Academic Conference on Corporate Governance 2016 Honoree

Laura T. Starks

Dean Ad Interim Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Regents Chair in Finance The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

Laura T. Starks, PhD teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on environmental, social and governance investing, global financial strategies, and other finance topics. She was previously chairman of the Department of Finance, director of the AIM Investment Center and associate dean for research. She was also an editor of the Review of Financial Studies from 2008 to 2014 and has won a number of research and teaching awards in her career. Her current research focuses on mutual funds, corporate governance, institutional investors and environmental, social and governance investing. She has served on the board of directors of the four national academic finance organizations: the American Finance Association (AFA), the Financial Management Association (FMA), the Society of Financial Studies (SFS) and the Western Finance Association (WFA). She is past president of the FMA and is currently vice president of the SFS, and president of the WFA. She is a past chairman of the Graduate Assembly for the University of Texas at Austin, the elected faculty council that governs the University’s graduate programs, and served on the executive committee of the University Faculty Council. She is an independent director for CREF Retirement Accounts and TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds, serves on the Investment Advisory Committee for the Employees Retirement System of Texas, the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute and the governing council of the Independent Directors Council. She also served on the 2013 strategy council and the 2014 expert panel for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world). She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Norges Bank Investment Management, the Academic Advisory Board of FTSE-Russell, the Advisory Board of TXWSW and the Advisory Board of AFFECT.