Robert McDonald

Robert McDonald is Gaylord Freeman Distinguished Chair in Banking a Professor of Finance. He has been a faculty member at Kellogg since 1984 and also served as Finance department chair and and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research. Before joining Kellogg, he was a faculty member at Boston University and has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. He has taught courses in derivatives, corporate finance, taxation, and data analytics.

Professor McDonald's research interests include corporate finance, taxation, derivatives, and applications of option pricing theory to corporate investments. He has won research awards, including the Graham and Dodd Scroll from the Financial Analyst's Federation, the Iddo Sarnat Prize from the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Smith Breeden Prize from the Journal of Finance, and the Review of Financial Studies Prize from the Review of Financial Studies.

Professor McDonald is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a former director of the American Finance Association, Former Co-Editor of the Review of Financial Studies, and has served on a number of editorial boards, including those for the Journal of Finance, Management Science, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He is the author of Derivatives Markets, 3e, a text published in 2013, and Fundamentals of Derivatives Markets, published in 2008. He received a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT.

Research Interests

Corporate finance, derivative securities and hedging, the role of asymmetric information in corporate fund-raising, application of option pricing theory to corporate decision-making

Education

• PhD, 1982, Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• BA, 1975, Economics, University of North Carolina, Highest Honors

Academic Positions

• Gaylord Freeman Distinguished Chair Professor of Fiance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2018-present
• Senior Associate Dean, Faculty and Research, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2013-2016
• Erwin P. Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1991-2018
• Faculty senate, Finance Department representative, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2010-2013
• Acting Director, Guthrie Center for Real Estate, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2008-2009
• Co-director, Financial Markets Research Center, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2006-2011
• Northwestern University Program Review Council, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2002-2005
• Acting Director of Kellogg Computer Services, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1993-1995
• Finance Department Chair, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1991-1994
• Visiting Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 1989-1990
• Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1987-1991
• Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1984-1987
• Assistant Professor, School of Management, Boston University, 1981-1984

Awards

• Elected Director of the American Finance Association, 2010-2013
• Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award, Kellogg School of Management, 2006-2007, 2001-2002