Department News
Professor Drake's Book Published by John Wiley & Sons
| The Complete CFO Handbook: From Accounting to Accountability, by Frank J. Fabozzi, Pamela Peterson Drake and Ralph Polimeni, has been published by John Wiley & Sons [ISBN: 978-0-470-09925-1]. In this book, the authors address the changing role of the corporate CFO, from the traditional accounting function to the current role that involves the corporate strategy and accountability to investors and regulators.
Topics covered include the implicaitons of Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, capital structure, structured financing, strategy, risk management, financial analysis, performance measurement, transfer pricing, costing, budgeting, and capital budgeting. |
Faculty participation at the Financial Management Association annual meeting
In October 2007, several faculty members attended the annual meeting of the FMA, an international association of fiannce academics and practitioners.
- Jason Fink and Kristin Fink, along with Michael Albert, a doctotral student Duke University and JMU alumnus, presented their paper entitled "Adaptive Mesh Modeling and Barrier Option Pricing Under a Jump-Diffusion Process";
- Jonathan Godbey and Elias Semaan discussed papers of colleagues at other schools; and
- Pamela Peterson Drake was a panelist on a session entitled "Finance faculty mentoring: How important is it?", chaired a session, and discussed a paper of another colleague.
Faculty awards
Congratulations to Elias Semaan and Daphayne Thomas, who have been recognized for their efforts at the recent College of Business luncheon. Elias Semaan, assistant professor in finance, received the Dr. Otto G. Brenner Memorial Award in recognition for his teaching excellence. Daphayne Thomas, professor of business law, received the Community Service Award, along with faculty members Harry Reif and Tom Dillon, in recognition of their work with the CyberCity summer program.
Success on the CFA Level I exam
Jonathan Godbey, Daniel Bise, Paul Meierdierck, and William Tabir, candidates for the CFA charter, passed the Level I exam in June, 2007. Jonathan Godbey is an assistant professor in finance at James Madison University, and Daniel, Paul and William are recent JMU graduates. Daniel Bise has joined the Private Equity Partners division of BlackRock, Paul Meirdierck is with LaSalle Investment Management, and William Tabir is employed with Fannie Mae.
The CFA charter is awarded to candidates who sequentially pass the Level I, II and III examinations, and meet the ethical and professional responsibilities of a CFA charterholder. For more information about the CFA Program, visit the CFA Institute online.
Congratulations to Jonathan, Daniel, Paul and William, and happy studying (and good luck) for the Level II and Level III examinations.
Successful Presentation by Finance Faculty
Jeff Evans, part-time instructor in Finance, and his brother made a successful presentation to the Chrysler Group Executive Committee (EC) at the third Venture Capital Initiative Innovation Day in Auburn Hills held on April 30, 2007. Jeff is from Chrysler's Mid-Atlantic Business Center and his brother Ryan Evans is from Chrysler's Great Lakes Business Center. They presented a subscription-based leasing plan that would retain more customers and sell more vehicles while offering customers good value. EC members were intrigued by the idea and wanted a more in-depth analysis of the potential risks and benefits. Jeff and Ryan were 1 of 3 presenting groups out of 318 submissions.
Students Granted Finance Awards
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From left to right: Chris W. Mather, Andrew K. Lucas, and Anne K. Stilwell
The College of Business Awards Ceremony was held on April 11, 2007. The other two award recipients were studying abroad. |
Congratulations to the following finance award recipients:
Outstanding Student in Finance: Andrew K. Lucas
Outstanding Student in Quantitative Finance: Anne K. Stilwell
Joseph T. Kosnik Scholarship: Stephen G. Stover
Shelly Wheeler Financial Engineering Scholarship: Benjamin P. Young
Philip H. Maxwell Scholarship: Christopher W. Mather
Dr. Liu’s Book Published by Elgar Publishing
 |
China’s Capital Markets, a book co-edited by assistant professor of
finance Dr. Wilson Liu, was published in May, 2007 by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., an international academic publisher in economics, management, law, environment,
public and social policy.
The book presents
research on China’s fast-changing stock and bond markets, futures and
over-the-counter markets, regulatory issues, and the development and roles of financial institutions such as brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies.
Also addressed are the recent performance of equity markets, the emergence of
small and medium enterprises, and the state banks' bids to be listed in
overseas stock exchanges. |
It is a timely academic
work as China's accession agreements to the World Trade
Organization promised to open up the financial sector to foreign competition by
the end of 2006, affording a wealth of opportunities for domestic and
international investors.
More information about the book
can be obtained here
and here.
Dr. Elias Semaan Voted “Outstanding Teacher”
In just two years as a
faculty member in the College
of Business, Dr.
Elias Semaan, an assistant professor of finance, has made a positive
impression on his students. Recently, they selected him as the Outstanding
Undergraduate Teacher in the College
of Business.
The award is important
because it gives students the opportunity to honor a teacher who has had a
significant impact on their education, says Professor Joyce Guthrie, associate
dean of student services. “It’s from the student body saying, ‘Wow, we think
this individual is really good,’” she says.
Comments from students
indicate that Semaan is not only knowledgeable about the subject matter, but
that he also cares about each student. He is known for encouraging students to
succeed in the classroom, as well as helping them to find internship and other
professional growth opportunities. In casting his vote for Semaan, one student
wrote, “[Dr. Semaan] refuses to let any student fail. He knows each and every
student’s weaknesses and wants to help them.
College of Business Co-Valedictorians
 |
The College of Business is proud to recognize two
of its graduating seniors, Michael Albert and Ken Hart, as the
co-valedictorians of the James Madison University
graduating class of 2006. |
Both Michael and Ken are graduating with perfect 4.0
GPA’s and will be receiving the Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance at
this year’s commencement. It is unusual to have co-valedictorians and probably
unprecedented to have the co-valedictorians from the same major. Although both
are double majors they will be graduating with the Quantitative Finance
students.
Ken, a native of Pittsburg, is a double major
in Quantitative Finance and Economics with a Mathematics minor. He is also a member
and sector manager of the Madison Investment Fund (MIF) and was a member of the
MIF team that won the International/National title at the R.I.S.E. competition
for the best student managed value fund. This year he received the outstanding
senior in Economics Award and shared the outstanding senior in Quantitative
Finance Award with Michael. Upon graduation Ken will be joining the asset
backed securitization division of Bank of America.
Michael, a native of Harrisonburg, is also a
double major. In addition to Quantitative Finance he also majored in
Mathematics and completed a minor in Physics. This year Michael received the J.
Emmert Ikenberry Mathematics Prize and the Mathematics Research Award and
shared the outstanding senior in Quantitative Finance Award with Ken. Michael
intends to take a year for traveling and exploring other activities before
entering a Ph.D program in the fall of 2007.
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