McIntire Professor Edward Finley has been appointed to the board of directors of two important organizations: UVA’s student volunteer center Madison House and leading scientific research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation.
Finley teaches Institutional Investment Management to McIntire fourth-years and Markets and Investing to non-Commerce students, advises the six investment-based McIntire student organizations, and serves as the Assistant Director of the Commerce School’s Center for Investors and Financial Markets. He will lend his extensive financial expertise to both Madison House and BrightFocus Foundation in their efforts to achieve their respective goals.
Madison House, the independent nonprofit that has served as the volunteer center for UVA students since 1969, builds partnerships to address community needs. In a typical year, Madison House’s student leaders coordinate the weekly volunteer placements of more than 2,500 of their peers with community partner schools, nonprofits, childcare and long-term care facilities, and hospitals. In addition, volunteers with Madison House’s CASH program partner with the United Way to prepare state and federal tax returns for as many as 2,000 local households each year, returning millions of dollars to the community.
BrightFocus Foundation, a private funder of research and public awareness, focuses on fighting diseases of the mind and sight.
“BrightFocus supports some of the most innovative science in the world to end Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma—diseases that will only grow in magnitude unless we change their steep trajectory. I am honored to have the opportunity to help advance their mission,” Finley says.
Positioned at the forefront of new scientific research initiatives, the Foundation has backed more than 275 projects during the last three years with a $60 million commitment. Originally founded in 1973 as the American Health Assistance Foundation, the Clarksburg, MD-based BrightFocus announced a $25.3 million in new grants earlier this year, which will launch research in 12 countries.
