All-America Research Team Hall of Fame Video: Meredith Adler

Meredith Adler did not want to be a secretary.

"I had no idea what I wanted to do. I certainly wasn't practical,” the Barclays analyst says.

"I was interested in psychology but I found [it] very mechanistic. Then I got interested in religion and I had a chance to go around the world my senior year in college if I was willing to study religion" at Boston University. After graduation, she planned to return to psychology, but a lack of funds prompted her to take a job in Citibank's microcredit trading program instead.

Adler opted to further her education at New York University's Stern School of Business at night – “I had no interest in business, I just wanted a job and I knew I didn’t want to be a secretary.”

Adler was one of the first inductees in last year’s inaugural Institutional Investor  All-America Research Team Hall of Fame, which honors those analysts who have earned ten or more first-place finishes in their respective sectors.

She debuted on the All-America Research Team in 1999 as a ­runner-up in Retailing/Food & Drug Chains and 2011 was her 13th appearance – including ten straight years at No. 1.

Institutional Investor Senior Writer Julie Segal spoke with Adler about her career and the changing role of the research analyst.

Full results of this year's All-America Research Team will be unveiled Tuesday, October 16.