Harvard Business Schoolのファイナンス部門にて教授を務め、ファイナンス、インパクト投資、ESG投資、ソーシャルエンタープライズ、ベースオブザピラミッドの為の事業などについて指導する。また、研究分野として米国や途上国におけるマイクロファイナンス、マイクロインシュランス、携帯電話を用いた農業・財務教育などについてリサーチを行い数々の賞を受賞。Massachusetts Institute of Technologyにて経済学のPh.Dを取得。

Shawn Cole is a professor in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches and conducts research on financial services, social enterprise, and impact investing.

Much of his research examines corporate and household finance in emerging markets, with a focus on insurance, credit, and savings. He has also done extensive work on financial education in the US and emerging markets. His recent research focuses on designing and delivering advice and education over mobile phones, with an emphasis on agricultural and financial management.

At HBS, he has taught FIN1 and FIN2 in the core curriculum, Business at the Base of the Pyramid, and courses on impact investing, as well various executive education courses. He currently teaches the PhD development sequence in the department of Economics.

He received a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005, where he was an NSF and Javits Fellow, and an A.B. in Economics and German Literature from Cornell University. His work on insurance earned the 2015 "Shin Research Excellence Award;" in 2015 he was also named given a “Faculty Pioneer Award” from the Aspen Institute.