Laura Starks is the Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Regents Chair of Finance, Chairman of the Department of Finance, and Director of the AIM Investment Center in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Her teaching interests include global financial strategies, investments, valuation theory, and financial management. Her recent research focuses on the evaluation, compensation and performance of portfolio managers and the role of institutional investors in markets and corporate governance.

She has received a number of awards for her research including the 1996 Smith Breeden Distinguished Paper Award from the Journal of Finance, the 1997 Western Finance Association Best Paper in Corporate Finance Award, the 1998 Financial Management Association Best Paper in Corporate Finance Award, 2001 Journal of Financial Research Outstanding Article Award , the 2003 and 2004 Financial Management Association European Meetings Best Paper Award, and the 2004 Fama-DFA Second Prize for Best Paper Published in Journal of Financial Economics.

She is co-Editor of the Review of Financial Studies and has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Services Research, Journal of Financial Research, Financial Management, International Review of Finance, Contemporary Finance Digest and AB ANTE, Estudios en Direccion de Empresas.

She has served on the Boards of Directors of the American Finance Association, the Financial Management Association and the Western Finance Association. She is Past President of the Financial Management Association. Professor Starks serves as an independent director for TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds, CREF Retirement Account, and previously for USAA Mutual Funds. She also serves as the Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Employees Retirement System of the State of Texas.