Description
Following the sad and untimely passing of Denis Gromb on October 30, 2022, a FIRS Director and past President, the Board of FIRS published a Tribute to Denis and voted to establish an Award in his honor and memory.  This Award is to be called the Denis Gromb Award for Outstanding Citizenship in Financial Economics and will be given, along with a cash prize, biennially.

FIRS aims to fund the Award through donations.  A PayPal donation link is provided at the bottom of this page, following a description of the Award.

Eligibility Criteria
Recipients of the Award should have displayed the academic citizenship qualities for which Denis Gromb was well known within the financial economics profession. Specifically, recipients shall be recognized for fostering a research and work environment that is collaborative, unifying, and principled through, for example,

  • their mentorship of students and faculty in the field of financial economics,
  • their inconspicuous commitment to create positive externalities for members of the profession,
  • their disposition to generously contribute time and effort to help their peers, and to go above the “call of duty” to help others in the profession,
  • their willingness to engage in and stand for initiatives that have important and significant welfare implications for the profession at large,
  • their disposition to lead by example, and/or
  • their overall self-effacing dedication to the profession.

Current members of the FIRS Board of Directors are ineligible for the Award.

Nominations
The nomination process for each Award will begin with a public call for nominations that spells out the information and documentation to be submitted as part of any nomination of a candidate or set of candidates to be jointly considered for the Award.  Nominations can come from one person or a group of people.  It is not required that the nominators or nominees be associated with FIRS in any capacity.  In any given year that the Award is offered, the nomination deadline will coincide with the paper submission deadline for the FIRS Conference during which the Award will be presented.

Review and Selection Process
An Award Selection Committee appointed by the President of FIRS, as advised by the association’s Board of Directors, will review the nominations, select the Award recipient(s), and publicly announce the Award.  At its discretion, this Committee may decide not to award a prize in a particular year.

Payout
FIRS intends to give the initial Award at the 2024 FIRS Conference; it comes with a cash prize of $5,000.  Subsequent Awards should carry similar cash prizes that will be determined by the President of FIRS, in conjunction with the association’s Board of Directors.  If the Award is given to more than one recipient in any given year, all awardees shall share the cash prize equally.

Donations
FIRS aims to fund the Award through donations from anyone who supports the idea of recognizing outstanding citizenship in the finance profession, including financial economists who have directly or indirectly benefitted from Denis’ exemplary citizenship, as well as students, friends, and family of Denis.  The goal is to raise $50,000, and initial donations by the Board of Directors of FIRS, who voted unanimously to establish the Award, have reached a total of $5,000.

FIRS now kindly asks for your support.  Donations of any amount, using the PayPal link below, are welcome.  Please note however that your donations are unfortunately not tax-deductible.  We thank you for your generous support of this important initiative to foster a collegial, collaborative, and supportive atmosphere in our profession, and at the same time commemorate our dear friend Denis.