Time Magazine Someone who works at the University of Iowa has been put on a list alongside such megastars as Oprah and George Clooney.

Time Magazine has named University of Iowa finance professor Erik Lie as one of the world’s most influential people.

Lie is on the magazine’s list of "Builders and Titans" for his research on the shady practice of stock option "backdating." It’s research that has sent ripples through corporate America. The Wall Street Journal wrote a series of stories based on Lie’s research and won the Pulitzer Prize.

The University of Iowa professor’s name is listed in the latest issue of Time magazine alongside the CEOs of companies like Apple, Toyota and Virgin Airways.

It’s the fourth consecutive year the magazine has compiled a list of people its editors consider influential in the fields of business, politics, government, education, sports, the arts and entertainment.

Other people on the magazine’s "most influential" list include media magnate Oprah Winfrey, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice and the pope. 

Audio: Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson reports. :43 MP3

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