Why Should You get Your Finance Ph.D. at McCombs?
Our faculty are not only intellectual leaders, they are also highly devoted to our Ph.D. students. Faculty frequently co-author with current and former students teaching them the skills to successfully publish and helping jump-start their publishing careers. We hold a weekly Ph.D. research seminar for Ph.D. students where students present their ongoing work to faculty and we discuss prominent avenues for research. We have a strong collaboration with the Economics Department and our program of work has a strong economics foundation.
UT Austin is a fantastic place to do a Ph.D. in Finance. The faculty are extremely nurturing and genuinely care about the Ph.D. program. They challenge you and yet are always approachable. With such a large department, you can find anyone working on something related to what you are interested in. Finally, you can’t beat living in Austin.
The UT Finance Ph.D. program has been a tremendous launchpad for my academic career. Among its many strengths, the department is especially oriented towards fostering genuine relationships between faculty and students. All faculty, from junior to senior, seem interested in my success. This tight-knit atmosphere makes it easy for Ph.D. students to approach world-class researchers and has helped launch papers for almost all of my cohort. The steady stream of great seminars and conferences has also been an invaluable opportunity for me to connect with many giants of our profession in a warm environment. The combination of this exposure and strong foundational training has made UT an ideal place to start my academic career.
The faculty put so much time and effort into the students. They want to see us succeed and have fostered an environment where they are readily available and frequently provide feedback. Their advice made the transition to research easier, and my own work has improved greatly from insights I gathered discussing with them.
Preparation and Qualifications
The Texas McCombs Finance doctoral program assumes that students have taken advanced courses to establish a reasonable mathematical, statistics, and economics background. Adequate computer programming skills are necessary for coursework.
Prospective applicants are required to hold a four-year bachelor’s degree (does not need to be a degree in finance) or equivalent before starting the program.
We have some of the most influential faculty in the profession with important leadership and editorial positions.
Dr. Sheridan Titman
Editorial
Editor, Review of Financial Studies: 1996-1998
Editor, International Review of Finance: 1999 ± 2004
Editor, Foundations and Trends in Finance: 2013- present
Associate Editor, Real Estate Economics: 1986-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics: 1987-present
Associate Editor, Review of Financial Studies: 1987-1990
Associate Editor, Journal of Finance: 1990-2000
Associate Editor, Journal of Housing Economics: 1991-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis: 1991-1995
Associate Editor, Pacific Basin Finance Journal: 1991-present
Associate Editor, Review of Financial and Quantitative Analysis: 1994-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Research: 1996-2000
Officer Positions
Vice President: Western Finance Association: 2004-2005
Program Chair: Western Finance Association: 2005-2006
President: Western Finance Association: 2006-2007
Vice President: American Finance Association 2010
President Elect: American Finance Association 2011
President: American Finance Association 2012
Vice President and Program Chair: American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 2016
President: American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 2018
Dr. John Griffin
Editorial
Associate Editor, Review of Financial Studies, June 2012-May 2015
Officer Positions
President, Western Finance Association, 2022.
Vice President, President-Elect, Western Finance Association, 2020, 2021.
Chair, Society of Financial Studies (SFS) Cavalcade, 2013.
Vice-Chair, Society of Financial Studies (SFS) Cavalcade, 2012
Dr. William Fuchs
Editorial
Associate Editor for the American Economic Review 2012 -2014
Associate Editor for the Journal of Mathematical Economics 2019
Associate Editor for the Journal of Economic Theory 2019-current
Officer Positions
President, Finance Theory Group
Dr. Laura Starks
Editorial
Editor, Review of Financial Studies (2008-2014)
Editor,FMA Survey and Synthesis Series (2016-present)
Advisory Editor, Financial Analysts Journal (2016-present)
Advisory Editor, Financial Management (2016-present)
Officer Positions
President: AFA (American Finance Association), present
President: Society of Financial Studies (2017-2020)
Vice-President: Society of Financial Studies (2014-2017)
President: Western Finance Association (2015-2016)
President-elect and Program Chair: Western Finance Association (2014-2016)
Vice-President: Western Finance Association (2013-2014)
President: Financial Management Association (1999-2000)
Dr. Clemens Sialm
Editorial
Review of Financial Studies, Editor, 2023-present
Journal of Finance, Associate Editor, 2022-2023
Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Editor, 2022-2023
Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Editor, 2016-2023
Financial Management, Associate Editor, 2016-2023
Journal of Financial Markets, Associate Editor, 2016-2023
International Review of Finance, Associate Editor, 2014-2023
Review of Financial Studies, Associate Editor, 2010-2013
Management Science, Associate Editor, 2009-2019
Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Associate Editor, 2017-2021
Officer Positions
Chief Executive Officer, Texas McCombs Investment Advisors, 2017-present
Vice President, Midwest Finance Association, 2022-present
Dr. Robert Parrino
Editorial
Associate Editor, Journal of Corporate Finance, 2001-18
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Research, 2006-11
Officer Positions
President Elect, Financial Management Association International, effective October 2020
Immediate Past Vice President-Program, Financial Management Association International, 2019-20
Vice President-Program, Financial Management Association International, 2018-19
Vice President-Program Elect, Financial Management Association International, 2017-18
Recent Graduate Placements
2024
Yingfan Linda Du – 2024 – Carnegie Melon University
Mahyar Sefidgaran – 2024 – Baylor University
Lin Yang – 2024 – Citadel Securities as a Quantitative Researcher (Industry)
2023
Alex Priest – University of Rochester
2022
Iman Dolatabadi – Cornerstone Research
Tim Park – Analysis Group
Jonathan Serrano – Brex
David Xiaoyu Xu – Southern Methodist University
2021
Lee Seltzer – The New York Fed
Jangwoo Lee – Chinese University of Hong Kong
2020
Gregory Weitzner – McGill University
Xuewei (Erica) Jiang – University of Southern California
Garrett Schaller – Colorado State University
2019
Shuo Liu – City University of Hong Kong
Amin Shams Moorkani – Ohio State University
Avishai Schiff – Cornerstone Research
2018
Jacelly Cespedes – University of Minnesota
Qifei Zhu – Nanyang Technological University
2017
Zach Liu – University of Houston
Adam Winegar – Norwegian Business School
