News Releases

Beloved finance professor welcomed back to campus

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

BY AUSTIN FALLEY

Warm applause welcomed School of Business Finance Professor Mark Hirschey, the Anderson W. Chandler professor of Business, back to campus Friday, Jan. 29 after a semester of medical leave. The Graduate Business Council and Finance Club presented Professor Hirschey with a miniature replica of the iconic Charging Bull statue - a symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity on Wall Street.

"It's good to be back," Hirschey said. "I couldn't be more pleased with the outpouring of letters, e-mails, phone calls and general support during my recovery."

Friends, colleagues and family members posted more than 4, 500 words of encouragement to Professor Hirschey's CaringBridge page, a free personalized Web site for people facing serious medical problems, during his recovery.

"His classes have been among the more influential classes I've taken at KU," Richard Smith, second-year MBA student, said. "Professor Hirschey loves investing. He loves stocks. My knowledge of business has been honed and shaped by his classes. I'll be using the universal principles I learned in his classes every day. "

Professor Hirschey is known in the School of Business for sponsoring student trips to the annual shareholders' meeting of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb. Known as the "Woodstock of Capitalism," as many as 1,500 KU School Business students have met with Berkshire shareholders to see capitalism in practice since 1990. Hirschey also arranges annual private question and answer sessions with Buffett for smaller groups of KU undergraduates and MBA students.

"What started out as students joining a family trip to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in 1990 has become a big experiential learning experience for our students," Hirschey said. "We've been invited back to attend this year, too."

Professor Hirschey teaches both managerial economics and investments classes in the School of Business. He is the author of more than 90 academic research articles, scholarly books and textbooks and has an international reputation for his innovative research in finance, managerial economics and accounting. He is founding president of the Association of Financial Economists and co-editor of Advances in Financial Economics, a scholarly research series.

"The statue was a wonderful gift," Hirschey said. "I've been interested in investing since I was 15 years old. The stock market is fascinating."