Eugene Fama

Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow awarded Eugene Fama an honorary degree
during the University's 2002 Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 20, 2002

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [05.20.02] -- Eugene Fama, the expectations were high when you graduated from Tufts in 1960. You were on the Dean's List, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, winner of the Class of 1888 Prize Scholarship for the school's outstanding athlete, and you received on this very Hill your bachelor's degree with honors in romance languages.

   You left your home, the greater Boston area, for graduate studies at the University of Chicago, and the rest is history. Now the Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, you are recognized worldwide as a preeminent scholar in the field of finance.

   Your work, ranging from the career-launching article "The Behavior of Stock Market Prices" in 1965 to more recent publications that focus on 21st century capital markets, has changed the nature of activity in financial circles. Colleagues, students and finance professionals around the globe base their research and work on your compelling interpretation of the "efficient market" - a term that you coined.

   Your comprehensive work has won the respect of the most hard to please critics. We at Tufts recognize the tremendous impact that you have had on your discipline, and we are proud to count you among Tufts' own. It is a privilege to award to you today the degree of Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa.