Spotlighted Economics Student: Diane Moore '20

Diane Moore ’20 grew up in Madison, New Jersey, just 45 minutes west of New York City. Her cousin attended Bryn Mawr College, so the first two college tours Diane went on were at Bryn Mawr and Haverford. After visiting Haverford no other campuses could compete! She was particularly smitten with the Honor Code and the community feel. Another important selling point was the Bi-Co music program. Diane plays the violin and is a member of the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Orchestra where she serves as concertmaster.

In addition to a minor in music, Diane will matriculate with a major in economics. Economics was not offered at her high school, but the subject piqued her interest when she enrolled in Professor Anne Preston’s Intensive Introduction to Economics. Then when she took Professor Shannon Mudd’s Microfinance class she knew economics would be her major. She got hooked on the practical, real world application of the subject, and she enjoys how the material is taught and presented in the classroom. She furthered her course work by taking Professor Shannon Mudd’s Impact Investing class, where she and some fellow students teamed up and successfully pitched Vega Coffee as a viable investment. After the investment was made, the firm was introduced to Dining Services, which now serves the coffee in both the Coop and the Lutnick Library Café.

This year she has been a member of the Student Impact Investing Board, meeting weekly with Professor Mudd and peers to manage the portfolio of firms that past Impact Investing classes have invested in. It’s been a fantastic capstone experience to continue learning about early stage start-ups and ethical investing.

Diane’s thesis “assesses the effect of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores on financial returns to determine whether socially responsible investing pays. Specifically, [she] is interested in how ESG and its individual components (E, S, and G) affect firm financial performance and how this has changed over time given the growth of socially responsible investing. Unlike previous research that predominantly uses composite ESG scores to assess returns, using individual scores for E, S, and G allows [her] to pinpoint what factors drive performance during different time periods. [She] will use S&P 500 firms from 2004 - 2018 as [her] sample to test whether portfolios of high rated firms outperform portfolios of low rated firms”. 

Diane has bolstered her academic work with summer jobs. The summer after her freshman year, she lived and worked on campus for Institutional Advancement in the Gifts and Services office. As an assistant, she updated alumni profiles in Raiser’s Edge and digitized alumni records.

The following summer she was awarded a Whitehead Internship at WIT Strategy, a New York City based public relations firm. As a Business Strategy intern, she advanced client marketing objectives by drafting press releases and other communication materials. She carefully reviewed prospective clients and wrote in-depth profiles to advise her manager of their services and identify market differentiation opportunities. 

That same summer Diane interned as a Site Director for New York City based Let’s Get Ready, a non-profit free SAT prep and admissions counseling mentoring service for students from low-income backgrounds and who are first-generation-to-college. 

Last summer she lived in Philadelphia and was a Product Intern for Aberdeen Standard Investments. She wore many hats, responding to client queries, completing weekly compliance reports, and compiling and editing portfolio commentary for quarterly board meetings. Diane has accepted a full-time position with Aberdeen Standard Investments as a Graduate Business Analyst. She looks forward to gaining exposure to a wide range of tasks and duties since the job is designed to rotate between departments for two years. Congratulations Diane!

Diane has contributed to and devotedly served the Haverford community. She has represented the student body as a member of the Alumni Association Executive Committee since September of 2017. She has volunteered as an Honor Code Orienteer for the past two years, helping first year students better understand the Honor Code. She is also serving as a Teaching Assistant for Anne Preston’s Intensive Introduction to Economics this semester, bringing her economics journey full circle.