Ph.D. Student Breaks Ground With Remote Dissertation Defense

On March 17, 2020, Vitaly Meursault, Ph.D. candidate in financial economics, gave his dissertation defense, titled “Essays on Novel Methods in Empirical Finance, in preparation for receiving his Tepper School of Business doctorate.

In recognition of the need to practice responsible social distancing, his defense took place via a Zoom videoconference — the first time at the Tepper School that this method has been used for a thesis defense.

Mersault’s adviser Bryan Routledge, Associate Profesor of Finance, said he “knocked it out of the park!”