American Finance Association

The American Finance Association (AFA) is an academic organization whose focus is the study and promotion of knowledge of financial economics. It was formed in 1939. Its main publication, the Journal of Finance, was first published in 1946.

Mission
The purpose of the association is to:
 * Act as a mutual association of persons with an interest in finance
 * Improve the public understanding of financial problems
 * Provide for the exchange of financial ideas through the distribution of the Journal of Finance and other media
 * Encourage the study of finance in colleges and universities
 * Conduct other activities appropriate for a non-profit, professional society in the field of finance

Membership
As of 2022, the association has over 12,000 members. A variety of membership options exist and membership is open to anyone.

A number of members are also distinguished in the Society of Fellows of the Association. These are members who have made significant contributions to the field of finance.

Administration
The administration of the association is overseen by both officers and a board of directors. All of these positions are held by faculty at various universities. The board of directors rotates over time and assists in key decisions and policies.

Journal of Finance
The Journal of Finance is an academic journal that covers the whole field of finance. It began publication in 1946. According to Journal Citation Reports, it has a 2015 impact factor of 5.290. The current editor is Antoinette Schoar. The Journal of Finance, The Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics are considered to be the top-three finance journals.

Annual meeting
An annual meeting of the association is held every year in January, in conjunction with the American Economic Association and the North American Winter Meetings of the Econometric Society as a part of the Allied Social Science Associations. The president speaks on a selected topic and there are presentations of various financial papers. The AFA, Western Finance Association Meetings, and Society for Financial Studies Cavalcade are considered to be the three top general finance conferences in the world.

Recent Annual Meeting AFA sites:
 * 2015 Boston, Massachusetts
 * 2016 San Francisco, California
 * 2017 Chicago, Illinois
 * 2018 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * 2019 Atlanta, Georgia
 * 2020 San Diego, California
 * 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
 * 2022 Virtual Annual Meeting

Past and current presidents of the AFA

 * 1940  Kenneth Field
 * 1941  Chelcie C. Bosland
 * 1942  Charles L. Prather
 * 1943  John D. Clark
 * 1944 No President
 * 1945 No President
 * 1946  Harry G. Guthman
 * 1947  Lewis A. Froman
 * 1948  Benjamin H. Beckhart
 * 1949  Neil H. Jacoby
 * 1950  Howard R. Bowen
 * 1951  Raymond J. Saulnier
 * 1952  Edward E. Edwards
 * 1953  Roland I. Robinson
 * 1954  Garfield V. Cox
 * 1955  Norris O. Johnson
 * 1956  Miller Upton
 * 1957  Marshall D. Ketchum
 * 1958  Lester V. Chandler
 * 1959  James J. O'Leary
 * 1960  Paul M. Van Arsdell
 * 1961  Arthur M. Weimer
 * 1962  Bion B. Howard
 * 1963  George T. Conklin Jr.
 * 1964  Roger F. Murray
 * 1965  George Garvy
 * 1966  J. Fred Weston
 * 1967  Robert V. Roosa
 * 1968  Harry C. Sauvain
 * 1969  Walter E. Hoadley
 * 1970  Lawrence S. Ritter
 * 1971  Joseph A. Pechman
 * 1972  Irwin Friend
 * 1973  Sherman J. Maisel
 * 1974  John Lintner
 * 1975  Myron J. Gordon
 * 1976  Merton H. Miller
 * 1977  Alexander A. Robichek
 * 1978  Burton G. Malkiel
 * 1979  Edward J. Kane
 * 1980  William F. Sharpe
 * 1981  Franco Modigliani
 * 1982  Harry M. Markowitz
 * 1983  Stewart C. Myers
 * 1984  James C. Van Horne
 * 1985  Fischer Black
 * 1986  Robert C. Merton
 * 1987  Richard Roll
 * 1988  Stephen A. Ross
 * 1989  Michael J. Brennan
 * 1990  Myron S. Scholes
 * 1991  Robert H. Litzenberger
 * 1992  Michael C. Jensen
 * 1993  Mark Rubinstein
 * 1994  Sanford J. Grossman
 * 1995  Martin J. Gruber
 * 1996  Eduardo S. Schwartz
 * 1997  Hayne E. Leland
 * 1998  Edwin J. Elton
 * 1999  Hans R. Stoll
 * 2000  Franklin Allen
 * 2001  George M. Constantinides
 * 2002  Maureen O'Hara
 * 2003  Douglas W. Diamond
 * 2004  René M. Stulz
 * 2005  John Y. Campbell
 * 2006  Richard C. Green
 * 2007  Kenneth R. French
 * 2008  Jeremy C. Stein
 * 2009  J. Darrell Duffie
 * 2010  John H. Cochrane
 * 2011  Raghuram G. Rajan
 * 2012  Sheridan Titman
 * 2013  Robert Stambaugh
 * 2014  Luigi G. Zingales
 * 2015  Patrick Bolton
 * 2016  Campbell Harvey
 * 2017  David Scharfstein
 * 2018 Peter DeMarzo
 * 2019 David Hirshleifer
 * 2020 Kenneth Singleton
 * 2021 John Graham
 * 2022 Laura Starks
 * 2023 Markus Brunnermeier

Fellows of the American Finance Association
In January 2000, the Board of Directors of the American Finance Association instituted a Society of Fellows of the Association. The purpose of the society is to recognize those members who have made a distinguished contribution to the field of finance. Since Fellows are selected by the membership for their contributions to the field of finance, and since this is the principal criterion for election as president, all living past presidents and all future presidents of the association are designated as Fellows. The list of AFA Fellows contains all past presidents and the Fellows selected since that date. Each year, the Nominating Committee, chaired by the current president, solicits names from the membership and nominates a slate of no more than five candidates from which current Fellows elect a maximum of two new Fellows. Polling of the current Fellows is carried out by the immediate past-president prior to the next annual meeting.

Fischer Black Prize
Biennially, the association awards the Fischer Black Prize at its annual meeting. The award, named in honor of economist Fischer Black, recognizes an outstanding young academic whose original research has made a significant contribution to the field of finance.

Brattle Prizes
Annually, the Brattle Prizes are awarded annually for outstanding papers on corporate finance at its annual meeting.

Dimensional Fund Advisors Prizes
Annually, the association awards the Dimensional Fund Advisors Prizes (prizes prior to 2019 were sponsored by Amundi Pioneer, Amundi Smith Breeden, and Smith Breeden) for the top three papers in the Journal of Finance in any area other than corporate finance at its annual meeting.

Morgan Stanley-AFA Award for Excellence in Finance
The Morgan Stanley-American Finance Association Award for Excellence in Finance was a bi-annual finance award granted based on an individual's career achievements in outstanding thought leadership in the field of financial economics. The Award began in 2008 and continued for 5 bi-annual periods.