Gianna Bern

Gianna Bern brings more than 25 years of experience in global corporate finance and capital markets to the Mendoza College of Business, where she has been a teaching professor in the Department of Finance since 2014. A driving force behind the launch of the Notre Dame Global Executive MBA program in 2024, Bern previously served as academic director of Mendoza’s EMBA and the Master of Science in Finance-Chicago programs, demonstrating her leadership in executive education.

Bern’s career spans leadership roles at Fitch Ratings, BP Plc and Amoco Oil, where she specialized in global energy markets, risk management and Latin American finance. As the founding principal of Brookshire Advisory and Research, she advised international clients in the energy sector. A published author of “Investing in Energy: A Primer on the Economics of the Energy Industry” and a frequent media commentator on energy economics, Bern’s insights have been featured by Bloomberg Television, BBC Radio and The Wall Street Journal.

In the Global Executive MBA program, Bern’s teaching focuses on equipping executives with the financial acumen and strategic thinking needed to navigate complex global markets. Her deep understanding of international finance and energy economics, combined with her passion for education, establishes her as a key contributor to the program’s mission of developing globally minded leaders. Recognized for her exceptional teaching, she has received multiple awards, including the Outstanding MSF Professor of the Year and recognition from Poets & Quants as a “favorite professor” of the Executive MBA Classes of 2020 and 2023.

Outside the classroom, Bern is dedicated to advancing opportunities for underserved youth through her work with the George M. Pullman Educational Foundation in Chicago.