Doctoral Student Excels with Scholarship

When David Jou ’89, ’92 and his family established a scholarship fund last year, they had someone like Tingyu Zhou in mind.

He and his wife Frances ’90 and their son Geoff ’11 wanted to support international study because they were international students who attended UConn, and they believed their education had a truly positive impact on their lives and careers. They designated their scholarship fund for international students or American students at UConn who study in Asia.

Zhou, the first beneficiary of the Jou scholarship fund, came to UConn in 2009 from China’s University of Macau, and she has distinguished herself here as a student, a teacher and a researcher. She “is the best student in the finance doctoral program and one of the top three doctoral students we have had in our program during the 13 years I have been at the University,” said Joseph Golec, finance professor who recommended her for the scholarship.

Zhou demonstrated significant academic achievement by winning all the 2013 finance department awards, according to Nancy Crouch, who nominated her for the Jou scholarship. She also has been active in research, with the publication of two papers in high quality finance-real estate journals and work underway on six other papers for submission to high quality journals. She has presented her papers at six finance-real estate conferences. “This is a better record than most new assistant finance professors and she is still a doctoral student,” said Golec in his letter of recommendation.

The scholarship support came in handy during her final year of study, helping with travel as she began her search for a job. “Receiving this award signifies to me that, as an international student, I have been successful in academic training at UConn,” said Zhou.

Another sign of success—Zhou was offered and has accepted the position of tenure-track assistant professor in the finance department at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.