University College Dublin has awarded an honorary degree to one of the leading pioneers of the massive growth in the area of financial economics, Professor Michael J. Brennan.

Professor Michael J. Brennan is Professor Emeritus at UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. He is a former Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research, home to 26 Nobel Prize winners in economics.

“Michael Brennan is one of the leading pioneers of the massive growth in the area of financial economics,” Professor John Cotter, UCD College of Business, read in his citation at the conferring ceremony. “His leadership and contribution to the finance profession has been immense.”

Professor Brennan’s research covers several areas including microstructure, asset pricing and corporate finance. He has published four books and almost one hundred articles in leading research journals.

Pictured above (l-r): Professor Michael J. Brennan and UCD President, Professor Andrew Deeks

He is a former president of the American Finance Association and served as editor of the Journal of Finance. He was also a founding editor of the Review of Financial Studies.

His work has contributed to a large body of literature covering topics such as liquidity, option valuation and arbitrage.

Professor Brennan received his BA and BPhil from University of Oxford. He completed an MBA at University of Pittsburgh and a PhD at Massachusetts of Technology.