ONEONTA _ A philosophy professor who has studied the human side of the fiscal crisis has won an academic award from SUNY Oneonta.
Professor Michael Green will receive the 15th annual Susan Sutton Smith Award Prize for Academic Excellence and present a lecture as part of the honor.
Green will address "How Many Investment Bankers Can Dance with Dionysius on the Delta of a Derivative?" at 7 p.m. April 24. The free public presentation will be in the Craven Lounge of the Morris Conference Center at the State University College at Oneonta.
Green said his presentation will include film clips and music to enhance its appeal to nonacademic and general audiences.
``Human beings are emotionally driven,'' Green said. ``This is true in the stock market.''
He said humans react to financial markets in phases, from optimism _ with boldness, confidence, over-confidence _ to pessimism _ with alarm, panic and despair.
``We're still in the panic stage,'' he said.
Green has combined his experiences as a small-business owner _ running a small Oneonta eatery _ and an individual investor in the stock market with his philosophy interests. His conclusion, he said, is that most philosophies are disguised risk-management strategies.
He teaches business ethics and the philosophy of action, among other courses.
Green is the author of the book "How Do We Create a Philosophical Cosmos for Acting Socially and Being Happy? Four Strategies for Living in an Uncertain World (Hume, Aquinas, Swedenborg and Kant)" published by Mellen Press in 2007.
Green earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He taught at Indiana University Northwest and Marquette University before joining SUNY Oneonta in 1981.
Created to recognize faculty achievement outside the classroom, the Susan Sutton Smith Prize for Academic Excellence is named in honor of the late SUNY Oneonta professor of English. Green said he was surprised to win the prize upon his first application.
The prize, which includes a $1,000 award, is made possible by an endowment created with support from Thomas Smith and Mary Smith in memory of their daughter, Susan. The recipient of the prize is chosen from nominations submitted to a committee of faculty and administrators.
The Susan Sutton Smith Lecture will cap a day of events to recognize academic excellence. At an awards breakfast, Green will receive the Smith Prize, and students with grade-point averages of at least 3.9 in the fall semester will be recognized with gift cards to purchase textbooks at the college store.
The events and the student awards are funded in part by gifts to the 2008-09 Alumni Annual Fund.
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