Jeffrey Zekauskas  J.P. Morgan

The buy side says: “Jeff is an investor first and an industry geek second.”

Jeffrey Zekauskas has two reasons to celebrate this month: his birthday — he turns 57 on October 6 — and his first appearance in the winner’s circle. The J.P. Morgan analyst, who rises from second place, is a two-time University of Chicago graduate in philosophy, having earned a bachelor’s degree in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1986; he covered the chemicals sector for Schroder & Co. before moving to J.P. Morgan in 2000. ­Zekauskas initiated coverage on ­LyondellBasell Industries in September 2010 with an overweight rating, at $22.07, insisting that the ­Netherlands-based petrochemicals producer — which had emerged from bankruptcy not six months earlier — would benefit from rising oil prices. The stock shot up 57 percent, to $34.65, and outpaced the sector by 42.7 percentage points, through August. “His early call on LyondellBasell was highly successful,” cheers one backer. Adds another: “Jeff is knowledgeable, thorough and thoughtful. He has a good feel for the market.”