The American Finance Association is pleased to announce that Professor Jay Ritter has been named the 2026 Fellow of the American Finance Association, one of the Association’s highest honors recognizing individuals who have made distinguished and lasting contributions to the field of finance. Professor Ritter earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago and, until transitioning to emeritus status in 2024, served as the Joseph B. Cordell Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida; he now directs the IPO Initiative at the University’s Warrington College of Business. With more than 61,000 citations, his research has profoundly influenced both academic scholarship and practice, spanning topics such as capital formation, IPO underpricing and long-run performance, investment banking, capital structure, behavioral finance, and market anomalies. Widely known as “Mr. IPO,” Professor Ritter is also recognized for his exceptional service to the profession, including the creation and ongoing maintenance of a publicly accessible IPO data resource that has supported countless academic studies, dissertations, policy analyses, and media reports, as well as his mentorship of generations of students and scholars worldwide.
AFA 2025 Election Results
Congratulations to the officers and directors elected in the AFA 2025 election:
President: Wei Jiang,
President Elect and 2027 Program Chair: Sydney Ludvigson,
Vice President: Andrea Eisfeldt,
Directors: Mariassunta Giannetti, Xavier Giroud, and Hanno Lustig.
AFA Elections
The 2025 AFA elections are open through Friday, November 14th. All voting-eligible members were sent a link to the ballot via email on October 16th. If you joined or renewed your membership after that date, or if you did not receive the ballot email but believe that you should have, please contact info@afajof.org. Note that student members and individuals with a Worldwide Directory of Finance Faculty listing, but without a current, paid membership, are not eligible to vote.
The 2025 election ballot provides an opportunity to:
- Vote for incoming Officers and Directors
- Suggest names for future elections and AFA committees
Thank you for your membership and participation in the AFA. Be sure to cast your ballot by Friday, November 14th, 2025.
Sad News: James Van Horne Passes Away
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Jim Van Horne on Monday, September 1, at the age of 90. Jim was the A.P. Giannini Professor of Banking and Finance, Emeritus at Stanford GSB. He served as President of the American Finance Association in 1984 and was also a Fellow of the Association.
Professor Van Horne’s areas of research included theory and behavior of interest rates, capital budgeting decisions, corporate finance, valuation, the term structure of interest rates, effect of inflation, and finance innovation. He authored numerous research articles as well as five books which have been widely used as textbooks in the United States and abroad. His work has helped shape the field of finance.
Jim profoundly influenced generations of students through his legendary Corporate Finance course, his rigorous teaching style, and his passion for mentoring. He received the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award twice and the Robert T. Davis Award for extraordinary faculty service.
Beyond the classroom, Dr. Van Horne served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury, held key leadership roles at Stanford, and served as a former president of the Western Finance Association. In 2011, the James C. Van Horne Professorship was established in his honor—a lasting tribute to his enduring impact on Stanford and the profession. He will be greatly missed.
Journal of Finance: Editorial Team Update
As announced at the 2025 AFA meetings, Urban Jermann (Wharton) will step down as JF editor on July 1, 2025 and Adi Sunderam (HBS) will be replacing him. Manuscripts submitted before July 1st 2025 that are assigned to Urban will continue to be handled by him. In addition, Urban Jermann will still be handling R&Rs on papers he had previously been an editor on for the next year. Papers that are not resubmitted within a year will be transferred to a new editor.