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Gifford Fong, BS 67, MBA 69, JD 71, at a Sept. 3 event to celebrate his contributions to Haas. Photo: Katelyn Tucker.<\/p>\nGifford Fong, BS 67, MBA 69, JD 71, at a Sept. 3 event to celebrate his contributions to Haas. Photo: Katelyn Tucker.<\/p>\n
The top-ranked MFE program has been renamed the Fong Master of Financial Engineering Program.
\nGifford Fong has been a mainstay of the MFE Program, giving both financially and with his time.
\nThe gift will help set up the program for years to come.<\/p>\n
The UC Berkeley Haas Master of Financial Engineering (MFE)<\/a> Program has been renamed to honor H. Gifford Fong, BS 67, MBA 69, JD 71.<\/p>\n The Fong Master of Financial Engineering Program acknowledges both his generous naming gift and his devotion to the program he co-created more than 25 years ago.<\/p>\n Dean Jennifer Chatman<\/a>, PhD 88, announced the new name at a Sept. 3 event celebrating Fong, who is a rare \u201ctriple Bear\u201d and president of Gifford Fong Associates<\/a>, a top-rated firm focused on fixed income, derivative products, and asset allocation analysis.<\/p>\n In the late 1990s, noting a need for professionals with both rigorous quantitative training and real-world financial expertise, Fong partnered with finance professor David Pyle<\/a> to develop the curriculum for an MFE program and provided the seed funding. \u00a0<\/p>\n The pioneering MFE Program, launched in 2001, primes students to use math, theoretical finance, and computer programming skills to make technically complex financial decisions. It\u2019s consistently ranked No. 1<\/a> by the influential TFE Times.<\/p>\n Fong has been a mainstay of the self-supporting program ever since, giving both financially and with his time as a guest speaker, advisory board member, and judge of student projects.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also proud to have attended all but one MFE graduation ceremony. The 12-month program celebrated its 25th graduating class in March. In 2001, there were 46 students; today the growing program has 84.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving Gifford\u2019s name on the program is wonderful,\u201d says Professor Terry Hendershott<\/a>, the MFE Program\u2019s faculty director. \u201cHe has such a passion for education and for facilitating knowledge flows between his practice and academia. It\u2019s personal to him, and that\u2019s what he\u2019s known for:\u00a0deep devotion.\u201d<\/p>\n A 95% post-grad placement rate<\/p>\n While Fong\u2019s parents didn\u2019t attend college, they prioritized it for their six children. Four attended Berkeley, the others San Francisco State. As a Berkeley undergraduate, he switched from pre-med to business and discovered his love for research.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch is based upon good analysis: You have an outstanding question and need a process to respond to it,\u201d says Fong. \u201cIt\u2019s a rigorous and demanding\u2014but at the same time rewarding\u2014experience.\u201d<\/p>\n After earning a law degree, Fong opened his firm in 1974, grounding it in academic rigor. The prestigious Journal of Finance, among others, published his work. In 2003, he launched the Journal of Investment Management (JOIM)<\/a> and soon after a JOIM conference series to bridge the theory and practice of investment management. He continues serving as editor of JOIM and hosted one of the conference on campus last fall.<\/p>\n A few MFE Program graduates work in Fong\u2019s firm, and he\u2019s occasionally sponsored an MFE intern. A hallmark of the Haas program, he says, is placing graduates in good jobs.<\/p>\n![\"four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/KT2_8836.jpg\")
(L-R) Dean Jenny Chatman, Gifford and Vivian Fong, and Chancellor Rich Lyons. Photo: Katelyn Tucker.<\/p>\n