Jonathan Berk

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Jonathan B. Berk is the A.P. Giannini Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has held this position since 2008. Prior to his arrival at Stanford University, he was the Sylvan Coleman Professor of Finance at the University of California, Berkeley. He worked as an analyst for Goldman Sachs before beginning his academic career.{{Cite web | title=Jonathan B. Berk - Stanford Graduate School of Business | date=2 March 2018| url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/voices/jonathan-b-berk|publisher=Stanford Graduate School of Business | accessdate=1 September 2019}}{{cite book | title=Fundamentals of Corporate Finance | year=2013 | via=Internet Archive | url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofco0000unse| url-access=registration | quote=FAME research prize finance. |publisher=Pearson Higher Education AU | isbn=978-0-321-49406-1 | accessdate=1 September 2019}}

Berk was born on April 22, 1962, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He earned his BA in physics at Rice University in 1984. He continued to earn his MA and MPhil degrees in finance in 1989, and his PhD in finance in 1990, at Yale University.{{Cite web | title=Curriculum Vitae | url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/faculty-cv/jonathan-b-berk/berk_cv_05092017.pdf|publisher=Stanford Graduate School of Business | accessdate=1 September 2019}} Berk is known for his theoretical research in Corporate Finance, particularly in the fields of money management, asset pricing, corporate capital structure, labor and market interactions, and the theories of market rationality. He is widely published and highly cited in these areas.{{Cite web | title=B.Berk - Google Scholar Citations | url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0pz-elAAAAAJ&hl=en| accessdate=1 September 2019}}

Berk has received numerous awards and recognitions for original work, including the Stephen A. Ross Prize in Financial Economics,{{Cite web | title=FARFE - Foundation for the Advancement in Financial Economics - Ross Prize | url=http://farfe.org/ross_prize-2016.html|publisher=FARFE.org | accessdate=1 September 2019}} the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award (2005){{Cite web | title=Samuelson Brochure | url=https://www.tiaainstitute.org/sites/default/files/presentations/2019-01/2018_SamuelsonBrochure_fin2.pdf|publisher=tiaainstitute.org | accessdate=1 September 2019}} the Smith Breeden Prize (1999){{Cite web | title=Prizes - The American Finance Association | url=https://afajof.org/prizes/#smithbreedenprizewinners|publisher=The American Finance Association | accessdate=1 September 2019}} Best Paper of the Year in the Review of Financial Studies, and the FAME Research Prize.

Berk generated controversy in November 2024 when he published an op-ed in The Stanford Daily criticizing graduate student workers bargaining for their first contract through the Stanford Graduate Workers Union.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-13 |title=On Berk's lack of understanding of the graduate student crisis |url=https://stanforddaily.com/2024/11/13/on-berks-response-to-graduate-crisis/?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailchimp&utm_content=Nov-13-2024?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailchimp&utm_content=Nov-13-2024 |access-date=2024-11-13 |language=en-US}} His editorial, titled "It's hard to fathom the selfishness of our graduate students," stated that students asking for more than $53,000 in annual income were attempting to "enrich themselves by holding the University up."{{Cite news |last=Berk |first=Jonathan |date=November 10, 2024 |title=It's hard to fathom the selfishness of our graduate students |url=https://stanforddaily.com/2024/11/10/selfishness-of-stanford-graduate-students/ |access-date=November 13, 2024 |work=The Stanford Daily}} The San Francisco Bay Area, where Stanford University is located, has one of the highest costs of living in the world.{{Cite web |last=Winters |first=Mike |date=2024-06-29 |title=The 10 U.S. places with the highest cost of living—No. 1 costs more than double the national average |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/29/us-highest-cost-of-living.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=CNBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Fernandez |first=Celia |date=2024-08-04 |title=7 of the 10 most expensive cities to live in the world are in the United States—see the full list |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/04/most-expensive-cities-to-live-in-numbeo-mid-year-study.html |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=CNBC |language=en}} In 2023, the California Department of Housing and Community Development classified single-person households making $96,000 as "low income" in Santa Clara County, where Stanford University is located.{{Cite web |last=Kirkeby |first=Megan |date=June 6, 2023 |title=2023 State Income Limits |url=https://www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/default/files/docs/grants-and-funding/income-limits-2023.pdf |publisher=California Department of Housing and Community Development}} Due to the extremely high cost of living, single person households in Santa Clara County making less than $62,450 were classified in that same report as "very low income."