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Columns::September 10, 2001
UGA climbs again in ranking of national public universities
Alumna returns to discss the ethics of the political memoir
Making memories
The next step
Newsmakers
Georgia Museum of Art exhibits works by American realist Whalley
Research Experience for Undergraduates
Administrative changes
UGA forms hazard assessment response team
Day of caring
Campus News
Finance professor builds global bridges
By David Dodson
ddodson@terry.uga.edu
“At the very heart, I am a builder.”
It’s an observation that Marc Lipson uses to simultaneously explain the path of his career and the passion of his
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| Marc Lipson was visiting scholar at the New York Stock Exchange for one year. Photo by Peter Frey |
principles.
As evidence, look no further than his penchant for designing and developing new courses for the finance department and his reputation as an organized and exceptional teacher. Or you can observe the hours he regularly volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, a charity dedicated to building futures.
Then there is his most recent improvement project—serving as the new director of international programs for the Terry College of Business.
But at the moment he offers his declaration, he’s just trying to explain how he went from being an undergraduate majoring in engineering and anthropology to a certified public accountant and, finally, a Ph.D. in corporate finance.
“Engineering was too much about the smallest details for me,” Lipson says. “And accounting was too much about what had already happened. But finance was really about how you create and build and then operate a business. It seemed to resonate with my practical interest in building.
“I’ve always felt most comfortable teaching corporate finance because it defines the set of principles you use to build a business. What resources do you need? How do you get them? How do you allocate them to their best use?”
The building analogy also carries over to Lipson’s research.
“My particular interest is called market microstructure,” he says. “I don’t spend a lot of time telling you whether a stock price is the right price or the wrong price. My research explores how you build a market. Markets, like most things, adhere to a fairly limited set of principles. And most of those principles are well understood. We teach them to our students in introductory finance classes. What’s less understood is how those principles work together organically to create something like a financial marketplace.”
Lipson’s research stream got a boost when he was named the visiting scholar at the New York Stock Exchange. The one-year appointment allowed him unmatched access to the nerve center of market trading.
“Being so close to the action at the NYSE made it easier for me to identify relevant areas of research,” he says. “And having been there, I have access to data and intellectual resources that a lot of people don’t get. The experience really helped me contribute something that’s valuable to the literature in my field.”
Lipson has since co-authored research papers that were accepted by the two leading journals in finance, largely resulting from data he collected at the stock exchange. The first, on the phenomena of trading halts and their effect on order flow and market liquidity, was published in the Journal of Finance this past year.
But increasingly, these days, Lipson is working on a third priority, alongside his teaching and research responsibilities. In June, he was named director of international programs in the Terry College.
“I believe very strongly in the value of a global perspective,” he says. “It suits my temperament.” It also suits his household, which went global last year when he and his wife adopted a baby girl from Kazakstan.
“It also fits with my teaching in international finance and my own experiences teaching abroad,” he says. “We have good international programs in Terry and a good major in international business, but I still believe that both can be strengthened. Plus, as I’ve said, I derive a joy from building and creating things.”
He says his first priority will be to articulate a new vision for international programs, in consultation with the faculty and administration and in concert with the college’s strategic goals. But a couple of principles are already crystallizing in Lipson’s mind.
“I want to have at least one worthwhile international program that is so perfectly suited to a given student that they can’t say no,” he says. A menu that varied, Lipson knows, will require abundant options, taking into consideration different destinations, lengths of stay, student cost and foreign language skills.
“I also believe that when you walk into the Terry College, you should walk into the world. I want our students to feel it in every class and every experience that we give them,” Lipson says. “Ultimately, I would hope that we’re always trying to train them to have a more global perspective.”
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