WSU’s Turtle Named First Omer L. Carey Endowed Chair in Financial Education

PULLMAN, Wash. — Harry Turtle, Washington State University associate professor and chair of the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, has been named the first person to hold the new Omer L. Carey Endowed Chair in Financial Education in the College of Business and Economics.

The Carey Chair was funded in spring 2004 by a $1.5 million gift from alumnus Gary P. and Suzann Brinson to honor and memorialize former WSU finance professor and chair, Omer L. Carey. The Brinson’s wanted to establish a faculty position that is charged with perpetuating Carey’s kind of caring and personal interactions with students.

“Dr. Carey was a teacher, mentor and friend to me, both as an MBA student and as a teaching assistant during an important time in my academic development,” Brinson said. “He encouraged me, counseled me and provided critical assessment of my weaknesses that allowed me to develop important skill sets at that juncture in my young life. His excellence in the classroom as a teacher was wonderful to experience.

“The endowment of this chair in his name will hopefully encourage others to follow in his footsteps at WSU while allowing me to give recognition to Dr. Carey for his specific contributions to my success in life.” Brinson earned an MBA at WSU in 1968 and became an acclaimed global investing authority, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist.

Carey believed strongly in being there for his students, often working with students outside of the classroom and seeing that they gained the skills necessary to succeed. Turtle said he plans to continue Carey’s legacy by providing interesting and meaningful classroom experiences to introductory students at both the undergraduate and MBA levels. He will also encourage and support a strong cohort of finance scholars through dedicated involvement in club and extracurricular activities.

“I want to meet with these students early on, establish a relationship and really get them up to speed on the skills they will need after graduation,” he said.

CBE Dean Len Jessup believes Turtle will do a great job in his new position. “When we ran a national search for this chair we discovered that right here in Pullman we have the best person in the country for this position,” he said. “Harry is a top scholar, an outstanding teacher and a valued member of the CBE leadership team, and he has creative ideas on how to improve the experience for the students.

“This endowed chair position bolsters our commitment to provide a world-class, face-to-face education to our students.”

Turtle received a bachelor’s degree in commerce, with economics honors, from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and a doctorate in finance from the University of Alberta, Canada. His research interests include investment theory, portfolio management, international finance and capital markets.

Prior to joining WSU, he served as an associate professor of finance at the University of Manitoba from 1991-1996. He joined the WSU faculty in 1997 as an assistant professor of finance. He was appointed the chair of the Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate in 2003.

Turtle has served on numerous WSU and CBE committees, has been a faculty adviser to doctoral students and student organizations, and enjoys assisting in student recruiting activities for the college. He was named “MBA Professor of the Year” in 2001, recognized as “Outstanding Faculty” for his research in 2002 and became an International Business Fellow and a Dean’s Fellow in 2003.

Turtle and his wife, Marie, live in Pullman with their children, Joel and Cameron, who attend Pullman High School.

Endowed chairs and distinguished professorships are held by business professors who are top teachers and researchers. There are 15 such positions in the WSU business college.