Professor Farnsworth received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1997. Since then, he has taught at several universities including Washington University in St. Louis, Penn State University, the University of Oklahoma, and now Rice. He has worked in the finance industry as manager of derivative strategies for a large investment advisory firm. He also spent a year working as a staff economist for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He has published on bond pricing and asset management in top finance journals including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.