Robert I. Webb
Paul Tudor Jones II Research Professorship in the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business AdministrationRobert I. Webb Deciphers the Financial World for OthersWhen news breaks in the financial world, Robert I. Webb is often one of the first to get a call. As an expert in speculative markets, Mr. Webb studies sophisticated financial instruments and helps news reporters explain breaking news to their readers. As a professor of finance who teaches both at the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden School of Business, he helps his students understand underlying market structures and the outside factors that can roil financial markets. "I was always interested in finance," Mr. Webb said. "There were always interesting characters in history involved in it, from the Medicis to the Rothchilds. I found their stories fascinating and the world of finance to be exciting." Before coming to the University to teach, Mr. Webb garnered extensive experience in the financial industry by trading fixed-income securities for the World Bank, trading and designing new financial futures and options for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and serving as a senior financial economist for the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President. "Bob has an incredible drive to apply theory to practice," said his McIntire colleague George A. Overstreet, Jr. "You have to ask yourself, how many people in academic business schools actually traded on the floor [of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange] and then teach a class in trading? Not many." Now the Paul Tudor Jones II Research Professor at McIntire and Darden, Mr. Webb previously held the Martin J. Patsel, Jr., Research Professorship in Commerce at McIntire. Mr. Webb is widely quoted in the financial press and has written for such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, and the Nikkei. He is the editor of the Journal of Futures Markets, a leading academic journal on derivative securities and markets. His recent book, Trading Catalysts: How Events Move Markets and Create Trading Opportunities, examines such factors as central bank actions, ill-advised comments by policymakers, natural disasters, and errors in economic reports that can cause large shifts in commodity and financial market prices. Paul Tudor Jones II Research Professorship in the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business AdministrationThe Paul Tudor Jones II Research Professorship in the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration was created in 1996 with a gift from Mr. Jones (College '76), founder of Tudor Investment Corporation. By supporting a professor who specializes in technical analysis of financial and commodity markets, the chair integrates the field into the University's business curriculum. ChairholdersRobert I. Webb 1997–99 Martin J. Patsel, Jr., Research Professorship in CommerceThe Martin J. Patsel, Jr., Research Professorship in Commerce was funded with a bequest by Mr. Patsel, who died in 1992. The chair supports research that will advance the field of knowledge and enrich the McIntire School curriculum. Mr. Patsel (McIntire '56), who was president of the Roanoke Distributing Company, was also a generous supporter of the Virginia Athletics Foundation student-athlete scholarship endowment. ChairholdersRobert S. Kemp 1993–96 Web Links |