NEWS & EVENTS

By Shawn Hutchins

The Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (CoFES) announces Rice University Professor Katherine Ensor and alumnus Dexter Senft have been awarded the 2022 CoFES Prize in Computational Statistics. 

The two individual prizes were awarded during the center’s 10th Eubank Conference on Real World Markets:  Frontiers of Quantitative Finance. The CoFES Prize, which also includes a monetary award, was established in 2013 through a grant by the Nancy M. and J. Thomas Eubank Research Excellence Fund in Computational Statistics.

 

Through CoFES programs, Ensor has been a university leader in the advancement of research and education in computational finance and economics. A faculty member since 1987, she was an architect in establishing the Statistics Department and served as chair of the department from 1999 through 2013. She was named Rice’s Noah G. Harding Professor of Statistics in 2018.

Serving as director of CoFES since the center’s founding in 2002, Ensor has made foundational contributions to the fields of computational finance, statistics and time series analysis. Under her direction, the center’s research, education and outreach efforts have received over $11 million in endowments, gifts and private grants. 

In 2007, she initiated and continues to direct the successful undergraduate minor in Financial Computation and Modeling (FCAM), a program offered by the Departments of Statistics and Economics. She has also been a powerful force in the development of upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level specialization courses in financial technology with John Dobelman, a professor in the practice of statistics, associate director of CoFES, and admissions and program advisor for the Professional Master’s Program in Statistics. 

Ensor’s research focuses on the development of statistical and data science methods for practical problems. Her expertise is in dependent data covering time, space and dimension. In addition to her applied interests in computational finance and economic systems, she has significant work in urban analytics, and health and environmental statistics. She has brought national attention to Rice as the president of the American Statistical Association, through her leadership as director of the Kinder Institute Urban Data Platform and as an executive team member of the Houston Wastewater Epidemiology initiative. 

 

Senft was awarded the CoFES Prize for his foundational contributions to the field of quantitative finance and meritorious service to higher education. 

A long-term supporter of CoFES, Senft helped establish the center and is a founding member of its external advisory board. Beginning in 2015, he initiated efforts to establish workshops and a lecture series on blockchain and cryptocurrency. In 2021, he sponsored the creation of the 3-credit course STAT 487/687 – Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, which explores the emerging global applications for blockchain technology through the eyes of industry experts.

Senft is a pioneer in quantitative finance. After completing three B.A. degrees in mathematics, mathematical sciences, and economics in 1974 at Rice, he made his mark on Wall Street programming mainframe computers at First Boston Corporation’s (now Credit Suisse) fixed-income research department.

Senft's pioneering work in quantitative finance propelled him through the ranks of senior management at First Boston, EJV Partners, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. During his 42-year career, he oversaw departments such as Quantitative Research, Counterparty Credit, Mortgage Finance, Product Development, Global Economics, eCommerce, Electronic Trading and Strategic Investments.

Senft is famous for publishing a mathematical explanation of mortgage securities and how to predict their cash flows. In 1983, he led the First Boston team that created the first collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO), thereby launching the field of structured mortgage finance. In recognition of these contributions to the development of mortgage-backed securities and fixed income derivatives, Senft was inducted into the Fixed Income Analyst Society’s Hall of Fame in 2004. 

Senft has served on two dozen boards in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors. After the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008, Senft was hired by Morgan Stanley to build an automated trading system for bonds and foreign exchange. He retired from Morgan Stanley in 2015.

For the past 20 years, CoFES has focused on sharing knowledge and methods in probabilistic, statistical and computer modeling for complex, multidisciplinary investigations. The center’s flagship event, the Eubank Conference on Real World Markets, brings a broad array of subject experts to explore critical assumptions and issues in computational finance. Follow or visit the CoFES YouTube Channel for past colloquia and special event lectures.