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Villanova Announces Darretta Endowed Chair in Finance

Villanova, PA—Villanova University announced the inauguration of the Robert J. and Mary Ellen Darretta Endowed Chair in Finance and the selection of Professor of Finance

Villanova, PA—Villanova University announced the inauguration of the Robert J. and Mary Ellen Darretta Endowed Chair in Finance and the selection of Professor of Finance Michael Pagano, Ph.D., as the inaugural chair holder. This endowment, generously provided by Robert and Mary Ellen Darretta, was created to enhance the study of finance at VSB through applied research and cross-disciplinary curricula.

Pagano joined VSB in 1999 and quickly established a national reputation for his research in financial markets and financial institutions. In 2009 he was featured in The Wall Street Journal for his investigative look at the correlation between U.S. terror alert levels and activity within financial markets. Pagano was appointed to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Market Regulation Committee in 1990, becoming the first financial academician to serve on the committee.

As the Robert J. and Mary Ellen Darretta Endowed Chair in Finance, Pagano will direct curricular and programmatic developments on emerging topics in finance to ensure VSB students are prepared for the rapidly changing and increasingly global business community. Furthermore, he will spearhead partnerships with international scholars and universities to enhance the quality of learning at VSB.

“Michael Pagano is a distinguished professor who has made significant contributions to financial research,” said Robert Darretta, ’68 VSB. “His insight and understanding of financial markets make him the perfect candidate to fulfill the Darretta family’s vision to position VSB as a leader in finance.”

Robert Darretta is the former vice chairman and chief financial officer of Johnson & Johnson. He retired from Johnson & Johnson in March 2007 after a thirty-eight-year career with the organization. The former chair of VSB’s Dean’s Advisory Council, Mr. Darretta currently serves on the President’s Leadership Circle for the University.

“It is a privilege to serve as the first endowed chair in finance,” said Pagano. “I am eager to collaborate with faculty, Dean James Danko, and the Darretta family to further elevate VSB’s status in the field of finance.”

FIIIIIII-nance. As in “Fix Me A Drink, Jeeves” Congrats, Professor Pagano. May your exposures always be perfectly hedged.

It turns out that some companies don’t want to wait until the 4PM market close to post their earnings online, perhaps because they’re worried they’ll forget. So what they do is post them online earlier, but don’t link to the page from their web sites. This renders the page invisible–unless you know what to look for.

Humans are creatures of habit, and the humans who post earnings releases on company web sites are no different than any other humans.

Which means that if the web-page URL for a company’s second quarter’s earnings release was, say:

www.disney.com/earnings/Q22010release

It’s probably a safe bet that the URL for the third quarter’s earnings release will be:

www.disney.com/earnings/Q32010release

My introductory corporate finance textbook, Corporate Finance: An Introduction was published by Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0321277996, in 2008, via a license for the North-American market. In late 2010, I reacquired these rights. I now own the book completely. My principal goal with the book is to improve introductory finance education. It is not to make money.

FIIIII-NANCE. As in “Fix Me A Drink, Jeeves”. But kudos to Professor Welch for doing this.