Vice President
Dimensional Fund Advisors
James L. Davis brings deep academic and business experience to his position as vice president in Dimensional's Research group. A specialist in testing asset pricing models, Jim has done substantial research into the sources of risk and return, including writing an important historical study with Eugene F. Fama and Kenneth R. French, "Characteristics, Covariances, and Average Returns: 1929 to 1997," Journal of Finance (2000). This influential study extended the Fama/French value database back to the 1920s, solidifying Dimensional's knowledge and analysis of risk factors and returns.
Jim has been a professor of finance at Kansas State University and held positions with Arthur Andersen & Co. and Phillips Petroleum. He has also written and reviewed for many financial publications. Jim holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, an MBA from DePaul University, and a degree in finance from Oklahoma State University.