Peter Christoffersen was an outstanding scholar whose work had a profound influence in the world of business and finance, but he remained modest, easygoing and devoted to his family, friends and colleagues.
Christoffersen, a professor of finance at the Rotman School of Management, was a leading expert on the management of risk – a crucial issue for the financial and business community, and the economy as a whole. He held the TMX Chair in Capital Markets and twice was a Bank of Canada fellow.
Christoffersen’s stellar career was cut short in June, when he died of cancer at the age of 51.
“He was at the very leading edge of his field – a global thinker pushing the boundaries,” said Tiff Macklem, dean of the Rotman School of Management. While Christoffersen’s work on volatility modelling, risk management and option pricing was often cited in academic journals and won many prizes, he also “really wanted his research to be used,” Macklem said.
And it was, steering senior policy makers in the public and financial sectors to “understand the big forces that were going on in the industry,” Macklem said. Christoffersen’s work was particularly crucial in helping…
