Hanna Hajjar: Shifting Focus

Hanna Hajjar: Shifting Focus
Mason senior Hanna Hajjar

Hanna Hajjar arrived at George Mason University in the fall of 2014. After the conclusion of his first year Laura Powers, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Marketing Coordinator, interviewed him. Read her article about Hanna at the beginning of his Mason journey here.

As Hanna’s time at George Mason is nearing an end, the question has been asked “What has Hanna been doing since his freshman year?”

The answer is easy. Developing his investment business.

The Department of Economics at George Mason University has a reputation that reached around the world to Hanna’s hometown of Brasilia, Brazil. Knowing about Mason’s economics program and his desire to study with Mason professors influenced his decision to attend the university.

Since his freshman year, Hanna worked toward gaining new knowledge in economic theory and machine learning. While pursuing his undergraduate degree in economics, Hanna gained a better understanding of the incentives people have to take a specific action. He’s examined motivational factors, cause, consequences, and theory. With an interest in machine learning, economics, and investment, he found mentorship opportunities with various professors. This has led to opportunities to have his investment model critiqued and ultimately improved. His education inside the classroom allowed Hanna to gain new knowledge and further his passion for economics.

Hanna has taken advantages of the benefits offered by Mason including the proximity to Washington D.C. He has networked extensively around the area by connecting with local business leaders and finding mentors along the way. He had the opportunity to visit the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and meet the Brazilian Minister of Finance. During the meeting Hanna handed him one of his research papers on machine learning and pensions funds systems in Brazil. Hanna watched Christine Lagarde’s speech for the “The Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).” He traveled to London to attend a meeting at the Institute of Portfolio Management and learned from traders who manage investments for clients. With education provided inside and outside of the classroom by Mason, Hanna has gained the perspective to think like an economist.

As Hanna gears up for graduation in the spring of 2018, he is shifting his focus to his future career in investment. He plans to raise assets for his business and to think on a larger scale. He contributes his education at Mason for developing a higher-level of understanding for economics and the world around him.