WU Awards Honorary Doctorate to Financial Economist Toni M. Whited

On May 13, 2026, the title of honorary doctor of the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business was conferred upon Toni M. Whited, one of the most internationally recognized and influential researchers in the field of financial economics. 

Toni M. Whited is a professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA). Her groundbreaking and methodologically innovative work has fundamentally transformed, among other things, financial economists’ perspectives on corporate investment decisions, the effects of financial frictions, corporate capital structure decisions, and the way in which credible conclusions are drawn from data. Her research has been published in leading academic journals and has had a lasting impact on both academic discourse and empirical practice.

Honoring a Leading International Financial Economist

At the ceremony conferring the honorary doctorate, WU Professor Josef Zechner from the Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics delivered a laudatory speech in honor of the recipient following welcoming remarks by Rector Rupert Sausgruber and a speech by Senate chair Anne d’Arcy: “Professor Whited is one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of corporate finance. Her research combines profound economic intuition with exceptional econometric rigor. One of her major achievements is having demonstrated that many empirical ‘facts’ in finance were not facts at all, but statistical illusions arising from measurement problems and econometric distortions. She is also an active mentor and dedicated supporter of the next generation of scholars. “

Toni M. Whited was visibly delighted by the high honor bestowed by the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business: “It is a great honor for me to receive an honorary doctorate from WU. After nearly two decades of teaching here, I appreciate the intellectual generosity of the faculty and researchers, as well as the curiosity of the students, more than I can put into words. My sincere thanks go to the university for this award.”

About Toni M. Whited

Toni M. Whited is the Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1990. Her key research areas are corporate finance, particularly in the areas of investment decisions, financial frictions, and liquidity policy. She has published numerous articles in leading academic journals and has been honored with the Jensen Prize and the Brattle Prize twice, among other awards. Whited served as president of the Western Finance Association and has been editor-in-chief of the Journal of Financial Economics, one of the leading journals in finance, since 2021. Toni M. Whited has a longstanding collaboration with WU. She has been a visiting researcher for many years and is actively involved in the Vienna Graduate School of Finance, where she has made a decisive contribution to the further development of WU as an internationally recognized research center in the field of finance.

The conferral of honorary doctorates is one of the highest honors awarded by universities and requires detailed justification. Most recently, the title was awarded in 2024 to Susan Emmenegger, a Swiss luminary in the field of corporate law.