Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is pleased to announce the winners of its First Annual Prize for Excellence in Financial Markets.  Morgan Stanley has established this award to recognize excellence in financial research among Ph.D. students. 

A panel of judges awarded the first prize of $25,000 to Nina Boyarchenko, a Ph.D. Candidate in Finance and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, for her paper entitled "Ambiguity Shifts and the 2007 Financial Crisis."  The following finalists were named runners-up:

• Johannes Ruf, Ph.D. Candidate in Statistics, Columbia University: First runner-up
• Howard Shek, Ph.D. Candidate in Computational Mathematics, Stanford University: First runner-up
• Michael Gofman, Ph.D. Candidate in Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business: Second runner-up
• Peter Lin, Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Johns Hopkins University: Second runner-up

First runners-up each received a prize of $10,000 and second runners-up were awarded $5,000.

"The Morgan Stanley Prize for Excellence in Financial Markets recognizes the critical importance of finance theory in improving our understanding of how financial markets work," said Jim Rosenthal, Head of Corporate Strategy at Morgan Stanley.  "In establishing this award, we look to support thought leadership by honoring scholars who are making significant contributions to financial research.  We congratulate and commend the finalists, particularly first-place winner Nina Boyarchenko, for their unique insights and their dedication to advancing this critical academic field."

Doctoral candidates from top universities around the world were invited to submit a paper on any topic in finance or financial economics by November 1, 2010.  The following panel of judges read the papers and selected the five finalists from the pool of applicants.  

• Dr. Peter Carr, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Executive Director of the Masters in Mathematical Finance program at New York University's Courant Institute
• Dr. Dilip Madan, Professor of Finance at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
• Philip Protter, Professor of Operations Research at Cornell University
• Peter Muller, Senior Advisor of Morgan Stanley 

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony with Morgan Stanley employees at the Firm's New York City headquarters on December 2.

To learn more about the Morgan Stanley Prize for Excellence, please visit http://www.morganstanley.com/about/careers/PrizeforExcellence.html
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services.  The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 1,300 offices in 42 countries.  For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

Morgan Stanley Media Relations
Sandra Hernandez
212.761.2446