Mathematical finance has emerged as a trans-disciplinary area of research. This is characteristic of a new trend in science that categorizes research problems by their level of complexity rather than by traditional disciplinary boundaries. This talk will provide an overview of some of the theoretical issues in derivatives risk management. Topics covered will include stochastic processes and econophysics.

Vasilios ("Bill") Koures has a Ph.D. in theoretical high-energy physics. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D., he worked in the oil industry in exploration geophysics. He then returned to academia, where he taught at the University of Utah and performed research in theoretical and computational physics. After a stint in the defense industry, Bill moved to New York and began working in derivatives research. He worked on various derivatives risk management projects, including interest rates, credit risk, equities, FX, energies, and other commodities. His more recent positions include VP in derivatives research on the Global Commodities desk at J.P. Morgan and Executive Director and Head of Quantitative Research at Mitsui Energy Risk Management, Ltd. At present, Bill lives in Montana, where he founded the Intermountain Institute for Science and Applied Mathematics (IISAM). This institute performs cross-disciplinary research in applied math along with consulting and educational outreach programs. Bill also runs his own trading company: Quantitative Trading LLC.