April 23, 2001

John McDermott, who received his Ph.D. in finance last August, has received a national award for his work from a leading financial management association.

McDermott was given the award by the Financial Management Association International and the American Association of Individual Investors. The annual award recognizes a doctoral dissertation completed during that academic year that makes the most significant contribution to investment analysis or management.

Shantaram Hegde, professor and coordinator of the finance Ph.D. program and McDermott's major advisor, praised his former student for the quality of the investigation. "This is quite an accomplishment, " he said of the award.

Hegde also commented on the volume of the work. "It was like two dissertations," he said.

McDermott's dissertation, "Essays on Liquidity in Financial Markets," consisted of three essays: "The Effects of the Introduction of Index-Tracking Stocks and their Effect on the Liquidity of the Underlying Securities: The Case of Diamonds and Qubes;" "The Liquidity Effects of Additions to the S&P 500 Index;" and "Firm Characteristics as Cross-Sectional Determinants of Adverse Selection."

Hegde said the topic of McDermott's dissertation is "very important right now. Market microstructure was not looked into carefully in the 1970s and '80s. It has become important in the post-market crash era."

McDermott said his advisor was very supportive of his studies. "My ability to do this quality of work was a direct result of the support and intellectual ability of my advisor."

McDermott is a commander in the Coast Guard and a professor of finance at the Coast Guard Academy in New London. He is also currently teaching as an adjunct professor for UConn in the MBA program in Hartford.

Sherry Fisher