JOIM Conference Series: Dr. Harry M. Markowitz Interview with Dr. Richard O. Michaud, San Diego, March 6, 2011 Conference Summaries

Abstract

We are here to honor Dr. Harry Markowitz, a true giant of modern finance and economics. As everyone knows, his major awards for his contributions to science include the 1989 John Von Neumann Prize in Operations Research Theory given by the Operations Research Society of America and The Institute of Management Sciences and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Merton H. Miller and William F. Sharpe.All of us here know Harry for his many contributions to finance and economics. Many of us have been privileged to know him as a friend. It is therefore fitting that here at the Journal of Investment Management Conference, he is deservedly honored as our intellectual father. He was a pioneer in laying down the foundations of modern finance and asset management. He has been an unerring guide throughout its long history. His many articles and books continue to inspire us. But Harry takes no prisoners. If he thinks you are wrong, he will tell you and demand your best to prove him wrong. However, he is truly a generous man and tells his story with great respect for the truth.In our time together, I hope to elicit some of the motivations and ideas behind the headlines of his work. Also, there is no one better to bring us back to the beginning of modern finance and to tell us something of the verbal history of the field, including the tremendous set of ideas that reached its amazing climax in his 1959 book on portfolio diversification. Finally, I hope he will share his thoughts on his most recent work and its implications for the future of finance.