He was Paul Stephens Professor of Applied Investment Analysis at the Haas School of Business of the University of California, Berkeley.
Rubinstein was a senior and pioneering academic in the field of finance, focusing on derivatives, particularly options, and was known for his contributions to both theory and practice,[5] especially portfolio insurance and the binomial options pricing model (also known as the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein model), as well as his work on discrete time stochastic calculus more generally.
[7] (This strategy later became associated with the October 19, 1987, Stock Market Crash; see Black Monday (1987) § Causes).
With Leland and O'Brien he also introduced the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.
He was instrumental in building the Haas-Berkeley Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) Program,[9] focused on equipping candidates with skills in financial engineering for careers as quants; he was also involved in teaching courses on the program; and previously various other finance courses, both on the Haas-MBA and at Berkeley.