Black is also the Academic Director for the Center for Financial Services. Prior to joining the faculty of DePaul, Black was an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. His main research interests are in the areas of banking, corporate finance, and macroeconomics. Current research projects analyze commercial real-estate securitization and the spillover of financial shocks through the banking system. His research has been published in several journals, including Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Banking and Finance and Journal of Financial Stability. He has served as a referee for the Review of Financial Studies and Management Science among other journals. In his work on banking policy, he contributed to issues including incentive compensation, bank liquidity requirements, and European banking.