David Mayers, professor of finance and holder of the Phillip L. Boyd chair in finance at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM), recently received the Robert I. Mehr Award of the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA), which recognizes work that stands the test of time.

Mayers received the award for his groundbreaking work in his paper titled "Managerial Discretion, Regulation and Stock Insurer Ownership Structure," co-authored in 1994 with Cliff Smith of the University of Rochester, and published in the Journal of Risk and Insurance (JRI). The paper examines the consequences of the use of different ownership structures such as stock, mutual funds, and subsidiaries in the property-liability insurance industry.

"I was extremely flattered to receive this prestigious award from the American Risk and Insurance Association," said Mayers.

During the award presentation on Sept. 24, Robert E. Hoyt, past president of ARIA and professor of risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, praised Mayers and Smith for receiving the annual Mehr Award.

"With a decade of information at their disposal, the editors and associate editors of the JRI judged this paper as having best stood the test of time," Hoyt said. "The Mehr Award is tangible evidence of the lasting impact that their research has had on the body of literature in risk and insurance."

Professor Mayers received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Rochester, NY in 1972. He joined UC Riverside's AGSM in 1997, following positions at UCLA and Ohio State University. He has participated in more than 40 public lectures or forums, presented over 20 papers to professional societies and 15 at University Workshops since 1987. He has contributed or co-authored five books and one monograph. He also has over 30 professional journal articles published.

Co-author Smith received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina in 1975. He is currently at the University of Rochester where he is a professor of business administration in the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration.

Founded in 1932, the ARIA is a professional association of insurance scholars and other thoughtful insurance and risk management professionals. The association's membership is comprised of academics, individual insurance industry representatives, and institutional sponsors. The ARIA emphasizes research relevant to the operational concerns and functions of insurance professionals, and provides resources, information and support on important insurance issues. The organization's goals also include the expansion and improvement of academic instruction to students of risk management and insurance.