Owl Have You Know

What People Get Wrong About Measuring Risk feat. Associate Dean Bob Dittmar

Published: 1 April 2026 at 10:00 Europe/London

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Episode notes

Bob Dittmar has big goals for the Virani Undergraduate School of Business. As the school’s associate dean and Houston Endowment Professor of Finance, he aims to increase Rice Business’ national footprint, making it a household name for top-tier business education from coast to coast.

Dittmar came to Rice in 2022 after teaching for nearly 20 years at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He’s taught finance courses across Rice Business’ degree programs, including in the undergraduate and MBA programs.

On this episode, Dittmar joins co-host Maya Pomroy ’22 to share what sets the Virani Undergraduate School of Business apart from other undergraduate business programs — and his advice for prospective students who are trying to decide if Rice Business is the right fit for them. He also delves into his fascinating research on options and how to assess risk more clearly, especially when the signals aren’t obvious.

Episode Guide:

00:00 Introduction to Professor Robert Dittmar, Associate Dean of the Virani School of Business

01:59 Early Influences and Academic Journey

03:11 Discovering a Passion for Finance

04:59 College Years and Mentorship

08:55 Research on Options and Market Psychology

16:05 Role as Associate Dean at Rice Business

18:05 Teaching Finance and Real-World Applications

23:02 The Psychology of Investment Decisions

25:54 Understanding Risk and Uncertainty

29:35 AI's Role in Education and Work

33:31 The Unique Culture of Rice University

37:17 Future Vision for the Virani Undergraduate School of Business

40:46 Final Thoughts and Advice for Prospective Students

The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Taking the Rice beyond Houston

38:03: My goal at Virani is really largely to try to expand Rice’s national footprint to some extent. So I think, you know, if you grew up in Houston, you know a lot about Rice, and you know, Rice is a great institution. Rice is a great institution and really hard to get into. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I mean, look, you know, our median student is, you know, in the right tail, basically, of most students across the country. But look, when I was growing up in Chicago, Rice really was not on my radar. There were a few liberal arts schools in the Midwest that I kind of thought about, but Rice never kind of came up. But I do think that Rice needs a little bit more visibility on the coasts. And that is especially important in business and finance in particular, where New York is so much the center of activity.

How do you know if Rice is for you?

41:01: If you want to be at a place that is truly collaborative, that has a rigorous education and provides opportunity and really cares about its students, then I think Rice is the right place for you. Think about Rice as a whole institution and how you feel on campus, and compare that to how you feel on the campuses of these other universities. And again, this is a little weird to say, because I am a finance guy. I am supposed to be cold and rational about all these things, but how you feel about these kinds of things, I think, is usually a pretty good indication of what actually is right for you and what is going to suit you.

Why Rice is a special place to get your business degree

34:29: At the business school at Rice, you get a lot of what I think makes Rice as an institution special. Which, you know, our students are a little quirkier maybe, but they are also a little nicer and less, you know, maybe not quite so cutthroat, I guess, maybe is what I would some ways, much more collaborative. And so I think that, combined with the fact that Rice has this STEM focus that it always has, so it is grounded in a really rigorous way of, kind of, approaching things, really combines together to make this a very special place to get your business degree.

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