Rate My Professor Brett Olsen

Brett C. Olsen is the Head and Professor in the Department of Finance at the David W. Wilson College of Business, University of Northern Iowa. He earned a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia, an M.B.A. from Illinois State University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University. Prior to joining the University of Northern Iowa in 2010, Olsen taught at the University of Idaho and the University of Missouri, delivering courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels in financial management and investments. At UNI, he teaches various courses including financial management, international financial management, and security analysis. As Department Head, he oversees the Finance Department and contributes to university initiatives such as the donor-funded Finance and Real Estate Analytics Lab.

Olsen's research interests include corporate governance, valuation, ownership and managerial decisions, security issuance, investment and financing decisions, and restructuring. His publications have appeared in journals such as Resources Policy, The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Managerial Finance, Accounting & Finance, European Financial Management, and the International Journal of Business and Economics. Key works encompass "Setting materiality thresholds for ESG disclosures: A case study of US mine safety disclosures" (Resources Policy, 2021), "Is farm real estate the next bubble?" (The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 2015), "Corporate governance changes around bankruptcy" (Managerial Finance, 2017), "A note on assessing the relation between CEO characteristics and stock performance: Alpha Above Replacement" (Accounting & Finance, 2016), and "Do multinational operations influence firm value? Evidence from the Triad regions" (International Journal of Business and Economics, 2005). One highlighted paper adapts the baseball statistic Wins Above Replacement to C-suite executives, creating the Alpha Above Replacement measure for CEOs. Olsen has received multiple awards at UNI for teaching and service, including the Class of 1943 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. He chairs the Retirement Advisory Committee and serves on the Council of Academic Department Heads.