Kent Belasco

Director, Commercial Banking Program

Associate Professor of Practice - Finance and Banking

Dr. Kent Belasco has 37 years experience in banking and consulting with companies such as Citicorp, Exchange National Bank, Deloitte and Touche, and First Midwest Bank.  Dr. Belasco was formerly the Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Operations Officer for First Midwest Bank, N.A. based in Itasca, Illinois, responsible for all facets of information technology, facilities, and operations.  He has extensive experience in productivity, project and general management, and information systems technology, and is the author of several publications in these areas, including: Bank Productivity (1990), Earnings Enhancement Handbook for Financial Institutions (1991), Managing Bank Conversions (1996), and Bank Systems Management (1998), Branch Administration Management Service and Controlling Operating Costs, Managing in the Age of Information (1998), and Increasing Profitability and Growth:  A blueprint for thriving in the financial crisis (2012).  He holds multiple degrees and certifications including a BA from Lake Forest College, an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and a doctorate in business education from Northern Illinois University. He also is a certified public accountant, licensed in Illinois, certified financial planner, and chartered financial consultant.  Dr. Belasco has conducted numerous speaking engagements, domestic and international, on various management and information technology topics. He has taught at the Bank Administration Institute’s graduate schools of banking and operations/technology. Dr. Belasco has taught undergraduate and graduate level Finance courses at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois for the past 14 years and is presently the Director of the Banking Program and Associate Professor of Practice in Finance and Banking at Marquette University.

Education

• Doctor of Education (Ed.D) Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill.
• Master of Business Administration (MBA) Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, Lake Forest, Ill.
• Bachelor of Arts (BA) Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ill.
• Associate of Arts (AA) Lake County College, Grayslake, Ill.

Professional Affiliations

• American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
• Project Management Institute (PMI)

Professional Interests

• Banking and Finance
• Financial modeling
• Project Management
• Information Technology
• Corporate efficiency

Selected Publications

See CV for full list (key books and articles listed below):

Bank Productivity (Bankers Publishing)

Increasing Profitability and Growth: A blueprint for thriving in the financial crisis (Sheshunoff)

Managing in the Age of Information (Sterlinghouse Publishing)

Financial Institution Staffing (McGraw-Hill)

"The Professionalization of Commercial Banking," Illinois Banker Magazine (8/2016)

Honors and Awards

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
• Certified Financial Planner (CFP
• Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFc) 
• Distinguished Alumnus, College of Lake County, 1994
• Beta Gamma Sigma, National Honor Society for Collegiate Schools of Business, 1994.
• Beta Alpha Psi, Accounting Honors Fraternity, DePaul University, 1984.
• Sigma Iota Epsilon, Management Honors Fraternity, Northern Illinois University, 1993.