We've all heard about Professor Erik Lie from the University of Iowa, the academic that kicked off the current stock option backdating brouhaha. But Fortune, in a recent article, digs a bit deeper - back to the early-1990s when the SEC rule governing options was first enacted. Fortune gives details about an earlier spasm of attention paid to the timing of options, also spawned by academia.

The article describes the work of three academics (New York University finance professor, David Yermack accounting professors, David Aboody of UCLA and accounting professor Ron Kasznik of Stanford) whose research paved the way for Lie's conclusions and the current 100+ ongoing investigations. A very interesting read, and a good place to start if you still don't understand what all the fuss is about but have been afraid to admit it.

-- MDT