Industrial Analysts

Baird Research: Awards and Accolades

Senior Research Analyst
Global Auto and Truck 

David Leiker is Baird’s senior analyst covering Global Auto and Truck. David rejoined Baird in 1997 after nine years at Cleary Gull Reiland & McDevitt, Inc. and two earlier years at Baird. He was named runner-up in the Reuters Institutional Investor survey in the Autos & Auto Parts industry among Boutique investment firms; was four times selected for The Wall Street Journal's Best on the Street Analyst Survey; and recognized many times by Forbes as a Blue Chip Analyst for stock picking and earnings estimating. He received a BSBA degree in Finance from Creighton University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he participated in the Applied Security Analysis Program.

Senior Research Analyst
Containers & Packaging

Ghansham Panjabi is Baird’s senior analyst covering Containers & Packaging. Prior to joining Baird in 2009, he was a senior research analyst covering Containers & Packaging at Wachovia Securities and at Lehman Brothers Inc. Ghansham received an MS in Economics and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California – Davis and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington – Seattle.

Senior Research Analyst
Diversified Industrial & Machinery

Rob McCarthy is Baird’s senior analyst covering Diversified Industrial & Machinery. Prior to joining Baird in 2001, Rob was a senior industrial sell-side analyst at ABN AMRO Inc. for seven years, and before that was a senior capital goods analyst at Duff & Phelps Investment Research Co. In the 2006 Forbes.com/StarMine, Rob ranked No. 3 for his stock-picking skills in Machinery and was on the list for the third consecutive year. Rob has also been recognized by The Wall Street Journal and was named by Forbes as the fourth most accurate earnings estimator among all analysts covering any sector in 2005. He received a BS in Marketing from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

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Senior Research Analyst
General Industrial

Pete Lisnic is Baird’s senior analyst covering General Industrial and Building Products. Prior to joining Baird in 2001, he was an associate director at Fitch for two years. Prior to that, Pete was at KPMG Peat Marwick for six years, leaving as a senior consultant. In both 2007 and 2008, he was ranked by StarMine as a Top 3 Estimator in the Machinery Industry. Pete received a BS in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA in Finance and Management & Strategy from Northwestern University.

Senior Research Analyst
Industrial Distribution

David Manthey is Baird’s senior analyst covering Industrial Distribution. Prior to joining Baird in 1995, he worked at Strong/Corneliuson Capital Management. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, he was ranked by StarMine as the No. 1 Industry Stock Picker in the Trading Companies & Distributors Industry. In 2006 StarMine ranked David No. 2 for accuracy in estimating earnings in Trading Companies & Distributors. David, who is a CompTIA Network+ certified professional, was named one of the top 10 analysts in the Reuters Survey’s Industrial and IT categories in 1998, and in the Computers category in 2000. The surveys evaluated research coverage of small- to mid-cap companies. David earned a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Indiana University, with a major in Finance and a minor in Management Information Systems.

Senior Research Analyst
Industrial Services

Andrew Wittmann is Baird’s senior analyst covering Facility & Industrial Services. Since joining Baird in 2006, Andrew has covered commercial real estate (REITs) and hotel and leisure stocks before joining Baird’s Business Services research platform. Prior to Baird he was a systems design engineer with Ford Motor Company. Andrew has an MBA from Indiana University, an MS in Engineering with an Applied Statistics focus from Purdue University, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Senior Research Analyst
Process Controls

Michael Halloran is Baird’s senior analyst covering Process Controls. Prior to joining Baird in 2004, Mike worked for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and the Frank J. Remington Center. He received a BS in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. an MBA in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

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Benjamin Hartford is Baird’s senior analyst covering Transportation/Logistics team. Prior to joining Baird in 2005, he was a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch and an intern at Smith Barney and Patton Fund Management. Benjamin received a BS in Finance and an MS in Accounting from Indiana University