Fischer Black Prize

Fischer Black Prize is a memorial prize awarded in honor of Fischer Black that rewards individual financial research. The prize was established in 2002 and first awarded in 2003. It is awarded to a financial scientist for a body of work that demonstrates significant original research that is relevant to finance practice. Eligible scholars must either be below 40 years in age, or under age 45 but not have been awarded a Ph.D. (or equivalent) by age 35. The prize is awarded biennially at the American Finance Association's Annual Meeting.^[1] This award to honor a leading young finance scholar is analogous to the John Bates Clark Medal in economics and the Fields Medal in mathematics.^[2]

The award honors Fischer Black, a former General Partner at Goldman Sachs and Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among Black's notable research accomplishments was the development (with Myron Scholes) of the Black–Scholes option pricing model. The awardee is chosen for having a body of research that embodies the Fischer Black hallmark of developing original research.^[1] In years where no such candidate meets the rigorous standards, as was the case in 2005, no award is presented.

The Fischer Black Prize is one of two biennial awards presented by the American Finance Association (the other is the Morgan Stanley-American Finance Association Award For Excellence In Finance)^[3] in alternating years at its annual conference to scholars for bodies of research. The Association also awards two annual awards for individual research publications at its conference (Smith Breeden Prize and Brattle Prize).^[4]

Past winners

2003: Raghuram G. Rajan, University of Chicago

2005: None awarded.

2007: Tobias J. Moskowitz, University of Chicago

2009: Harrison G. Hong, Princeton University

2011: Xavier Gabaix, New York University

2013: Ulrike Malmendier, University of California, Berkeley

2015: Yuliy Sannikov, Princeton University

Notes