Honors Thesis Program

Talented Gabelli School students—no matter what they major in—can be invited as juniors to complete this prestigious honors program.

What does it entail? With a professor’s help, students investigate a business topic of their choice and develop that investigation into a publication-quality research paper.

To give you an idea, here are some topics that students have researched over the last three years:

  • Activist Value Investing
  • Impact of Glass-Steagall Repeal on Financial System
  • Twitter: Now Predicting Stock Returns
  • Why is Bank Consolidation Beneficial for Small-Business Lending?
  • Online Social Lending: U.S. vs. U.K.
  • An Examination of Personal Pronoun Usage in Brand Names
  • Keeping Women in the Game: The Relation Between Retention of Female Lawyers And Organizational Climate and Culture of Law Firms
  • Special Purpose Acquisition Companies
  • Project 2012: Gentrification in Amsterdam's Red Light District
  • The Effect of the May 6, 2010, 'Flash Crash' on Market Volatility
  • The Effect of Taxes on the Chinese Capital Markets
  • An Empirical Study of the Stock Market Effect of Auditor Switch
  • Decisions on Arthur Andersen Clients in 2002
  • Hedge Funds and the Mortgage Crisis
  • The Impact of Debt Policies on Outside Director Compensation and Incentives

The Honors Thesis Program’s strong framework and expert faculty guidance make this endeavor accessible to students who choose to participate. We break the process into three stages:

  • Junior year, spring: Students learn research methods, define a thesis topic, and develop and present an initial proposal. 
  • Senior year, fall: Students continue to learn about research techniques, refine their proposals, and begin to collect and analyze data, if it’s required for their topic. 
  • Senior year, spring: Students complete any needed data analysis, write a first draft, and polish it into a final product with their faculty advisor’s help.

All students who complete an honors thesis earn a medal at Awards Night during the week before graduation and have in cursu honorum inscribed on their diplomas. The thesis voted “best” each year earns a special award, which carries a cash prize.

See more detailed information about the honors thesis program or contact the program director, Professor Luke Kachersky, at [email protected] or (718) 817-1861.