Holder of Kennedy Chair in Finance Appointed in UA Walton College

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In the late 1990s, former students of Professor Emeritus of Finance Robert E. Kennedy began a grass-roots effort to raise funds to establish a chair in his honor. Daniel Pu Liu, professor of finance in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, has been appointed the first holder of the Robert E. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Finance, effective July 1, 2004.

"Dr. Kennedy was a great professor, a wonderful mentor to our students and a legend in the financial community," said Walton College Dean Doyle Z. Williams. "We are very pleased to be able to appoint a nationally renowned faculty member such as Dr. Liu to the Kennedy Chair. His leadership and accomplishments in financial research have also been recognized internationally."

Liu joined the University of Arkansas in 1984 and was the holder of the James D. Norris Lectureship in the finance department from 1992-1998. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from National Cheng Kung University and an M.B.A. in finance and a Ph.D. in business from Indiana University.

During his service at the Walton College, Liu has received many awards for his distinguished performance. He received the College of Business Administration Outstanding Teaching Award in 1992, the College's Phillips 66 Faculty Excellence Research Award in 1991, and the Department of Finance Outstanding Teaching Award in 1986 and 1987. He was nominated for the University-wide Alumni Outstanding Research Award in 1991 and Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award in 1988 and 1989. In addition, Liu has been awarded numerous competitive research grants by the college and the University of Arkansas.

Liu teaches financial management, principles of investment, portfolio management and investment theory. His research focuses on the bond market, bond rating and the stock market.

Liu's studies in the finance area have resulted in many publications in a variety of academic and professional journals including Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Money Credit and Banking, Journal of Financial Research, Financial Review, and Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. His publications have been cited by the Wall Street Journal, numerous academic and professional journal articles and at least 10 graduate and undergraduate finance textbooks. In addition, Liu has presented numerous research papers at various academic and professional meetings in the United States and abroad, including the annual meetings of the American Finance Association, Financial Management Association (FMA), European Financial Management Association, Chinese Finance Association, FMA European Conference, FMA Pacific Basin Conference, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association and Southwestern Finance Association.

Kennedy led the Walton College's portfolio management course - established in 1971 with a $100,000 gift from Little Rock businessman Raymond Rebsamen - for its first 27 years until in 1999. Upon his retirement that year, the fund was valued at $1.4 million. At the time the fund was established, the University of Arkansas was only the second major U.S. university to allow students to manage an actual portfolio of stocks. The fund management class has become one of the premier classes at the University of Arkansas for top business students. Even after the transfer of funds to support the Kennedy Chair and an endowment for scholarships for finance students, the Rebsamen Fund is still valued at more than $1 million today. Through Kennedy's leadership, the class established a practice of making annual visits to various investment banking firms on Wall Street, for which a number of class alumni work today. He taught the students fundamental security analysis and portfolio management.

Kennedy's roster of former students reads like a "Who's Who in Arkansas Business." He worked with hundreds of students who are now in key financial positions in the state and across the nation.

Likewise, members of the original fund-raising steering committee for the Kennedy Endowed Chair - also former students - included Curt Bradbury, chair; Gus Blass III; Lee Bodenhamer; Scott Ford; William C. Floersch; Mary Ann Greenwood; Herren Hickingbotham; Scott Donnelly Martin; Reynie Rutledge; Samuel Sicard; Witt Stephens Jr.; and Charles B. Whiteside III. The committee raised more than $1 million with gifts from more than 100 former students and friends.

Kennedy served as a member of the Governor's Economic Advisory Council and as a member and chair of the State Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Panel for more than 25 years. He was also a long-time financial consultant to such prestigious Arkansas companies as Tyson Foods Inc., Baldor Electric Company, Allied Telephone (now ALLTEL Corporation) and Worthen Bank.

The objective of the chair is to enable the Walton College to retain and, when possible, recruit a national leader in the field of finance, who should possess many of the qualities that made Kennedy a mentor to hundreds of students. Kennedy had a strong dedication to his students and an unmatched knowledge of investments. He taught in the Walton College for 42 years. He received a B.B.A. in business and economics in 1950, an M.A. in economics and philosophy in 1951 and a Ph.D. in finance in 1957 from the University of Texas. He was also a chartered financial analyst and encouraged his students to gain the designation.