Stanley B. Block Professor Block teaches financial management and investments at Texas Christian University, where he received the Burlington Northern Outstanding Teaching Award and the M. J. Neeley School of Business Distinguished Teaching Award. His research interests include financial markets, mergers, and highyield bonds. He has served as president of the Southwestern Finance Association and is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Cash Manager. He enjoys sports and has run the NY Marathon. Professor Block holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA from Cornell University, and a PhD from LSU.

In 2001, his former students established the Dr. Stan Block $1.5 million Endowed Chair in Finance at Texas Christian University. He is the first chairholder of the named chair. In 2006, he was selected as the university’s outstanding professor.

Geoffrey A. Hirt Dr. Hirt is currently Professor of Finance at DePaul University. He received his PhD in Finance from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, his MBA from Miami University of Ohio, and his BA from Ohio-Wesleyan University. Geoff directed the Chartered Financial Analysts Study program for the Investment Analysts Society of Chicago (now the CFA Institute of Chicago ) from 1987 to 2001 and was on the Board of Directors of the CFA Institute of Chicago from 2002 through 2005. He was also Director of Equity Research at Mesirow Financial from 1998 to 2001. Dr. Hirt developed the real dollar investment fund at Illinois State University and taught real dollar investment classes at TCU and DePaul University. In 2006 he received the Spirit of DePaul Award from DePaul University.

Bartley R. Danielsen Dr. Danielsen is an Associate Professor at North Carolina State University where he teaches graduate and undergraduate corporate finance courses. His research interests focus on financial market efficiency, short sale constraints, market microstructure, and the interaction of derivatives markets with spot markets. His research appears in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Review of Financial Studies, and numerous other academic finance and real estate journals. Dr. Danielsen received his PhD in financial economics from the University of Florida and a Masters of Accounting from the University of Georgia. As a Certified Public Accountant he has provided financial consulting services to numerous multinational companies.