Robert S. Harris  "Bob"

Robert Harris is the C. Stewart Sheppard Professor of Business Administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. He was previously the Dean of the Darden School and the Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration. Before being named Dean in October of 2001, Harris held a dual role as C. Stewart Sheppard Professor of Administration and Vice President and Chief Learning Officer of United Technologies Corporation (1998 to 2001). He was Darden's Associate Dean of the Faculty from 1990 to 1993. Before joining Darden in 1988, he was on the faculties of the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and, as a visitor, the London Business School and Oxford University. Harris earned a Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from Davidson College and a doctorate in economics from Princeton University.

Harris’s research focuses on corporate finance and financial markets and has appeared in both academic and practitioner journals. Harris is a past vice president of education for the Financial Management Association and has published textbooks, cases, technical notes and computer tutorials. He has served as a consultant to corporations and government agencies.

RESUME

C. Stewart Sheppard Professor of Business Administration, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia

Specialties include corporate finance, corporate mergers and executive education.

Education

B.A. summa cum laude, Economics, Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., 1971;
Ph.D., Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, N. J., 1977

Employment

Personal

Born November 1949, Married, Two Children

Corporate

Vice President, Chief Learning Officer, United Technologies Corporation (a 150,000-employee firm operating throughout the world), 1998-2001

$  Established educational strategy to support business objectives and talent development

$  Created and led corporate learning and development organization, including responsibilities for educational programs and policies, educational technology, relationships with educational institutions and vendor management

Academic Honors

Davidson: 1st honor graduate, summa cum laude, Sloan Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, A.K. Phieffer Award (granted to the outstanding economics major) Omicron Delta Epsilon (President of Economics Honorary), Phi Eta Sigma, Distinguished Military Graduate

Princeton: National Science Foundation Scholarship, Sloan Foundation Grant for summer research

Wharton: Anvil Teaching Award Nominee all years

University of North Carolina: Beta Gamma Sigma, E. E. Maddrey Award for Excellence in teaching in the MBA program, Pogue Research Leave, Award for Contribution to the Ph.D. program (twice)

University of Virginia: Business Week recognition as one of Darden's outstanding faculty, Wachovia Award for Research Excellence

Service Activities

Board Member, Shannon Foundation; United Technologies Corporation Education Advisory Board; LEAD Council of Deans; Chair of Deans’ Advisory Panel, Graduate Business Foundation  

UVA: Associate Dean for Faculty; Area Coordinator for Finance; MBA Policy Committee - (Chair); Placement Committee ‑ (Chair); Darden Dean Search Committee - (Chair); International Student Orientation, Electives Operating Committee, Executive Education Committee, Doctoral Program Committee, Research and Course Development Committee, University Sub Committee on Athletic Self-Study, Internal Review Committee for McIntire School of Commerce (Chair), Law School Dean Search Committee

UNC: Dean Search Committee, MBA Admissions Committee, Undergraduate Program Committee, Promotion and Tenure Committee, Finance Ph.D. Exam Committee, Real Estate Search Committee, MBA Orientation, Committee on Economics and Business Ethics (chair), Committee for Executive MBA, MBA and Teaching Award Committees (chair)

Academic Profession

Vice President for Financial Education - Financial Management Association (FMA)
Associate Editor - Financial Management (1984-1993), Journal of Financial Research (1984-1990), Financial Review (1992-1998), Journal of Applied Finance (current)
Seminar Director for FMA’s National Advanced Doctoral Student Seminar (1987)
Vice President Program for Eastern Finance Association (1995)
Senior Fellow Selection Committee, Financial Management Association (2004)
Program Committees: Financial Management Association, Eastern Finance Association, Southern Finance Association
Outside Examiner for Davidson College Economics Department
Visiting Scholar at University of Otago, New Zealand

Reviewer for publishers and research foundations; referee for Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Financial Management, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Financial Research, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Financial Review, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Services Research, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy

Participation in academic and professional conferences as speaker, session chairman, and discussant: Financial Management Association, American Economic Association, American Finance Association, European Finance Association, Southern Economic Association, Southern Finance Association, Eastern Finance Association, Western Finance Association, North Carolina Investment Institute, ORSA/TIMS, National Bureau of Economics, AT&T Communications Seminar, Regional Holding Company Conference, National Society of Rate of Return Analysts, National Regulatory Research Institute, Bell Atlantic Financial Analysts' Conference, Southeastern Electric Exchange, National Investor Relations Institute, International Consortium for Executive Development Research, UNICON, Governor’s Conference on Homeland Security

Consulting Relationships

Organizations include ATT, Bell Atlantic, Duke Power, IBM, TVA, First Union, CSX Corporation, Burroughs Wellcome, Malaysian Securities Commission, Federal Trade Commission, RTZ Pillar, Small Business   Administration, Association for Investment Management and Research, Leverhulme Trust, Kenan Institute, Carolina Power and Light, GMAC, United Technologies Corporation. 

Research Grants

• Association for Investment Management and Research, a Comparative Study of Financial Analysts' Forecasts of Earnings in Japan and in the U.S. (with Bob Conroy)

• Burroughs Wellcome, Study of the Dynamics of Risk and Return in the Pharmaceutical Industry (with R. Conroy and T. Massaro)

• Federal Trade Commission and Small Business Administration, Study of Merger Motives (with W.T. Carleton and J.F. Stewart)

• ATT Foundation, Study of Partially Regulated Firms (with John Stewart)

•  Leverhulme Trust, Work on U.K. Mergers (with Julian Franks)

• Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Study of Means of Payment in Takeover

Teaching

Courses (Academic Programs)