This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
After graduating this month with a double major in mathematics and economics & business, Lindsay Carifi ’02 will enter the Financial Leadership Program at AT&T in Basking Ridge, N.J.
Carifi will rotate every six months to a different corporate finance division before taking a permanent position in two-and-a-half years. Last summer, she helped research companies for the mergers and acquisitions department. The prior summer, she interned with A.G. Edwards and Sons, assisting five brokers and helping with client marketing.
For her senior honors thesis, Carifi developed an algorithm for minimizing risk in the stock market. Working with Qin Lu, assistant professor of mathematics, and Sheila Handy, assistant professor of economics and business, Carifi used a mathematical theorem, the Markowitz model, to find the most efficient mix of stocks and treasury bills representing the risk-free investment that would produce an optimal return. She had learned of the model in a corporate finance class and was eager to explore the topic further.
In her research, Carifi used historical data to find the return and variance of 10 different stocks. After collecting the data, she plotted them on a graph and used software to find an equation of a curve that fits the data. She presented her findings at the 16th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
“Professor Lu assisted me with the algorithm and math part,” says Carifi. “I met with her frequently and worked pretty closely with her. I also met with Professor Handy, who read over my work to ensure it made economic sense. Everyone at Lafayette was so supportive in helping me with my research. Also, Lafayette has a great resource base, which makes it easy to find the materials you need.”
This spring, Carifi volunteered with members of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the economics honor society, to help local residents complete their income tax returns. She served as director of finance in Alpha Phi sorority and was a math lab proctor and a financial accounting lab teaching assistant for the economics and business department.