Biography
David L. Ikenberry was named Professor of Finance and Dean of the Leeds School of Business in 2011. He holds a B.S. degree from the Pennsylvania State University (1983), an M.M. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University (1985), and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1990). Dr. Ikenberry started his academic career at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, in Houston, Texas. After twelve years at Rice, he returned to the University of Illinois. He teaches investment and corporate finance to both graduate and executive students and has received several awards for his work in the classroom, including winning prestigious awards for teaching in 1996 and 1999 while at Rice. In 1997 and again in 2002, Business Week magazine named him among the best instructors in the U.S.
Dr. Ikenberry's research concerns a broad array of empirical issues in finance. A substantial portion of his work has focused on issues relating to long-horizon stock returns, a young and often debated area of inquiry in finance. Much of his work challenges fundamental notions of informational efficiency in equity markets. Past studies have focused on unexpected long-horizon return performance relating to specific corporate events, including stock splits, exchange listings and proxy fights. His more general work on the unusual properties of long-horizon returns has been used to help explain why professional money managers frequently under-perform the S&P 500 index, even when investing in S&P stocks. Perhaps his most noted work concerns stock repurchase programs. He has authored several papers in this area looking at performance subsequent to both U.S. and Canadian firms who have engaged this now widespread corporate transaction. His work provides insight into issues about how and why firms repurchase stock and garners substantial interest in both the academic and corporate communities. His current research investigates the clustering in the increase in stock prices that has occurred in the U.S. since the move to decimal pricing.
Dr. Ikenberry is frequently asked to speak to academic, government, corporate officers, and the broad investment communities. His research is regularly mentioned in the popular press in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Smart Money, Barron's, Business Week and The Economist. He is a frequent guest on various television programs including CNBC, Bloomberg Television, and the Nightly Business Report. On occasion, corporations ask Dr. Ikenberry to comment on various aspects of their corporate financing decisions including their dividend and share repurchase policies.
Education
- Ph.D., Finance, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990
- M.M., Northwestern University, 1985
- B.S., Mineral Economics, Pennsylvania State University, 1983
