About the Authors
Dr. Jim Brau, a Professor of Finance at Brigham Young University, is the editor of the Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance at the Marriott School of Management. He received his undergraduate training at the United States Military Academy at West Point and served three years as an Airborne Ranger infantry officer in the United States Army and another five years in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves. While in the reserves, Jim earned his PhD from Florida State University in business administration and finance. Jim joined the Marriott School faculty in April 1999 and was honorably discharged as an Army Captain in June 1999. In 2004, Jim earned the Charted Financial Analyst designation, and in 2019 he earned the Certified Financial Planner certification. He served as the Associate Department Chair and the Program Director for the Finance Department at Brigham Young University and as the faculty director for the Peery Institute of Financial Services.
Among his awards are West Point Distinguished Cadet (top 5% of the senior class in academics, physical fitness, and leadership), West Point dean’s list all eight semesters, FSU Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award (Valedictorian), three FSU teaching awards (one college level and two university level), five BYU teaching awards (three department level and two college level), three BYU research awards (two department level and one college level), five best-paper awards, and the BYU University Young Scholar Award (university-wide).
Dr. Andrew Holmes is a Professor of Finance at Brigham Young University. Raised by entrepreneurial parents, he brings an innovative spirit to all his endeavors. During his appointment as Associate Department Chair, Dr. Holmes championed the process to create an independent finance major and developed the curriculum.
He served as chair of the finance department at BYU from 2011–2019, and during that time, he was most concerned with the acquisition and optimization of department resources to ensure achievement of departmental goals in teaching and research. Dr. Holmes has garnered a number of teaching awards during his time as a professor, including the Teaching Excellence Award at the Marriott School of Management and the Citizenship award for the BYU Department of Finance.
Dr. Benjamin Blau graduated with honors and received a PhD in finance from the University of Mississippi in June 2008 after receiving both his bachelor’s degree (finance, 2002) and master’s degree (economics, 2005) at Utah State University. Ben is passionate about both teaching and research. Before joining the faculty at USU, he taught at the Marriott School at Brigham Young University and was recognized for “Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching” in 2009.
In 2012, he was recognized as the Huntsman School Teacher of the Year in the Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, in 2013 he was recognized as the Researcher of the Year, and in 2015 he was awarded the Graduate Research Mentor of the Year award. Ben serves as the George S. Eccles Endowed Chair in Finance and the Department Head of USU’s Economics and Finance Departments. Ben’s research interests revolve around the efficiency of financial markets, the effects of regulation, and the flow of information into asset prices. He has published approximately 70 articles in top academic journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, Financial Management, the Journal of Corporate Finance, the Journal of Risk and Insurance, and the Journal of Empirical Finance.