Campbell Assumes Econ. Post

John Y. Campbell, a renowned expert in finance and macroeconomics, has accepted tenure as the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics.

"He is an absolutely outstanding young scholar with a world-wide reputation," said Benjamin M. Friedman, chair of the Economics Department. "He has made a prolific and important contribution to several strands of economics."

Campbell will assume the post in July, after 10 years of teaching at Princeton.

"I was ready for a change," Camp- bell said. "Princeton has a very good[economics] department, but the strength of thePrinceton department hasn't been in my field."

Harvard has strengthened the finance aspect ofthe economics department over the last severalyears, Friedman said.

He mentioned the arrivals of Professor ofEconomics Andrei Shleifer '82 and Professor ofEconomics Oliver D. Hart as being particularlysignificant.

"With the addition of Professor Campbell, ourdepartment now has the strongest finance group atany arts and sciences economics department," hesaid. "This has been building over time inresponse to developing intellectual pursuits."

Shleifer said, "He represents a lot of addedstrength in finance, which both undergraduate andgraduate students should be interested in."

Campbell credits the finance focus of Harvard'sdepartment as a major factor in his decision toaccept the position.

"This is the greatest concentration ofeconomists in the world," he said. "Theattractiveness of Cambridge as an intellectualcenter is very appealing for any economist."

Campbell is scheduled to begin teaching twograduate courses at Harvard in September, and willplan an undergraduate finance course for the1995-1996 school year.

"The undergraduate course is one of the mostimportant missions I have in teaching at Harvard,"he said. "It's stuff that undergraduates shouldlearn, and I want to convey some of the excitementof the financial world."

"[Campbell] was known at Princeton as anexcellent teacher," Friedman said. "His principalfield is the way in which financial marketsestablish prices, a subject undergrads areinterested in if they are going into business."

Campbell received his bachelor's degree fromCorpus Christi College of Oxford University in1979, and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1984.

He served as Assistant Professor of Economicsand Public Affairs at Princeton from 1984 to 1989,and Class of 1926 Professor and Professor ofEconomics and Public Affairs from 1989 until thisyear

Harvard has strengthened the finance aspect ofthe economics department over the last severalyears, Friedman said.

He mentioned the arrivals of Professor ofEconomics Andrei Shleifer '82 and Professor ofEconomics Oliver D. Hart as being particularlysignificant.

"With the addition of Professor Campbell, ourdepartment now has the strongest finance group atany arts and sciences economics department," hesaid. "This has been building over time inresponse to developing intellectual pursuits."

Shleifer said, "He represents a lot of addedstrength in finance, which both undergraduate andgraduate students should be interested in."

Campbell credits the finance focus of Harvard'sdepartment as a major factor in his decision toaccept the position.

"This is the greatest concentration ofeconomists in the world," he said. "Theattractiveness of Cambridge as an intellectualcenter is very appealing for any economist."

Campbell is scheduled to begin teaching twograduate courses at Harvard in September, and willplan an undergraduate finance course for the1995-1996 school year.

"The undergraduate course is one of the mostimportant missions I have in teaching at Harvard,"he said. "It's stuff that undergraduates shouldlearn, and I want to convey some of the excitementof the financial world."

"[Campbell] was known at Princeton as anexcellent teacher," Friedman said. "His principalfield is the way in which financial marketsestablish prices, a subject undergrads areinterested in if they are going into business."

Campbell received his bachelor's degree fromCorpus Christi College of Oxford University in1979, and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1984.

He served as Assistant Professor of Economicsand Public Affairs at Princeton from 1984 to 1989,and Class of 1926 Professor and Professor ofEconomics and Public Affairs from 1989 until thisyear