Editor's note: A version of this story appeared in the print edition of The Observer on Feb. 21.
K.J. Martijn Cremers, interim dean of Mendoza College of Business and Bernard J. Hank professor of finance at Notre Dame, will be Holy Cross College’s 2019 commencement speaker, Monica Garvey Leyes, assistant director of communications at Holy Cross, announced in a press release Wednesday.
“We are honored to welcome Dr. Cremers as our commencement speaker,” Holy Cross President Fr. David Tyson said in the release. “The breadth and integrity of his work set him apart in both the academy and the business field. Even more so, his commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition and his dedication to truth, the dignity of the human person and the common good will speak to every one of our graduates, professors and guests.”
Cremers served as faculty at the Yale School of Management for 10 years before joining Mendoza in 2012. He earned his master’s degree from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and received a doctorate in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Cremers’ scholarship focuses on investment management and corporate governance, and he teaches at both the MBA and undergraduate levels.
He received recognition for his 2007 academic paper, “How active is your fund manager? A new measure that predicts performance,” which he co-authored with management professor Antti Petajisto and published in the Review of Financial Studies in 2009. According to the release, the paper “introduced a measure of management called ‘Active Share’ now widely used in the financial industry.”
Cremers’ work has been published in several academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, Stanford Law Review and Northwestern Law Review. His research has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, the release said.
Outside his work at Notre Dame, Cremers serves as the independent director at Ariel Investments in Chicago and as an external consultant with State Street Associates.
The Holy Cross commencement ceremony will take place May 18 at 2 p.m. in the Pfeil Center’s McKenna Arena.
