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PhD Students

JOIN TOP MINDS IN FINANCE

Accepting Applications for Fall 2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE

The application deadline for the Finance Doctoral Program is December 15.

***Applications will be accepted until February 15, but cannot guarantee applications submitted/completed after the December 15 deadline will still be considered for admissions.***

Why should you get your Finance PhD at McCombs?

Our faculty are not only intellectual leaders, they are also highly devoted to our PhD students. Faculty frequently co-author with current and former students teaching them the skills to successfully publish and helping jump-start their publishing careers. We hold a weekly PhD research seminar for PhD students where students present their ongoing work to faculty and we discuss prominent avenues for research. We have a strong collaboration with the Economics Department and our program of work has a strong economics foundation.

 


Gregory Weitzner, Ph.D. Alumnus

"UT Austin is a fantastic place to do a PhD in Finance. The faculty are extremely nurturing and genuinely care about the PhD program. They challenge you and yet are always approachable. With such a large department, you can find anyone working on something related to what you are interested in. Finally, you can't beat living in Austin."

Kevin Mei, Current Ph.D. Student

"The UT Finance PhD program has been a tremendous launchpad for my academic career. Among its many strengths, the department is especially oriented towards fostering genuine relationships between faculty and students. All faculty, from junior to senior, seem interested in my success. This tight-knit atmosphere makes it easy for PhD students to approach world-class researchers and has helped launch papers for almost all of my cohort. The steady stream of great seminars and conferences has also been an invaluable opportunity for me to connect with many giants of our profession in a warm environment. The combination of this exposure and strong foundational training has made UT an ideal place to start my academic career."
 

Eric Vance, Current Ph.D. Student

"The faculty put so much time and effort into the students. They want to see us succeed and have fostered an environment where they are readily available and frequently provide feedback. Their advice made the transition to research easier, and my own work has improved greatly from insights I gathered discussing with them."

Preparation and Qualifications

PREPARATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Texas McCombs Finance doctoral program assumes that students have taken advanced courses to establish a reasonable mathematical, statistics, and economics background. Adequate computer programming skills are necessary for coursework.

Prospective applicants are required to hold a four-year bachelor's degree (does not need to be a degree in finance) or equivalent before starting the program.

Please also see our FAQ page for more information.

Academic Leadership

We have some of the most influential faculty in the profession with important leadership and editorial positions:

Sheridan Titman

Dr. Sheridan Titman

Sheridan Titman headshot

Editorial:

Editor, Review of Financial Studies: 1996-1998
Editor, International Review of Finance: 1999 ± 2004
Editor, Foundations and Trends in Finance: 2013- present
Associate Editor, Real Estate Economics: 1986-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics: 1987-present
Associate Editor, Review of Financial Studies: 1987-1990
Associate Editor, Journal of Finance: 1990-2000
Associate Editor, Journal of Housing Economics: 1991-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis: 1991-1995
Associate Editor, Pacific Basin Finance Journal: 1991-present
Associate Editor, Review of Financial and Quantitative Analysis: 1994-present
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Research: 1996-2000

Officer Positions:
Vice President: Western Finance Association: 2004-2005
Program Chair: Western Finance Association: 2005-2006
President: Western Finance Association: 2006-2007
Vice President: American Finance Association 2010
President Elect: American Finance Association 2011
President: American Finance Association 2012
Vice President and Program Chair: American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 2016
President: American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association 2018

 

Laura Starks

Dr. Laura Starks

Laura Starks

Editorial:
Editor, Review of Financial Studies (2008-2014)
Editor,FMA Survey and Synthesis Series (2016-present)
Advisory Editor, Financial Analysts Journal (2016-present)
Advisory Editor, Financial Management (2016-present)
 

Officer Positions:
President: AFA (American Finance Association), present
President: Society of Financial Studies (2017-2020)
Vice-President: Society of Financial Studies (2014-2017)
President: Western Finance Association (2015-2016)
President-elect and Program Chair: Western Finance Association (2014-2016)
Vice-President: Western Finance Association (2013-2014)
President: Financial Management Association (1999-2000)

John Griffin

Dr. John Griffin

John Griffin headshot

Editorial:
Associate Editor, Review of Financial Studies, June 2012-May 2015

Officer Positions:
President, Western Finance Association, 2022.
Vice President, President-Elect, Western Finance Association, 2020, 2021.
Chair, Society of Financial Studies (SFS) Cavalcade, 2013.
Vice-Chair, Society of Financial Studies (SFS) Cavalcade, 2012

 

Clemens Sialm

Dr. Clemens Sialm

 Clemens Sialm headshot

Editorial:
Review of Financial Studies, Editor, 2023-present
Journal of Finance, Associate Editor, 2022-2023
Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Editor, 2022-2023
Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Editor, 2016-2023
Financial Management, Associate Editor, 2016-2023
Journal of Financial Markets, Associate Editor, 2016-2023
International Review of Finance, Associate Editor, 2014-2023
Review of Financial Studies, Associate Editor, 2010-2013
Management Science, Associate Editor, 2009-2019
Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Associate Editor, 2017-2021

Officer Positions:
Chief Executive Officer, Texas McCombs Investment Advisors, 2017-present
Vice President, Midwest Finance Association, 2022-present

William Fuchs

Dr. William Fuchs

 

Editorial:
Associate Editor for the American Economic Review 2012 -2014
Associate Editor for the Journal of Mathematical Economics 2019
Associate Editor for the Journal of Economic Theory 2019-current

Officer Positions:
President, Finance Theory Group

Robert Parrino

Dr. Robert Parrino

Robert Parrino headshot

Editorial:
Associate Editor, Journal of Corporate Finance, 2001-18
Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Research, 2006-11

Officer Positions:
President Elect, Financial Management Association International, effective October 2020
Immediate Past Vice President-Program, Financial Management Association International, 2019-20
Vice President-Program, Financial Management Association International, 2018-19
Vice President-Program Elect, Financial Management Association International, 2017-18

Job Market Candidates

Recent Graduate Placements

Yingfan Linda Du – 2024 – Carnegie Melon University

Mahyar Sefidgaran – 2024 – Baylor University

Lin Yang – 2024 – Citadel Securities as a Quantitative Researcher (Industry)

Alex Priest - 2023 - University of Rochester

Iman Dolatabadi - 2022 - Cornerstone Research

Tim Park - 2022 - Analysis Group

Jonathan Serrano - 2022 - Brex

David Xiaoyu Xu - 2022 - Southern Methodist University

Lee Seltzer - 2021 - The New York Fed

Jangwoo Lee - 2021 - Chinese University of Hong Kong

Gregory Weitzner - 2020 - McGill University

Xuewei (Erica) Jiang - 2020 - University of Southern California

Garrett Schaller - 2020 - Colorado State University

Shuo Liu - 2019 - City University of Hong Kong

Amin Shams Moorkani - 2019 - Ohio State University

Avishai Schiff - 2019 - Cornerstone Research

Jacelly Cespedes - 2018 - University of Minnesota

Qifei Zhu - 2018 - Nanyang Technological University

Zach Liu - 2017 - University of Houston

Adam Winegar - 2017 - Norwegian Business School

Current PhD Students

  • Vladimir Belykh

    Vladimir Belykh

    vladimir.belykh@utexas.edu
  • Thomas Brown FIN PhD Headshot

    Tommy Brown

    thomas.brown@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Lydia Zijin Fu

    lydia.fu@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • John Garrett

    john.garrett@utexas.edu
  • Haojing Han

    han.haojing@utexas.edu
  • Minjoo Kim FIN PhD Headshot

    Minjoo Kim

    minjoo.kim@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Jaeyong Lee

    jaeyong.lee@utexas.edu
  • Seung Chul (Eric) Lee

    ericsclee@utexas.edu
  • Headshot

    Thomas Lee

    thomas.lee@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Prateek Mahajan FIN PhD Headshot

    Prateek Mahajan

    prateek.mahajan@mccombs.utexas
  • Kevin Mei

    kevin.mei@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Max Sacher FIN PhD Headshot

    Max Sacher

    mnsacher@utexas.edu
  • Changyong Song

    changyong.song@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Steven Urry FIN PhD Headshot

    Steven Urry

    steven.urry@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Eric Vance FIN PhD Headshot

    Eric Vance

    eric.vance@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Zirui Wang

    zirui.wang@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Deheng Xu

    deheng.xu@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Xinran Zhang

    xinran.zhang@utexas.edu
  • Yiyuan Zhang

    yiyuanzhang@utexas.edu
  • William T. Zheng

    williamzheng@utexas.edu
  • Minji Suh

    minji.suh@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Conor McKinley

    conor.mckinley@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Donal O’Cofaigh

    donal.ocofaigh@mccombs.utexas.edu
  • Jesus Pena Manrique

    jesus.pena@mccombs.utexas.edu

ARE YOU READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD?

The Texas McCombs Doctoral Program is seeking individuals who are interested in transforming the global marketplace. Are you one of these future thought leaders?