Chris Kelliher ‘94
I always say I was my best self at Atrium School. When I look back on my time there, I remember the strong friendships and comfort level exploring and questioning as part of the learning process. At a young age, I developed a deep passion for learning that has continued into my adult life. When it came time to decide where my first grader would attend, Atrium was the obvious choice. I am excited she will experience the thoughtful and unique educational experience that I did.
At an early age, I was always interested in math, logic, and solving problems. The Atrium cultivated this side of me, equipping me not only with the skills to tackle these problems, but with a creative mindset and willingness to try different things. I learned that failure is simply a suggestion to try something another way. This agile mindset enabled me to ultimately flourish even as the problems got more challenging.
When I was introduced to the field of finance and financial markets, I was immediately fascinated with the dynamic and quantitative nature of markets. In quant finance, I uncovered a place where I could apply my passion for math in a context where I could likewise apply a creative and project-based approach to my work. I recognize these as pillars of the foundation that I built at the Atrium. My journey in quant finance has taken me on many stops, from graduate study at NYU to a career in quantitative finance beginning in the hedge fund world and ultimately leading me to a Quantitative Research role at Fidelity Investments.
A third pillar of the foundation the Atrium School instilled in me is the importance of community and sense of responsibility to that community. While in quant finance, I had ignited a passion that underpinned my career, the principles that I had learned at the Atrium inspired me to want to have a greater social impact and a stronger sense of purpose. This led me to pursue a secondary career in academia, where I was afforded the opportunity to teach at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
Now, on the other end of the spectrum, as a Professor in the Mathematical Finance program, I view the Atrium with an even deeper appreciation and in turn, have attempted to infuse much of the Atrium's learning mindset in my curriculum. This means employing a project-based mindset that permeates all aspects of my courses, where students are asked and empowered to conduct independent research and answer open-ended questions, requiring them to own all decisions along the way. I have enjoyed teaching with this methodology. This past year, in an attempt to make quantitative finance more accessible to fellow aspiring quants and to broaden my impact in the industry, I authored an introductory textbook designed to provide an intuitive, hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of quant finance.
I am truly grateful to have had the opportunity to go to the Atrium, and for the foundation that it laid for me that I have built upon over the years. I am even more grateful to be able to provide this same opportunity to my daughter.