|
Rotman
Professor Receives 1999 IAFE/Infinity Financial Engineer of the Year Award
Rotman Professor Receives 1999
IAFE/Infinity
Financial Engineer of the Year Award
Rotman Professor John Hull has
received the 1999 IAFE/Infinity Financial Engineer of the Year Award. The award
was presented to Prof. Hull on October 13 at the International Association of
Financial Engineers 1999 Conference & Annual Membership Meeting in New York
City. He received the award for his significant contributions to the field of
derivatives, especially in the area of interest rate derivatives and management
education.
“We all congratulate John Hull on
this well-deserved international distinction,” says Roger Martin, dean of the
Rotman School of Management. “Finance is one of the great strengths of the
Rotman School, and Prof. Hull epitomizes the kind of superior talent and
professional dedication that will sustain our leadership in this field.”
John Hull is an
internationally-recognized authority on financial engineering and has many
publications in that area. Recently his research has focused on interest
rate options, credit risk, and market risk. He is well known for his work
with Rotman finance professor Alan White in the early 1990s concerning the
development of the Hull-White interest rate model and associated numerical
procedures. This model is widely used by financial engineers to value
non-standard interest rate derivatives.
Prof. Hull has acted as a consultant
to many North American, European, and Japanese financial institutions.
He has written two books: Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives
(now in its fourth edition) and Introduction to Futures and Options Markets
(now in its third edition). Both books have been translated into several
languages and are used, both in the classroom and by practicing financial
engineers, throughout the world. He is currently working on a third book
entitled Financial Engineering and Risk Management, which will be published in
the middle of next year. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Prof.
Hull taught at York University, the University of British Columbia, Cranfield
University, and the London Business School. Earlier in his career he
worked as a corporate planning analyst with British Shoe Corporation.
Prof. Hull is an Associate Editor of eight academic journals including the
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and the Journal of Derivatives.
The IAFE is an international
association with over 2,000 members worldwide, consisting of professionals and
academics in financial engineering. Founded in 1992, the association has
bestowed the IAFE/Infinity Financial Engineer of the Year Award upon an
international academic or practitioner in recognition of his or her
outstanding contribution to the field each year since 1993. The award is
sponsored by Infinity, A SunGard Company, which provides enterprise software
solutions for financial trading, risk management and operations.
Previous award winners include:
Robert Merton (Harvard), winner of the 1997 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic
Sciences; Fischer Black, the co-developer of the Black-Scholes formula
which is widely used to value stock options in markets throughout the world;
and Stephen Ross, the originator of the Arbitrage Pricing Theory and the
co-discoverer of risk neutral pricing and of the binomial model for pricing
derivatives.
Manulife Financial and Jeff
Skoll, eBay Vice-President, Endow Chairs at Rotman
As part of the Rotman School’s
campaign to raise $40 million to support its new vision, two exciting gifts
have been received recently.
Jeff Skoll, a 1987 graduate of U of
T’s electrical engineering program, donated $1.5 million to endow a chair in
technical innovation and entrepreneurship at the Rotman School. The new
Rotman chair is part of a $7.5 million gift that will also endow two new
chairs in the department of electrical and computer engineering and help build
a state-of-the-art centre for information technology for the Faculty of
Applied Science and Engineering.
The donation by Skoll, the
34-year-old vice-president of strategic planning and analysis of internet
auction site eBay, is the largest to the University of Toronto by a donor
under 40.
The establishment of the chairs will
lead to the creation of a new joint BASc/MBA program in the fall of 2000. The
program will fast-track engineering students who want to combine a technical
and business education. The joint program will be housed at the new centre for
information technology.
“Information technology is a real
growth engine for the North American economy,” says Roger Martin, dean of
the Rotman School. “More and more, engineering graduates are pursuing
business degrees in order to succeed and take advantage of opportunities
available in this fast-evolving sector. This new combined engineering and
business program will put these two pieces together.”
Manulife Financial has also donated
$1 million towards establishing a $2-million research chair focused on the
study of financial services at the Rotman School. The University of Toronto
will match Manulife Financial’s donation to create a $2-million endowment.
With about 50 per cent of Rotman
School graduates recruited each year into the financial services sector, the
chair will enhance the school’s ability to better prepare future business
leaders for this highly competitive international field.
“The industry has dramatically
changed over the last decade with a marked shift in financial products and
services, affected by rapidly advancing technology and increasing foreign
competition,” says Dean Roger Martin. “Manulife Financial’s foresight
and generosity in establishing and endowing a chair in financial services will
provide our students with a solid understanding of the integrated aspects of
finance.”
The Manulife Financial Chair in
Financial Services will assist MBA and PhD students to develop an
understanding of the complex and inter-related areas of risk management,
financial product development, trading protocols and international finance.
The chair will focus on factors that
make financial institutions competitive, the changing dynamics of
customer/investor relations and the resulting impact on new product
development and risk management strategies. It will also assess the influence
of public policy as it relates to demutualization, regulation of mergers,
ownership restrictions, entry of foreign banks and bank involvement in the
insurance market as well as other key issues.
“I am very pleased that Manulife
Financial has committed to funding this critical area of commerce
education,” says Manulife Financial president and CEO Dominic
D’Alessandro.
“As part of our Looking Forward to Careers program, Manulife Financial can
facilitate Rotman students becoming the leaders of industry our country needs
to remain globally competitive.”
Manulife Financial (The
Manufacturers Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries) is a leading
provider of financial protection products and investment management services
to individuals, families, businesses and groups in selected international
markets. Manulife Financial operates in 16 countries and territories
worldwide, with more than 28,000 employees and agents. Funds under management
by the Company and its subsidiaries totalled Cdn$103.5 billion at June 30,
1999.
Commerce Student Wins National
Contest
Congratulations to Commerce student
Bobby Sheth who won first prize in a national business student essay contest.
Sheth, a fourth-year Commerce student, won the undergraduate category of the
Treasury Management Association of Canada’s 1999 Business Student
Essay Contest. He receives a cash prize and his essay, “Underpricing
IPOs on the Primary Market,” will be published in a future issue of Canadian
Treasurer magazine. Sheth, a Dean’s Honour List scholar, has already
completed the Canadian Securities Course and is currently president of the U
of T Finance Association.
Campaign Director Leaves Rotman
A key figure in the Rotman
School’s fundraising campaign is leaving the School to pursue other
opportunities. Mark Sack, executive director of development, will leave
the School effective November 15 to become president of Bonham and Company, a
firm that provides investment management services to Strategic Value
Corporation and other firms.
“We wish Mark all the best in his
new career,” says Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School. “While it will
represent a challenge to replace Mark and keep the terrific momentum going on
the development side, I am confident we will be able to do so. In
addition, I feel it is always a credit to one’s organization when its people
are head-hunted to important jobs elsewhere.”
Finance and Consulting
Receptions Bring Alumni Back to Rotman
The MBA Management Consulting and
Finance Associations held their annual receptions earlier this fall. Among the
invited industry guests at both receptions were many Rotman MBA alumni
included Ernst & Young’s Greer Hozack, MBA’99; KPMG’s Bernadette
Komiskey, MBA’99; and Deloitte Consulting’s Jessica Goldberg, MBA’ 99.
MBA Students Run for the Cure
and Help UNICE
Rotman MBA students played a big part
in the success of the annual CIBC Run for the Cure for the Canadian Breast
Cancer Foundation on October 3. Close to 40 students ran in the 5km
event ,with an additional 26 students volunteering to count race donations.
Special thanks are in order for Julie Denton, MBA’00, who coordinated the
Rotman effort.
Eight MBA students celebrated an early
Halloween on October 29 by collecting money from morning rush hour commuters
at Union Station on behalf of UNICEF Canada. Hundreds of dollars were
collected in only two hours. The students were part of a national campaign for
UNICEF Canada that raised over $2 million on the Halloween weekend.
Watch for a special report on
Rotman’s United Way fundraising efforts later this month.
Demand for MBA Program Remains
Strong
Close to 1100 applications were
received for the full-time MBA program this year. Only 125 applicants were
accepted for the class, which graduates in 2001. This means the Rotman
MBA program continues to be the most selective program in Canada attracting
the best students from around the world.
“We should be proud of the caliber
of the individuals we have been able to attract to the program,” says Almira
Mun, director, recruiting & admissions for the MBA program. “Many
indicators demonstrate the increasing attractiveness of an MBA from the Rotman
School.”
The average GMAT score of the Class of
2001 is a remarkable 672, up dramatically from only a few years ago. Average
work experience of the class is 3. 9 years and approximately 30 per cent of
the class are international students.
MMPA Program Celebrates First
Graduating Class
The Master in
Management and Professional Accounting (MMPA) program is celebrating its
first graduating class this fall. While the program has been in existence
since 1988, previous graduates have received the MBA in Professional
Accounting degree. Convocation for the MMPA graduates will be held on November
24.
In terms of accomplishments, 95% of the
Class of ‘99 students who attended the 1999 Institute of Chartered Accountants
of Ontario School of Accountancy successfully completed the course. This
compares to an overall provincial pass rates for all students from all
universities in Ontario of 79%.
These students recently went on to write
the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Uniform Final Exams (CA exams)
on September 13 - 16. Results for the Uniform Final Exam will be published by
the Institute in November.
Upon completion of their degree
requirements in July 1999, 100% of the students were successfully placed with
approximately 80% being hired by the Big 5 Chartered Accountancy firms.
Congratulations to all of the graduates.
In the November 2, ‘Economic and
Fiscal Update’ placed before the Commons Finance Committee in London, Ontario,
Federal Finance Minister Paul Martin noted that “the projections of the fiscal
surplus are based on an unprecedented exercise with private sector
economists”. In particular, the work of “four leading forecasting
firms” was used to develop the estimates of potential future surpluses.
In fact, one of this four “firms” was the Policy and Economic Analysis
Program of the University of Toronto, run by Rotman Professors Thomas Wilson and
Peter Dungan, both of whom participated in two lengthy meetings with the
Minister as part of the preparation of the Update. The Rotman economists were
the only academic participants in the exercise.
Thomas Kierans, the newly appointed
director of the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics and holder of the Geoffry R.
Conway Chair in business ethics, has been appointed to the Canadian Institute
for Advanced Research. The institute is Canada’s research university without
walls with over 180 scholars working within its nine major research programs.
Peter Pauly, professor of economics and
business economics, gave several invited lectures during the summer including:
an address on “The Global Economic Outlook” to the Federation of Italian
Industrialists (Confindustria) in Bologna, Italy, a lecture on “Forecasting
Techniques” at the University of Pretoria and the University of Witwatersrand
in South Africa; and the Papandreao lecture on “European Monetary Union” at
the Bank of Greece in Athens. He also participated in advisory meetings in
August with the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi,
India on “Financial Sector Reform.”
Gary Latham, Secretary of State
Professor of Organizational Effectiveness, gave the welcoming address to the
AIDS Impact International Conference held in Ottawa in July. In September Prof.
Latham spoke to Canada Post management in Toronto on ways of creating high
performance teams.
Jack Mintz, Arthur Andersen Professor of
Taxation, has become a research fellow of CES-IFO, a major economic research
think-tank in Germany, directed by Professor Hans-Werner Sinn of Munich
University. In June he presented a paper at the Norwegian-German seminar on
“The Use of Allocation in a Globalized Corporate Income Tax” in June at the
Centre for Economic Studies, Munich University. Prof. Mintz also taught a short
course earlier this year to economics and business graduate students on Games of
Tax Competition at Tel Aviv University.
Andrew Mitchell, Patricia Ellison
Professor of Marketing, presented a paper on “The Effect of Brand and Attitude
Accessibility on Memory-Based Brand Choice” at the INSEAD summer marketing
camp in June. Seh-Woong Chung, a PhD student in marketing, who has
accepted a marketing position at INSEAD also attended.
Laurence Booth, professor of finance,
was an invited speak on equity risk premiums at the annual meeting of the
Canadian Institute of Actuaries, held in June in Winnipeg.
Anthony Wensley, associate professor of
accounting and management information systems, presented at a workshop on
Electronic Commerce with Dan O'Leary of USC, Miklos Vasarhelyi of Rutgers and
Marilyn Greenstein of Lehigh at the American Accounting Association national
meeting in San Diego on August 15.
Rotman’s Strategic Management faculty
were prominent at this year’s Academy of Management conference held in
Chicago, August 7-11. Tim Rowley, assistant professor, presented his work on
alliance strategies in the U.S. semiconductor and steel industries. Stan Li and
Tony Calabrese, both PhD students working with Strategy faculty, presented their
own original research on the U.S. market for IPOs and new biotechnology
startups. Professor Terry Amburgey and assistant professor Kim Bates
served, respectively, as discussants for sessions on competitive dynamics and
strategic operations. Professor Joel Baum, Canadian National Chair in Strategic
Management, was a panelist in the Business Policy and Strategy Division’s PhD
student consortium, as well as making presentations on topics of organizational
evolution, competition and innovation, and biotechnology startups’ alliance
strategies. Prof. Baum was also elected for a 5-year term to the Executive
of the Academy’s Organization and Management Theory Division.
Anil Verma, professor of industrial
relations, gave a presentation on “Labour Adjustment and Deregulation of
Telecommunications” to the 3rd Policy Meeting of the Caribbean
Telecommunications Union in July held on Grand Cayman Island.
Emeritus Professor John Crispo remains
active in the media and as a speaker. Among the many diverse groups he has
addressed lately include: Agriculture Canada, Cargill International and the
Ontario Provincial Police Association. He also delivered the Don Woods Public
Lecture on Industrial Relations at Queen’s University on November 11.
Prof. Crispo was recently honoured to be
named a lifetime member of the C.D. Howe Institute.
The Rotman Finance Department
launched a new website this month at www.rotman.utoronto.ca/finance.
Rotman Faculty at Centre of
Airline Debate
The proposed
merger between Air Canada and Canadian Airlines recently received significant
media coverage with Rotman faculty in the thick of things. Professor Paul
Halpern, Toronto Stock Exchange Chair in Capital Markets, was featured
on Michael Vaughn’s “The Bottom Line” on ROB-TV on October 28. The last
minute cancellation of another guest meant Prof. Halpern’s interview went
twice as long as scheduled.
Joseph D’Cruz, professor of strategic
management, appeared on ROB-TV on November 3 and November 9,
CBC Newsworld on November 6, and the CBC Morning News on November 8. He was also
quoted in the Ottawa Citizen on October 22.
Anil Verma, professor of industrial
relations, was interviewed on CTV Newsnet on November 4. Prof. Verma
also gave numerous interviews in October to discuss the negotiations between the
CAW and the auto manufacturers.
Dan Ondrack, professor of organizational
behaviour was quoted in a Globe and Mail article on November 4 regarding the bad
blood created in the merger process. “Employees can’t help but get caught up
in the war between the principals. When this is over, there is going to be a
sense of a winner and a loser. There is no easy way around that,” said Prof.
Ondrack.
Ramy Elitzur, associate professor of
accounting, was interviewed by CBC Newsworld, CTV Newsnet, Report on Business
Television and CFMT-TV regarding the airline industry mergers. He was also
quoted in the Canadian edition of Time magazine.
Andy Mitchell, Patricia Ellison
Professor of Marketing, was quoted in the Toronto Star on November 3 on the
amount of money Air Canada and Onex spent on advertising. “I can’t even
think of something comparable,” said Prof. Mitchell. The amount of
advertising clearly reflects “ the very important role public opinion is going
to play in what happens.”
Professor Laurence Booth, Newcourt Chair
in Structured Finance, commented on financial aspects of the proposed mergers in
both a Reuters wire report and the National Post on October 22 and in an article
distributed by the Canadian Press on November 9.
In the November 5 edition of the
Hamilton Spectator Professor Emeritus John Crispo said he was surprised by CAW
President Buzz Hargrove’s decision to side with Onex president Gerry Schwartz.
“I have nothing against Schwartz; he’s a regular capitalist out to rip off
the system for all he can. I don’t like the appearance of the government being
on his side and I don’t like the appearance of Buzz being on his side,” said
Prof. Crispo.
Professor Emeritus Mike Gordon and
Joseph D’Cruz, professor of strategic management, argued in a commentary
published in the Toronto Star on November 5 that the airline battle would leave
the industry weak and called for federal government intervention. “The
alternative is to have Ottawa bring all the parties to the table. They should
agree to one national airline with two operating subsidiaries - Canadian and Air
Canada. The long-term service contracts with American Airlines and United
Airlines should be replaced with new mutually beneficial contracts.”
Becky Reuber, associate professor of
strategic management, was quoted in two articles on women entrepreneurs in the
November issue of Chatelaine.
Michael Berkowitz, professor of finance,
was interviewed for a special Globe & Mail series on insider trading.
“Left unchecked, illegal insider trading threatens the integrity of our
capital markets system,” said Prof. Berkowitz on October 18. He was also
quoted in the Financial Post on October 30 regarding the growing trend for stock
brokerage firms offering free research to their clients.
Harvey Kolodny, professor of
organizational behaviour, commented on the organizational aspects of hospital
mergers in the August/September issue of Canadian Healthcare Manager.
“Behaviour does not change at the same pace as the paper organization,” said
Prof. Kolodny. “Cultural adjustments should be seen as a multi-year
process.”
Eric Kirzner, professor of finance, has
been quoted on a wide range of investment and stock market issues.
Recently Prof. Kirzner has been quoted in Maclean’s, Toronto Star, Globe &
Mail and the National Post.
Peter Dungan, adjunct associate
professor of economics, was interviewed for an October 27 article distributed by
Canadian Press on the Ontario government’s plans for balanced budget
legislation. “Governments have historically used creative accounting to
portray their finances in a politically friendly way”, said Prof. Dungan who
was also recently interviewed by ROB-TV.
A National Post editorial on November 4
by Jack Mintz, Arthur Andersen Professor of Taxation, and president of the C.D.
Howe Institute, called on Finance Minister Paul Martin to make debt reduction
and tax relief the first priorities in using the anticipated federal government
surplus of $95 billion over the next five years. Prof. Mintz was also quoted in
the November 5 edition of the National Post on similar issues after the C.D.
Howe Institute released a report entitled, “Why Canada Must Undertake Business
Tax Reform Soon.”
Professor Sridhar Moorthy’s
appointment as the Manny Rotman Chair in Marketing was noted in the November 8
issue of Marketing Magazine. The new established chair is the first in a series
of academic endowments made possible by a 1995 gift by Sandra and Joseph Rotman.
The chair, which honours Rotman’s father, provides the resources necessary for
sophisticated marketing research. “In my own case, the resources allow me to
pursue a broader array of research projects than I was able to do earlier,”
said Prof. Moorthy.
Dean Roger Martin’s views on Canadian
competitiveness were featured in David Crane’s column in the Toronto Star on
October 23. Canada faces “deeply troubling trends in international
competitiveness,” said Martin who contents that the root of the problem is a
failure by both government and business to recognize that to be competitive they
have to be unique.
He was also quoted in a profile of Bob
Young, Chairman of Red Hat Inc. in the November 5 edition of the Globe
& Mail. Young believes MBA schools are terrible training grounds for
risk-takers because they teach students how to succeed within a structured
environment. “Almost by definition, great entrepreneurs are people who don’t
do well within a structured like academia,” said Young. Martin, while
acknowledging much of the Red Hat founder’s arguments, says it would be unfair
to generalize unilaterally that MBA schools are incapable of producing
entrepreneurs.
Three changes have been made in the MBA
program office. Hannah Mestel, MBA’92, has joined the Rotman School as
the new director of MBA Program Services. She has been involved with the School
for many years, first as a student and later as a lecturer and researcher in the
accounting area. She has previous experience as a senior manager with various
non-profit organizations across the country and is currently completing a PhD at
York University. She can be reached at 978-5108.
Calvin Lee has been promoted to the
position of Rotman School registrar. He is a long-time employee of the Rotman
School and has served in a variety of administrative positions. He can be
reached at 978-6797.
Shelley MacLarty is the new assistant
registrar and financial aid officer at the Registrar’s Office. She
received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in 1991, and
has an Accounting Diploma from Canada College. Prior to 1991 she worked
outside the university, primarily in finance. Since 1992, the university
has benefited from her financial and administrative expertise. She has worked in
the Department of East Asian Studies, the Department of Psychology, the
Department of Political Science, and most recently, at the School of Graduate
Studies.
Karen Christensen has joined the Rotman
School as a senior communications officer. She comes to us from Noranda Inc,
where she developed websites, ad campaigns, publications, annual reports, and
other high-profile communications projects. Having held communications positions
with the Ontario Arts Council, Abitibi-Price, Weldwood, Tourism Vancouver, and
McGill University, Karen is not only a truly gifted writer and creative
director, she has also developed skill in the area of fundraising
communications. In her new role, Karen will take on responsibility for updating,
maintaining, and developing content for the Rotman website. She will also act as
editor of the Rotman Management magazine, provide support to the Rotman
community as a publications generalist, and work with the Development team to
offer essential communications support with respect to our fundraising efforts.
She can be reached at 946-5919.
Freeda Kahn is the new career officer in
the MBA Career Development Centre. She has worked at the University of Toronto
since 1996 and joins the Rotman School from the Office of the
Vice-President, Research and International Relations. She previously was with U
of T’s Department of Chemistry, York University, and Mackenzie Financial.
Laura Robson is leaving the Rotman
School to accept a position with Egon Zehnder as a senior information
specialist. Since February 1998, she was worked in the Business Information
Centre as an information specialist and fee-based librarian. “We wish Laura
the best in her new position,” says Sean Forbes, BIC manager.
Jenny Hwang was appointed assistant to
Mary-Ellen Yeomans Rotman’s assistant dean and chief administrative officer.
Previously, she worked as assistant to the executive director of development,
Mark Sack and in the U of T’s central Development office. She can be reached
at 978-4574.
Jay Beechinor has
joined the Commerce office where he is replacing Nicholas Martin-Sperry at the
front desk. He joins the Commerce office from the University of Victoria where
he worked in the Fees Department and is finishing a Bachelor degree. He can be
reached at 978-1080. Nicholas Martin-Sperry will be working on special
web-related projects. November 19, 1999 November 19, 1999 November 24, 1999 November 26, 1999 November 26, 1999 November 29, 1999 December 1, 1999 December 3, 1999 December 3, 1999 December 8, 1999 December 10, 1999
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | News Index | Search | Contact Us | Home |
|