Acknowledgments

This book is a synthesis of my many years of teaching across a broad spectrum of courses. Still, all books are collaborative efforts and I am indebted to my many graduate students who helped shape the way I think about the subject material covered herein. In particular, I have benefited from many discussions with the investment team at the Virginia Retirement System, most notably J.T. Grier, Ross Kasarda, Justin White, David Waltenbaugh, Matt Lacy, Alex Muniz, and Charles Grant as well as Rodney Sullivan at the CFA Institute. I would also like to thank my former colleagues in the economics department at Virginia Commonwealth University who, through my roughly 20-year tenure there, helped forge the foundations of both my teaching and research methodology. This book would never have made it past the manuscript stage without the production team at Wiley and I owe a special thanks to my editors Bill Falloon and Meg Freeborn. Finally, I thank my wife, Joyce, and daughter, Catherine, for their patient indulgence of my many evenings and weekends spent writing and working through problems.