[MS Finance] FW: Seeking promising MSF students for the OU Price College finance PhD program

[Denise Rater]

________________________________
From: Megginson, William L. [wmegginson at ou.edu]
Sent: Sunday, December 12, 2021 2:50 PM
To: Srinivas Nippani
Cc: Megginson, William L.
Subject: Seeking promising MSF students for the OU Price College finance PhD program
**External Email**
Dear Professor Nippani,

Hopefully, you are anticipating an end to Fall semester and a wonderful Christmas holiday. I am Director of the OU Price College's Finance PhD program, and am writing to you as the Academic Director of Texas A&M-Commerce University's MS in Finance program. I am reaching out to MSF program directors at highly ranked schools which do not offer their own PhD in finance degrees, seeking assistance in identifying and attracting the best MSF students who might be interested in pursuing a PhD in finance after completing their MSF degrees. This message is to request your help in this endeavor.

While traditionally the main precursor academic preparation for entering a finance PhD program was to earn an MBA, almost all of our successful recent applicants have instead earned MS Finance or MS Economics degrees. The greater emphasis on economic, statistical and other quantitative coursework in the academic masters' degrees has proven to be superior preparation for doctoral coursework. Despite broad recognition that earning an MSF is the ideal preparation for PhD coursework, I am unaware of any PhD granting school that has perfected a method of reaching out to potentially interested students during their MSF training, which is what I hope to do with you now. If you know of one or more excellent students in your program who might be interested in pursuing a finance PhD--and then an academic, industrial, or government career-please either contact them directly and suggest that they reach out to me, or simply forward this email to them, preferably with your certification.

Why pursue a PhD in Finance?

While the life of a finance professor at an American research university is immensely rewarding and challenging, most MSF students do not even consider pursuing a PhD and then joining academia. A big part of my job is thus to educate potential applicants about the benefits (and costs) of earning a PhD in finance, and to help them gauge whether academia is a lifestyle and career that would suit them personally. Becoming an assistant professor in finance at a US research university is:
*    Intellectually challenging and stimulating. We are, quite literally, paid to create new knowledge and to disseminate this widely.  We research almost any topic that interests us-providing that research will publish in top journals-and professional rewards directly track personal productivity. We also do not have a real "boss" and have almost complete control over our time.
*    Financially rewarding. The starting salaries for finance assistant professors at US research universities are now close to $300,000/year-significantly higher even than starting salaries for MBAs entering investment banking-and yet new professors must teach fewer than 200 hours per year. Once past tenure, consulting and external teaching opportunities can add significant income.
*    Professionally challenging and competitive. While most people view academia as a "cushy life," it is in fact highly competitive and demanding. Relatively few professors are awarded tenure where they begin their careers, but those who do reap significant financial and reputational benefits. Individual productivity is uniquely easy to measure in academia, and so professional rewards can be targeted very precisely.
And on top of all these other benefits, our "work site" is a university; we are surrounded by intelligent and eager colleagues and students; there are ample international travel opportunities; and everyone calls us "Doctor" or "Professor"; What a life!

Why earn a Finance PhD in OU's Price College of Business?

So, earning a finance PhD sounds great, but why choose OU's Price College of Business? First and foremost, we have a well-established program with a track record of successfully placing graduates in tenure-track positions at research universities. While placements were effectively halted everywhere for 2021, recent graduates have placed in tenure-track positions at the University of Tennessee (2020, after two years of invited post-doc at Cambridge University), Monash University-Melbourne (2020), Hofstra University (2020), the Rochester Institute of Technology (2019), University of Richmond (2022), and Montana State University (2015). Further back, graduates placed at Iowa State University (2009), the University of Buffalo (2011), Warwick University (2011), Purdue University (2012) and Lehigh University (2013). We also placed two graduates in visiting professor positions at Southern Methodist University (2019, 2020). Additionally, graduates from 8-14 years ago have received promotion and tenure at the University of Buffalo (2011), Wichita State University (2010), Iowa State University (2008) and Lehigh University (2008).

The Price College offers financial support--consisting of a $30,000 annual stipend plus full tuition waivers, basic health insurance coverage, and possible additional competitively awarded funding-for up to five years for promising doctoral candidates, with only modest teaching requirements during the early years. As the attached file and URL (https://www.ou.edu/price/finance/research/faculty-publications<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ou.edu_price_finance_research_faculty-2Dpublications&d=DwMF-g&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=RFgVjINWd3tE-4aL-ltkyXfcHn14YdNCE-AOUIPf4L4&m=wnCvvZ3aAw15qb_xILlnYFv8Gw5ut28pNdZ4pPgTmGs&s=_qObS8LAodx5VTX30AWamJElo4yrvj6W1-Ddg5TaABk&e=>) indicate, our finance faculty has enjoyed considerable success publishing in top journals and attracting significant external research funding. Price College doctoral students have achieved remarkable professional success in recent years publishing research works and presenting papers at academic conferences, as demonstrated at (https://www.ou.edu/price/finance/phdfinance/research?id=phdpubs<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ou.edu_price_finance_phdfinance_research-3Fid-3Dphdpubs&d=DwMF-g&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=RFgVjINWd3tE-4aL-ltkyXfcHn14YdNCE-AOUIPf4L4&m=wnCvvZ3aAw15qb_xILlnYFv8Gw5ut28pNdZ4pPgTmGs&s=0-XduMj1BUHF3tsTPZ20etT_Hr5i_ccX_ekIHRG75qo&e=>). We stress collaboration between faculty and students in research projects and we actively mentor students throughout their scholarly apprenticeships.

We are seeking applicants with strong quantitative training, excellent English- language skills, and high test scores-GMAT scores of 700+ or GRE Verbal and Quantitative of 160+ each. To learn more about the OU Finance PhD program, please visit the Price College website (https://www.ou.edu/price/finance/phdfinance<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ou.edu_price_finance_phdfinance&d=DwMF-g&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=RFgVjINWd3tE-4aL-ltkyXfcHn14YdNCE-AOUIPf4L4&m=wnCvvZ3aAw15qb_xILlnYFv8Gw5ut28pNdZ4pPgTmGs&s=p9hCdJ7Veqh_Iii3qOrxWS2jfO5fTp9FX-kV0SKOMdc&e=>) or contact me directly at the numbers listed below.


Bill Megginson
Professor & Price Chair in Finance
George Lynn Cross Research Professor
Michael F. Price College of Business
The University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK  73019-4005
Consulting Editor, Journal of International Business Studies
Tel/Fax: (405) 325-2058/325-7688
e-mail: wmegginson at ou.edu<mailto:wmegginson at ou.edu>
Papers available from: http://ssrn.com/author=145311


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