NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that John Prestbo, editor and executive director, has been named a recipient of the 2007 William F. Sharpe Indexing Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes the most accomplished innovators and practitioners in the indexing industry.
The award will be presented today at the 12th annual Superbowl of Indexing in Phoenix, Ariz.
"John Prestbo may be best known for his role as one of the 'keepers of The Dow,' but he is truly the academic brain behind the successful development and launch of thousands of indexes. He has served as a dedicated, insightful and passionate leader as well as a personal friend throughout his years at Dow Jones Indexes and has built a core leadership team of market experts. It is especially fitting that he is being honored with a lifetime achievement award on the 10th anniversary of Dow Jones Indexes as an official business unit of Dow Jones & Company," said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes.
"I've known John as a colleague and friend for more than 24 years, and it comes as no surprise that he is being recognized for his many career achievements. He was brilliant as reporter, commodities editor and markets editor of The Wall Street Journal in the 1970s and 1980s. He has an almost unique ability to grasp both the quantitative and the human dynamics of the markets, and the charisma to inspire those who work with him. Not only is he one of the leading index and market experts out there, but he is also a pleasure to work with," said Paul E. Steiger, editor at large of The Wall Street Journal and a vice president of Dow Jones & Co. He retired from his 16-year post as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal in May 2007, but remains a member of the stock selection committee of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Mr. Prestbo has been involved in Dow Jones' Index Group since its inception in 1997. He participated in the January 1993 launch of the Dow Jones World Stock Index, which has since been renamed the Dow Jones World Index. In April 1993 he became editor of the Index. In July 1996 the World Stock Index group was renamed Dow Jones Indexes and became an official commercialized business unit of Dow Jones & Company in 1997 when cash options and futures began trading on the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, now CME Group, respectively.
In his current position as editor and executive director, Mr. Prestbo oversees client support, public relations and marketing efforts and index research. He is chairman of the Dow Jones Index Oversight Committee. Mr. Prestbo also is responsible for the benchmarking initiative at Dow Jones Indexes. Until recently, he spearheaded the development of new indexes and the maintenance and production of existing indexes.
He is a member of the stock selection committee for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Prior to his role at Dow Jones Indexes, Mr. Prestbo had a distinguished career at The Wall Street Journal. In 1964, Mr. Prestbo first joined The Wall Street Journal as a food, agriculture and commodities reporter in the Chicago bureau. He moved to New York in 1974 as an editor/writer for the page-one staff, and in 1975 he was named commodity news editor. In 1977, he became an assistant managing editor and bureau chief for the Journal in Cleveland. He was appointed vice president and editorial director of Dow Jones Radio 2 in 1981. He returned to The Wall Street Journal as markets editor in 1983.
Mr. Prestbo has co-authored or edited several books over the past 30 years. The most recent was "The Market's Measure," an Illustrated History of America Told Through the Dow Jones Industrial Average, published by Dow Jones Indexes in 1999.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to pr-indexes@dowjones.com or contact Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX press office:
New York: +1-212-597-5720 Frankfurt: +49-69-29-725-290
Note to Editors:
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
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Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (dowjones.com), which is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch.com, eFinancialNews and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of STOXX Ltd. and provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.