Rich Lyons

Rich Lyons
Lyons in 2008
12th Chancellor of University of California, Berkeley
Assumed office
July 1, 2024
Preceded byCarol T. Christ
Personal details
Born
Richard Kent Lyons

(1961-02-10) February 10, 1961 (age 63)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Academic background
ThesisThree essays on exchange rate determination (1988)
Doctoral advisorRudiger Dornbusch
Academic work
DisciplineEconomics

Richard Kent Lyons (born 1961; commonly as Rich Lyons[1][2]) is an American economist and academic, currently serving as the 12th chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley since July 2024. He served as the 14th dean of the Haas School of Business from 2008 to 2018 and as Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer at UC Berkeley from 2020 to 2024.[3][4]

Early life and education

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Lyons was born on February 10, 1961, in Palo Alto, California.[5]

Lyons received a Bachelor of Science with a major in business and with highest honors from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1982.[6] He received a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988 under the supervision of Rudiger Dornbusch.[7]

Career

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After his doctoral graduation from MIT, Lyons served as an assistant professor of business for six years at the Columbia Business School.[citation needed]

Lyons moved to the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business as a professor of economics and finance in 1993.[citation needed] In 1998, he received UC Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He also won the Haas School's Teacher of the Year (Cheit) award for six times.[8]

At Berkeley, Lyons also served as Acting Dean of the Haas School from 2004 to 2005.[citation needed] He left for a two years for Goldman Sachs in New York City to serve as the Chief Learning Officer.[citation needed]

In 2008, Lyons left Goldman Sachs to serve as the dean of the Haas School of Business, succeeding Tom Campbell.[9] In 2018, Lyons returned to teaching after serving 11 years as dean as the William and Janet Cronk Chair in Innovative Leadership.[10]

His teaching expertise is in international finance.[3] Lyons’s early research focuses on currency markets, a focus reflected in his book “The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates” (MIT Press).[11]

Other professional activities

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Lyons's past consulting relationships include the Federal Reserve Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and Citibank. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an Associate Editor of the California Management Review, and, prior to joining Goldman Sachs, served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Matthews Asia Funds, and a member of the Board of Directors of iShares (Barclays Global Investors).[12]

Personal life

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Lyons is fluent in French and is also an accomplished musician, owning several musical copyrights.[citation needed]

He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Chancellor Lyons Biography | Office of the Chancellor". chancellor.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  2. ^ "Rich Lyons, longtime campus business, innovation leader, will be UC Berkeley's next chancellor". University of California. 2024-04-11. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  3. ^ a b "Lyons's Haas School of Business Faculty Biography". Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  4. ^ Pohl, Jason. "Rich Lyons, longtime campus business, innovation leader, will be UC Berkeley's next chancellor". Berkeley News. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  5. ^ Blaug, Mark; Vane, Howard R. (2003), Who's who in economics (4, illustrated ed.), Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 516, ISBN 1-84064-992-5
  6. ^ Daily Cal article: Dean of Haas School of Business to Step Down[dead link]
  7. ^ Lyons, Richard Kent (1988). Three essays on exchange rate determination (PhD thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. hdl:1721.1/14706. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  8. ^ Haas Faculty Teaching Award Winners
  9. ^ Raine, George (July 19, 2008). "Richard Lyons succeeds Campbell as Haas dean". San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ^ MacInnis, Emily (August 22, 2018). "Rich Lyons, Los Altos native, steps down from Haas School of Business". Los Altos Town Crier.
  11. ^ The Microstructure Approach to Exchange Rates at MIT Press ([1] Archived 2006-09-14 at the Wayback Machine)
  12. ^ Lyons's Official Haas Biography, from his personal website
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Academic offices
Preceded by Bank of America Dean of the Haas School of Business
2008 – 2018
Succeeded by
Ann Harrison
Preceded by 12th Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley
2024–present
Incumbent