a career highlight, in September 2022, I gave a keynote speech jointly with co-authors to more than 30 central bank directors from around the world at the Meeting of Heads of Financial Stability.

My journey helped me develop a personal philosophy: "Happiness is helping others!" Below are some charities that I greatly admire and regularly support.