Laura Starks

Laura T. Starks, Ph.D., is the George Kozmetsky Centennial University Distinguished Chair at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on environmental, social and governance investing. Her current research focuses on ESG issues, including climate finance and board diversity, as well as molecular genetics and financial decisions. She has won many awards for her research and teaching. She is Research Associate of the NBER, Research Member for the ECGI, and Senior Fellow for ABFER. She has served as President of the Society of Financial Studies, Western Finance Association and Financial Management Association, and is presently President-Elect of the American Finance Association. She is Editor of the FMA Survey and Synthesis Series, Advisory Editor for the Financial Analysts Journal and Financial Management and previously, Editor of the Review of Financial Studies. She has served or currently serves on mutual funds’ boards of directors, pension fund advisory committees, the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute, and the Governing Council of the Independent Directors Council, and advisory committees for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund.

Industry Areas:

• Capital Markets, Financial Institutions, Investment Banking, Investment Management

Research Areas:

• Asset Pricing, Corporate Governance, Finance - Corporate, Investment Management

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP & AWARDS

• 2014 Kepos Capital Award, Best Paper on Investments at the WFA for "Defined Contribution Plans: Sticky or Discerning?"
• 2014 S&P Dow Jones Indices' SPIVA Awards Second Prize for "The Mutual Fund Industry Worldwide...."
• 2012 Eyes of Texas Award for Service to The University of Texas at Austin
• 2012 Alpha Kappa Psi Best Professor Award
• 2010 China International Conference in Finance TCW Best Paper Award for “Advertising and Mutual Funds..."
• 2010 Midwest Finance Association Distinguished Scholar Award