Alumni Connections  /  Everyone Has a Story
  • Companies & Organizations
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Alumni
Home // Programs & Centers // Undergraduate Business // Our Community // Meet Our Students

Studying Finance in the Islamic Context

Sean Dalton has always wanted to work in international business, but how did his IPS take him from Williamsburg to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia?

Sean Dalton attempting to ride a racing camel in Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates.
About Me

This summer I had the opportunity to travel and intern in the Middle East. In the United Arab Emirates, I got to snowboard in the world's only indoor ski slope and attempted to ride a racing camel. While in Saudi Arabia, I also experienced 145 degree heat and was almost stung by a scorpion!

Back in the States, I've gone skydiving and jumped out of an airplane three miles above the ground, completing the fall in just forty seconds. I was also the founding member and the first team captain of my high school's rugby team, and I currently play at William & Mary.

Here at the College, my Individual Program of Study (IPS) includes being a Finance major and having an international emphasis. When I was young, my father (a William & Mary Alum and finance major) would travel around the world on business trips. He would bring back stories and different currencies from being abroad, and I decided that I wanted to do something in international business.

During my sophomore and junior years, my love of finance was really cultivated by my business professors, especially Prof. Julie Agnew, Prof. John Boschen and Prof. Gjergji Cici. Their enthusiasm for the subject matter and encouragement to pursue my interests in global financial markets has led me from "DoG Street to Wall Street" on campus to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All of these experiences are contributing to my dream of one day becoming an expert in the financial industry.

Sean Dalton competing in a rugby match against VCU.Impact & Engagement

Currently, I am one of three Portfolio Managers for the Mason Investment Club, an undergraduate equity fund that manages $20,000. I'm also a member of the Student Managed Investment Fund course, which manages $100,000. In addition to the business school and the Mason Fund, I am a member of the Kappa Delta Rho Fraternity and the William & Mary Men's Club Rugby team.

Highlights

While the Foundation Semester is one of my favorite parts of the Mason experience, my proudest moment was competing against numerous other prestigious business schools at the Michigan Interactive Investment Intercollegiate Stock Pitch Competition. Along with the two other portfolio managers of the Mason Investment Club, we competed and were chosen as finalists in a stock picking competition against schools including Oxford University, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia. To hear that we were finalists and had beaten out some of the best business schools in the country is a moment that really made me proud to be a student at the Mason School of Business.

Sean Dalton at the Diplomatic Zone of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he spent the summer interning and doing research.Next Steps

Because of my interest in global finance, I recently returned from a research trip and internship in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Through this experience, I had the opportunity to study Islamic banking and finance from finance and religious experts. Being one of very few westerners and even fewer western undergraduates to travel to Saudi Arabia, my research puts me at a unique advantage of understanding financial products and services from this region. I'm hoping to continue working in this area, bringing a new dimension of products and services to American customers and companies and to work as a liaison between Islamic and Western companies.