Chicago Booth Receives a $60 Million Gift from Alumni Clifford Asness and John Liew to Name Its Master in Finance Program

After welcoming its first-ever cohort of Master in Finance students on August 26, 2024, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has received a $60 million gift from Clifford Asness, MBA ’91, PhD ’94, and University of Chicago trustee John Liew, AB ’89, MBA ’94, PhD ’95, to name this program.

“Thanks to Cliff and John’s extraordinary generosity and leadership, the Asness and Liew Master in Finance Program will ensure that talented college graduates quickly reach the frontiers of modern finance,” said Madhav Rajan, Booth dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. “By providing broad support for faculty, students, and other areas of the program, this investment will enable the school to successfully carry out its mission to influence and educate this promising new group of leaders.”

The 15-month Asness and Liew Master in Finance Program is intended for recent college graduates who are seeking a masters degree that builds on their analytical aptitude and allows them to start a career in finance with a competitive advantage over their peers. This program, along with the new Master in Management Program, was announced in 2023 as one of the school’s first new degree offerings in 88 years.

The launch of the Asness and Liew Master in Finance Program is among the latest advancements in Chicago Booth’s robust history in the field of finance. The school’s world-renowned faculty have shaped financial theory and markets for more than 100 years.

Since 1982, 10 of Booth’s faculty members have won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their groundbreaking research—from Merton H. Miller in 1990, for his contributions to the field of corporate finance, to Eugene F. Fama, MBA ’64, PhD ’64, and Lars Peter Hansen in 2013, for their work on the empirical analysis of asset prices, to Douglas W. Diamond in 2022, for his work on banks and financial crises. Booth is leading a new generation of finance scholars, and the school’s finance faculty continue to generate ideas and scholarship with enduring global impact.

Upon reflecting on his reasons for making their gift, Cliff Asness said, “When I think about the difficulties of professional and intellectual success I think ‘there but for the grace of Chicago go I!’ Everyone needs some luck in life, and my great luck was being there when I was. This chance to give something back—helping make Chicago for others what it was for me—is beyond gratifying. Thank you, Chicago.”

John Liew added, “It’s hard to overstate the impact that our time at Booth had on us professionally. We literally built our careers and our business around what we learned. This really is the least we can do.”

UChicago president Paul Alivisatos, AB ’81, expressed his gratitude to John and Cliff for their generous support of the university, noting that “their contributions will not only allow future generations to experience the value of a Booth education, but also fortify this new pathway to earning a degree, offering more students the chance to pursue this opportunity at an earlier stage in their academic and professional journeys than they might otherwise.”

Asness and Liew are co-founders of AQR, a global investment management firm established in New York City in 1998. Asness serves as managing principal and chief investment officer, and Liew oversees research and portfolio management and is a member of the firm’s executive committee.

The two have been longtime supporters of Booth. Their previous giving to the school has included investments in junior faculty fellowships, support for the naming of the Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets, and the establishment of the AQR Capital Management Professorship, currently held by distinguished service professor Ralph S.J. Koijen.

Taught by Booth’s dynamic faculty, the immersive Asness and Liew Master in Finance Program offers a rigorous, discipline-based course of study that is rooted in advanced quantitative methods in finance. Students have the opportunity to take classes about the technologies and advances that are disrupting the financial industry—from artificial intelligence to machine learning to blockchain technology. The program also offers students opportunities focused on career exploration and advising, such as the exclusive Leaders in Finance Speaker Series, as well as the option to specialize in an area that will help them stand out in the job market. 

Armin Afsahi, vice president for alumni relations and development, also expressed gratitude for Asness’s and Liew’s generosity. “Both Cliff and John have made significant philanthropic investments in the university since their time as students, supporting the mission to provide a transformative education and conduct groundbreaking research. With this new gift, they will make a meaningful difference in the lives of students who will go on to make their own impact in the multidisciplinary field of finance.”