Background
Faculty in the Department of Finance teach finance and real estate courses in the three primary academic programs offered in the McCombs School of Business: the Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA), the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). As part of a BBA students can major in finance and, besides staffing one required course for all BBA students (FIN 357 - Business Finance), the Department offers a variety of undergraduate finance courses in the areas of corporate, investments, money and capital markets, international, and energy finance. In addition, students can concentrate on real estate by selecting undergraduate real estate courses to fulfill their major requirements. For further information about the BBA finance major, see Finance Major and, for information on the BBA program, contact the Undergraduate Dean’s Office.
The Department teaches two required courses in the MBA core, BA 380S - Managerial Economics and BA 385T - Financial Management. MBA students can choose to concentrate in finance and they can select from graduate electives in the fields of corporate finance, investments, financial institutions and markets, and real estate finance. For additional information about the finance concentration, see MBA Finance Concentration. For information on the MBA program or for MBA application materials, contact the McCombs MBA Program Office.
The Ph.D. program in finance prepares students for academic and professional careers focused on teaching and research. The doctoral program is described in Ph.D. Program Description. For Ph.D. application materials contact finphd@mail.utexas.edu
The Department is the academic home of The MBA Investment Fund, L.L.C. The Fund is the first legally-constituted, private investment company to be managed by students. Started in December, 1994, the Fund is designed to offer students at The University of Texas a real-world experience in the process of managing investment portfolios, in running a business, and in developing relationships with clients. As of November 2002, the Fund managed approximately $11 million invested by 65 accredited investors in growth, value, and endowment portfolios.
The EDS Financial Trading and Technology Center is a state-of-the-art trading, research, and teaching facility in the College and Graduate School of Business at The University of Texas that opened in May, 1996. The goal of this $8.5 million Center is to help students, faculty, and executives better understand the growing flow of financial data that affects markets as well as to enable them to participate in the development of new applications of information technology to finance. Through the Center faculty and students have access to real-time data feeds from leading providers of financial information.
The Financial Analyst Program is a special offering by the Department that provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to develop their skills and experiences as analysts. Outstanding finance and accounting majors are selected to participate in an academic and professional curriculum in their senior year that gives them an intensive, "hands-on" experience in financial analysis and valuation in corporate, investment, and financial services settings. During a portion of the program, the students work as researchers for The MBA Investment Fund.
Starting in the 1998-99 academic year, the Department offered the first Energy Finance Program. This MBA specialization includes a newly-designed six-hour course sequence on the foundations of energy finance, addressing issues in the areas of asset valuation, corporate finance, and financial risk management. This program prepares students to work in financial analysis, valuation, and trading positions with major oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution companies, energy trading firms, power companies as well as leading investment banking and financial services firms working in the energy industry.
The Center for Energy Finance Education and Research (CEFER) was created in 1998 to support curriculum development and faculty research on issues related to financial risk management, energy and capital markets, financial instruments, corporate finance, financial services, and land management. As of November 2002, energy firms that are active Trustees and financial supporters of CEFER include El Paso, Mirant, Conoco, and Duke.
In November, 1999 the Department created the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center. The Center supports curriculum development in real estate and funds research by Department faculty on issues related to real estate finance, real estate and capital markets, investments, corporate finance, and financial services. REFIC is supported by the annual donations of 35 individuals and firms.
Through the donation of the named partners of the investment firm of The Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center, the Department established an academic center for the study of private equity finance in November, 2000. The Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance supports research and curriculum development related to private equity finance, capital markets, corporate finance, investment, and real estate.
The AIM Investment Center, funded by donations by two of the founders of AIM Capital Management, began operations in the spring of 2001.The AIM Center supports the development of investment management courses, faculty research, and the academic programs associated with the MBA Investment Fund and the Financial Analysts Program.
At the start of the 2004-05 academic year, the Department consists of twenty tenure-track faculty and expects to add additional faculty members over the next few years. There are also six non-tenure-track lecturers who teach full-time in the Department. The faculty's teaching and research interests span the areas of corporate finance, investments, financial services, financial markets and institutions, energy finance, and real estate finance. The faculty received their Ph.D.s from a number of leading academic institutions including Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Illinois, MIT, Rochester, Stanford, UCLA and Wharton.
Three faculty members in the Department hold endowed chairs: Stephen Magee, Laura Starks, and Sheridan Titman. In addition, two are appointed to named professorships: George Gau, and Robert Mettlen.
The Chairman of the Finance Department is Laura Starks. She is supported by Beverly Hadaway, as Associate Chair. Faculty working with her in particular programs are John Griffin as Graduate Advisor and academic leader of the Department's Ph.D. program and William J. Way who is Undergraduate Advisor for the Finance Major in the BBA program.
Past Chairman of the Department
George W. Gau, 1992-2002
Seha M. Tinic, 1988-1992
Robert C. Witt, 1984-1988
Stephen P. Magee, 1980-1984
R. Conrad Doenges, 1976-1980
Lawrence L. Crum, 1969-1976
James Kay, 1968-1969
John Bickley, 1965-1968
Ernest Walker, 1961-1965
