Myers to lead Financial Services Laboratory

	David Myers

David Myers, assistant professor of finance and law, has been named director of the College of Business and Economics' new Financial Services Laboratory (FSL), a state-of-the-art facility that will provide real-time links to financial markets.
Myers, who also has been named the college’s Perella Professor of Practice, will be responsible for integrating the FSL into Lehigh’s curriculum—not only within the Perella Department of Finance, but also across the College of Business & Economics and the university as a whole. Curriculum development will be centered on the unique aspects of the FSL's financial data, software, and technology design.
With resources such as wall-mounted tickers and real-time feeds from Bloomberg and Reuters streaming into computers on a 15-minute delay, the FSL—which will be dedicated in October—will feature the excitement of real-time stock trading, deal capture, settlements, analytic assessments, pricing, and portfolio management.
“The purpose of our lab is to bridge the critical gap between theory and practice; we recognized the need to hire a person who understood both, says Richard M. Durand, the Herbert E. Ehlers Dean of CBE. “Our lab brings together engineering, business, and mathematicians for research and teaching. It is a university-wide initiative aimed at advancing the education of our students and we’re confident David is the perfect candidate to do the job.”
In financial services, Durand adds, there is seldom a single answer to a problem, so you can't present information in a formulaic fashion.
”A distinct advantage”
The FSL will draw together not only business students, but also math, journalism, and engineering majors. It will enhance students’ employment opportunities by providing a real-time link between world events and their impact on financial markets. The lab will also provide valuable tools for faculty research and help attract quality students and faculty.
A Financial Services Laboratory here is a distinct advantage for all of our faculty and the future business leaders they prepare,” Myers says.
Myers received his Ph.D. in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Washington. He received his M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from New York University and his B.A. in Government from Wesleyan University.
His main areas of research are in pension funds, mutual funds, performance measurement, conditional asset pricing, portfolio strategies, Japanese markets, international investing, and asset-liability modeling.
“We are truly excited to attract someone of David’s caliber to this important role at CBE,” Durand says. “David brings with him a long history of financial services experience and he is an outstanding teacher.”
--Kim Plyler