Before joining the Catholic University of America Nick Schmitz spent a decade on Wall Street. He was as Partner and Portfolio Manager in charge of two successful Japanese funds at Verdad Advisers, a quantitative hedge fund. His work involved regular, direct and on-the-ground friendly engagement with his portfolio holdings in Tokyo. Before joining Verdad, Nick worked at Goldman Sachs as an Investment Banker. Nick served as a Captain and Infantry Platoon Commander in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan and taught on the Political Science Faculty at the US Naval Academy. Nick started his professional career when he dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Marine Corps as a Private when he was 17. He earned a BS from the US Naval Academy, a Masters of Philosophy from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Nick has also published academic articles on constitutional law, drafted amicus briefs, and testified before Congress on his research.