Cambridge University Reporter


Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professorship of Finance

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. Finance is a core discipline of any leading business school and in the most prestigious business schools the number of academic staff working in the field of finance is among the largest of any business discipline. In Cambridge, student demand for training in finance is very strong and compulsory core courses in finance are provided by Judge Business School (JBS) for its undergraduate, M.Phil., and M.B.A. programmes. The specialist finance programme, the M.Phil. in Finance, attracts around sixteen very high quality applicants for each place and there are plans to introduce a further specialist degree programme in finance shortly.

2. JBS has a small academic staff complement in finance and, in the JBS 2005 strategy document, securing an endowed chair in finance was identified as a major priority, to strengthen provision following the retirement of Professor M. A. H. Dempster from a single-tenure Professorship. Cambridge has particular reason to develop its academic provision in finance because of its proximity to the City of London and the strong representation of Cambridge alumni among the City's professional workforce. The City is now the undisputed leader of European finance, and eclipses New York as global leader in some areas of finance. The City's interest in recruiting the University's graduates and in accessing its research is therefore very high and growing.

3. In promoting teaching and research in finance, JBS collaborates closely with other faculties in the University. The M.Phil. in Finance is taught jointly with the Faculties of Economics and Mathematics, for example, and JBS hosts the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance which fosters research in finance across the University.

4. An opportunity to further develop work in this area has now arisen as the Trustees of the Eranda Foundation wish to support the establishment of a new Professorship, to be called the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professorship of Finance in honour of the distinguished financier, former chairman of N. M. Rothschild and Sons Limited, and student of Economics at Cambridge. The Foundation has generously agreed to donate to the University the sum of £1.85m to support the proposed Professorship for ten years. The Council of the School of Technology and the Faculty Board of Business and Management have endorsed the proposal and have recommended that the new Professorship be established and assigned to Judge Business School. They also recommend that, for this election, the post should focus on the field of Venture Finance because of the special opportunities in Cambridge to study the financial needs and development of the cluster of entrepreneurial ventures around the University and City of Cambridge; the Faculty Board expect the new Professor will provide research leadership in this area. The Faculty Board have confirmed that suitable accommodation is available for the new Professor.

5. The General Board are assured that the Professorship can be expected to attract an excellent field of candidates. Election to the Professorship will be made by the General Board, in accordance with Statute D, XV, 1(c)(iii), and the Board have agreed that, on this occasion, preference will be given to candidates whose work falls within the field of Venture Finance.

6. The General Board recommend:

6 June 2007 ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor RICHARD FRIEND MELVEENA MCKENDRICK
 JOHN BELL JACOB HEAD KAMIAR MOHADDES
  TOM BLUNDELL RICHARD HUNTER PATRICK SISSONS
 WILLIAM BROWN D. W. B. MACDONALD I. H. WHITE
 PHILIP FORD  

SCHEDULE

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Fund for Finance

1. The sum received from the Eranda Foundation to support a Professorship of Finance for a single tenure of ten years shall form a fund called the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Fund for Finance.

2. The Managers of the Fund shall be the Director of Judge Business School, the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance for the time being, and one other Manager appointed by the Faculty Board of Business and Management for periods of five years provided that, if two of these offices are held by the same person or if one or more of these posts is vacant or its tenure has expired, the Faculty Board of Business and Management shall appoint one or more additional Managers so as to ensure that there are three Managers.

3. The capital and the income of the Fund shall be available for the payment of the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs of the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance payable by the University during the tenure of the Professor.

4. After provision has been made in accordance with Regulation 3, the capital and the income of the Fund shall be applied for the support of teaching or research in some aspect of Finance in such a manner as shall be approved by the General Board on the recommendation of the Managers.

5. In the event that there is capital or income of the Fund remaining after the expiry of the tenure of the Professor, the capital and income of the Fund shall be available for the purpose set out in Regulation 4.

6. Any unexpended income in a financial year may in any one or more subsequent year be expended in accordance with Regulations 3 and 4.