Alex Butler is a professor of finance at Rice University. His research is in empirical corporate finance, financial institutions, and financial markets, and focuses on external financing decisions of firms, governments, and individuals. His research has been published in all the top finance journals. He received the Jones School’s Award for Scholarship Excellence in 2011 and 2012. Prior to joining the Jones School in 2009, he was on the faculties at University of Texas at Dallas, University of South Florida, and Louisiana State University. At the Jones School he teaches financial markets and corporate finance in the undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and PhD programs. He has a PhD in Finance from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University. His CV is available for download from his website (butler.rice.edu).