Mark Antonio Awada, PhD
Chief Innovation and Digital Strategy Officer
26 Years Industry Experience
Mark Antonio Awada, PhD, joined Brown Capital Management in
August 2025 to lead the firm’s innovation and digital strategy, including the
firmwide integration of AI. He holds both a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Master
of Science degree in theoretical physics from Imperial College, London.
Mark took on the CIDSO role after spending nearly two years
consulting for Brown Capital as data scientist leading the firm’s digital
infrastructure and AI efforts. Before working with Brown Capital, he spent more
than 25 years in the asset management industry bringing innovative, quantitative
approaches to portfolio management, risk management and systematic trading.
Previous firms he has worked for include Balyasny Asset Management, Dresdner
Kleinwort, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Chase and Morgan Stanley.
Mark’s most recent academic-related work includes leading AI
efforts for the Harvard Business School (HBS) Dean’s office. He was also Chief Data
Scientist at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard University (LISH),
and Head of Research and Data Science at HBS’s Digital-Data-Design Institute. Mark
began his career in theoretical physics, including doing postdoctoral work for
Prof. Stephen Hawking at the University of Cambridge, U.K. He has taught in the
Masters Extension Program at Harvard University, as well as at Florida Atlantic
University and the Max Planck Institute in Florida.