Rate My Professor D.J. Fairhurst

Douglas (D.J.) Fairhurst is an Associate Professor and Maughmer Freedom Philosophy Professor in the Department of Finance and Management Science at Washington State University’s Carson College of Business. He earned his PhD in Finance from the University of Arizona in 2014. Before entering academia, Fairhurst gained practical experience in the financial sector as a financial analyst, tax auditor, and trust accountant. He joined Washington State University as an Assistant Professor following his doctoral studies and advanced to his current associate professor position.

Fairhurst’s research centers on corporate finance, with a focus on factors influencing managerial decisions in corporate financing and investment. His scholarship appears in premier journals such as the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Management, and Journal of Banking & Finance. Notable publications include “Employment protection, investment, and firm growth” (Review of Financial Studies, 2020), “What determines the composition of a firm's cash reserves?” (Journal of Corporate Finance, 2021), “Corporate governance and financial peer effects” (Financial Management, 2020), “Employment protection and tax aggressiveness: Evidence from wrongful discharge laws” (Journal of Banking & Finance, 2020), “Too much of a good thing? Corporate social responsibility and the takeover market” (Journal of Corporate Finance, 2022), “Property crime, earnings variability, and the cost of capital” (Journal of Corporate Finance, 2016), “How Much Does ChatGPT Know about Finance?” (Financial Analysts Journal, 2025), and “Asset Redeployability and Corporate Liquidity” (Financial Management, 2025). In the ChatGPT study, co-authored with Daniel Greene, he analyzed AI models’ performance on financial licensing exams, finding limitations in handling specialized scenarios. Fairhurst teaches courses including FIN 581 Advanced Corporate Finance and FIN 325 Introduction to Financial Management. His appointment to the Maughmer Freedom Philosophy Endowed Chair recognizes his role in fostering open academic discourse.