Douglas Skinner (along with his collaborators, Linda & Harry DeAngelo) is the author of an important framework for understanding why companies pay dividends and investors would seek them out. That stands in stark contrast to the dominant narrative on Wall Street and some of Main Street that is, to a substantial degree, dismissive of the distribution of free cashflow to company owners.
Douglas Skinner is Deputy Dean for Faculty and the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. You can find his work here.