Biography

I was born on March 26, 1974 in Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas to Keith and Jean Sheppard. I grew up in a relatively normal household where both parents worked and had one older brother, Richard, who is 19 months my senior. I also have another older brother, Steve, and an older sister, Kay who are 25 and 19 years older than I, respectively. I partook in the standard activities as a child: soccer, baseball, piano, swimming, and Boy Scouts among others. Growing up I was always encouraged to develop academically, and found a particular interest in math. From 4th grade thru high school, I participated in mathematics competitions throughout the nation, including the MathCounts finals in Washington, DC where I represented Texas.

After finishing high school at Warren Travis White high school in Dallas, Texas, I attended the University of Texas at Austin. I studied Economics and Mathematics and was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity (later the Pi Lambda Phi). I became interested in Experimental Economics and Decision theory under the supervision of my undergraduate advisor, Alfred Norman. He encouraged me to attend graduate school in Economics.

I attended UCSD for my Ph. D. where I worked with Robert Engle. While I had originally intended to continue working in experimental economics, the best opportunity for me was in financial econometrics. I began working on Dynamic Conditional Correlation and have continued working in the field.

I am currently employed at the University of Oxford in the Economics Department and at Keble College Oxford as a fellow in Economics.