Schlesinger Named Winner of UA’s Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Harris Schlesinger, professor of finance and Frank Park Samford Chair of Insurance, is the recipient of The University of Alabama’s 2006 Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award.

One of the highest honors the University bestows on its faculty, The Burnum Award is given each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated superior scholarly or artistic achievements and profound dedication to the art of teaching.

Schlesinger has taught for 27 years, 20 of those years at UA. In addition, Schlesinger is also an adjunct professor at the University of Konstanz in Germany. He is a past president of the American Risk and Insurance Association as well as founding editor of the GENEVA PAPERS on Risk and Insurance Theory.

An associate editor for five academic journals, Schlesinger has published articles in more than two dozen journals, including Journal of Finance, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Journal of Economics Theory.

“Harris is the epitome of the achievements the award is designed to recognize,” said Dr. J. Barry Mason, dean of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. “He is one of the top 10 insurance scholars in the world, has served as president of the premier academic association in risk and insurance, and has shown unparalleled faculty leadership in the College over the years.”

The award was established by Mrs. Celeste Burnum and the late Dr. John F. Burnum of Tuscaloosa.

Dr. Billy Helms, professor of finance and head of the department of economics, finance and legal studies, and Dr. Walt Enders, professor of economics and Lee Bidgood Chair of Economics and Finance, collectively wrote Schlesinger’s nomination letter. In the letter, both professors praised Schlesinger’s research accomplishments.

An excerpt from the nomination letter reads: “Professor Schlesinger’s research focuses on risk and uncertainty with special attention to insurance markets, which have evolved to spread and diversify risks. His accomplishments highlight the type of national and international recognition that Dr. Schlesinger’s work on insurance economics brings to The University of Alabama.”

The excellence of the UA business school has been acknowledged on a national level through a number of venues. For example, the Culverhouse undergraduate program is ranked 38th among public universities by U.S. News, and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy is ranked 15th among public universities by U.S. News. The graduate accounting program is ranked 15th and the undergraduate program 14th by Public Accounting Report. The entrepreneurship program is ranked No. 20 nationally by Entrepreneur Magazine. The finance department was recently placed at No. 14 in a study ranking finance teaching.