Ronald J. Epstein joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2001 as an industry analyst in the Aerospace and Defense sector. He is currently a Managing Director at the firm and is the senior Aerospace and Defense Analyst for the Americas. In 2008 and 2009, he has place among the top three analysts in the Greenwich Equity Survey. In the 2008 Institutional Investor Survey he was identified as a "Best Up-and-Comer" and in 2009 he ranked third for his coverage of Aerospace and Defense. He placed second in the 2005 Institutional Investor Latin America Research team survey for his coverage of the Latin America Aerospace and Transport sector. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Ron was a research scientist working in the Applied Aerodynamics Technology Group at the Boeing Phantom Works. During that time, he was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, where he taught courses on Fluid Dynamics and Control Systems. Ron completed his MBA with honors from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and a BA with highest honors from Skidmore College.