M. CHAPMAN "CHAP" FINDLAY

M. CHAPMAN “CHAP” FINDLAY PROFESSOR AND CO-CREATOR OF FMRR, PRIMARY MEASURE OF FINANCIAL RETURN IN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS

M. Chapman "Chap" Findlay, a prolific university scholar and a leading expert witness in the area of finance, died June 17, 2008 at his home in Los Angeles. Findlay was 63 and died of cancer, with which he had been diagnosed a few months ago. Findlay began working with Stephen D. Messner in the early 1970s on how to measure the financial returns of real estate investments while an assistant professor of finance at the University of Connecticut. It was the introduction of computers that allowed the two to develop a methodology, termed the Financial Management Rate of Return (FMRR), in which real estate investors could more accurately assess the return on their investments and make better investment decisions. In 1975 the two published their first results. FMRR soon became, and remains, an industry standard. In 1985, Findlay left the University of Southern California to become a fulltime consultant in the areas of finance and economics. At Findlay Phillips & Associates, now Phillips Fractor Gorman in Pasadena, he became a preeminent economic, finance, and valuation expert witness in some of the country's top legal cases. Findlay provided testimony in nearly 1,000 court cases. In the 1980s and 1990s, Findlay was one of a handful of experts involved in the defense in open market securities class action cases. He served as a financial expert in the Orange County Bankruptcy case. Findlay also was part of a team that analyzed the financial implications of how "market share liabil ity" was used to allocate settlements in asbestos litigation. He also was one of the first experts to testify in the area of alter ego and developed a variety of techniques to "pierce the corporate veil." Findlay served as a consultant on numerous special projects related to appropriate government regula tion. As a consultant to the City of Los Angeles, Findlay undertook a Los Angeles Housing Market Study in which he analyzed the impact of Los Angeles's rent control ordinance. In 1998, Findlay was co-founder of Pasadena's c4cast.com, Inc., which has developed numerous Internet-based investment and forecasting tools, some of which are marketed under the EconomicInvestor and The Econ omy Matters brands and through the www.EconomicInvestor.com website. He served as chief financial officer and a director of c4cast.com until his death. Findlay became a co-founding and lifetime member of the City Club. He said it was the only way he could get a good hamburger for lunch without a wait. Never able to completely walk away from the academic world, Findlay became an advisor to the Departm ent of Finance, Real Estate & Insurance at California State University, Northridge, a role he filled for ov er 20 years. He served as a mentor for faculty, assisted with curriculum development, and facilitated faculty research. Findlay authored about 100 articles and books in financial management and analysis, financial theory , investment and capital markets, real estate and mortgage markets, insurance and pension issues, accounting issu es, and legal issues. He also was co-inventor on a dozen patents. Findlay's most recent textbook, Models for Investors in Real World Markets, (Wiley-Interscience Series in Probability & Statistics) co-written with co-author Ed Williams and James R. Thompson, was published in 2003 and has become a leading reference in the field. M. Chapman Findlay was born July 16, 1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His family left Michigan for San Antonio, Texas, when Findlay was a young child. He enrolled at the University of Texas, Austin, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in finance in 1965. At UTA Findlay also earned his master's in business administration in 1966 and his doctorate d egree with an emphasis in finance in 1970. While earning his doctorate, Findlay was an assistant professor of finance at the University of Hous ton (1968 – 1971) and made a lateral move to the University of Connecticut (1971 – 1972). He joined McGill University, where he was an associate professor of faculty management (1972 – 1974). Findlay returned to the United States to come to USC, where he was a visiting associate professor of finance (1974– 1976). He was appointed as professor in 1976 and served as chair of the department (1976 – 1982). He was also executive director of USC's Center for the Study of Financial Institutions (1977 – 1982). Findlay is survived by his wife Beatrice, a prominent painter with studios in New York and Los Angeles. The College of Business at CSUN is creating the M. Chapman Findlay Scholar Fund to support an annual Findlay Memorial Lecture, where a preeminent scholar will speak at CSUN on a topic related to Findlay's research. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Scholar Fund. Checks should b e made payable to the CSUN Foundation, with "Chap Findlay" in the memo field, and should be sent to Dean's Office, College of Business, CSUN, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330.