The Writings of Henry A. Latané: A Compilation and Analysis

Abstract

Henry A. Latané: A Brief Biographical Sketch A native Virginian, Henry A. Latané was born in Buchanan, Botetourt County, in 1907. He received a BA degree from the University of Richmond in 1928 and an MBA degree from Harvard University in 1930. From 1930 to 1940 he was employed by Bankers Trust Company of New York as a security analyst. In 1940 he joined Lionel D. Edie and Company, also in New York, and remained with that firm as a security analyst until 1951. It was while he was with Lionel D. Edie that his first publication appeared, a short article in the Journal of the American Statistical Association (1942) concerning deriving seasonal factors in economic time series data. The Latané family moved from New York to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1951, where he obtained a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina in 1957. Before completing his doctorate, however, he had published articles in the Southern Economic Journal, The Journal of Finance, and The Review of Economics and Statistics, all in 1954. His dissertation, completed in 1957 and entitled “Rational Decision Making in Portfolio Management,” provided the foundation for many of the Latané writings that have appeared in subsequent years. Latané joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina as a Research Associate in 1958 and was appointed Professor of Finance and Economics in 1960. He was elected Meade H. Willis, Sr. Professor of Investment Banking in 1969 and achieved emeritus status in 1981. He was one of the first to obtain the professional designation Chartered Financial Analyst in 1965. For many years he has been a member of both the New York Society and the North Carolina Society of Security Analysts. He served as Vice President of the Southern Economic Association during 1974–1976 and was an Associate Editor of The Journal of Finance from 1973 to 1981.