Ph.D. student Matthew Neal found dead in home

Matthew Neal had just begun to dedicate his life to his real passion — the quest for knowledge, his mother said.

Neal, 29, a business Ph.D. student from St. Louis, was found dead in his home on Friday after his fiancee returned home from work. The cause of death is still unknown.

Jayne Neal said her son was known throughout his life for his curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

Growing up, Neal was an avid reader and a St. Louis Cardinals fan, she said. Neal taught himself to read when he was just four years old, using baseball cards.

His mother said she remembers taking her son to baseball games in their hometown.

“He was this little boy, and he would tell all the men sitting next to us the statistics,” she said.

She said Neal was also an exceptional student. As a 7-year-old, he read the encyclopedia instead of children’s books.

Neal attended Washington University as an undergraduate and graduated in 2005 with a degree in business. Right out of college, he worked for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP and the Koch Industries Inc. hedge fund.

Jayne Neal said when the financial market crashed in 2008, Neal left the hedge fund groups in Chicago and began working in Los Angeles doing senior management tax consulting.

Neal became a certified public accountant, financial analyst and financial risk manager by the time he reached 30, she said.

He moved to Chapel Hill in August to earn a Ph.D. at the Kenan-Flagler Business School. His mother said Neal was drawn to the accounting program by the reputation of associate dean and professor Wayne Landsman, who headed the program. Neal’s focus was hedge fund and credit research.

“Our community is deeply saddened by the death of Matthew Neal. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends,” said Jim Dean, dean of the business school, in a press release.

Neal met his fiancee, Laura Gualdoni, six years ago while working in public accounting in St. Louis.

“We had dated and stayed friends, but we reconnected this summer and it was the right place and right time,” Gualdoni said. “Everything worked out … I was able to quickly get a job in Raleigh, so I moved down here in October and we got engaged.”

Gualdoni said Neal was excited about the prospect of “getting paid to do research all day.” Gualdoni is also an accountant, and she planned to do research alongside her fiance in the future.

Gualdoni said she and Neal were looking forward to starting a family.

“The last time I talked to him he had just called to tell me he loved me.”

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