FINRA Foundation Awards 2018 Ketchum Prize to Dr. Annamaria Lusardi

George Washington University Professor Recognized for Outstanding Service and Research to Advance Investor Protection and Financial Capability in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) today awarded Dr. Annamaria Lusardi the 2018 Ketchum Prize for outstanding service and research to advance investor protection and financial capability in the U.S.

“More than any other individual, Annamaria Lusardi has focused global attention on the critical importance of financial capability in 21st century society,” said Gerri Walsh, President of the FINRA Foundation. “Her research has been enormously influential—not just among policymakers and academics, but also among those who work every day to educate people of all backgrounds about the financial choices affecting their lives.”

Dr. Lusardi is the Denit Trust Chair of Economics and Accountancy at the George Washington University School of Business. She is the founder and academic director of the university’s Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC). Previously, Dr. Lusardi was the Joel Z. and Susan Hyatt Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, where she taught for 20 years. She has also taught at Princeton University, the University of Chicago, and Columbia Business School. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Bocconi University.

Professor Lusardi is among the world’s leading authorities on the topics of financial literacy and financial capability. She chairs the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Financial Literacy Expert Group, as well as the OECD/International Network on Financial Education Research Committee. In 2009, she served as a faculty advisor for the Office of Financial Education of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She was a member of the review committee that developed the U.S. National Standards for Financial Literacy. Dr. Lusardi has also served as a consulting research scientist for the FINRA Foundation’s National Financial Capability Study since its inception in 2009.

“I feel so strongly about financial capability that I have made it my life’s work. I am delighted to receive the Ketchum Prize, not only because it acknowledges my work in a pioneering field but, more importantly, because it turns a spotlight on the critical importance of financial literacy. Just as the ability to read—literacy—is indispensable in our modern world, so, too, financial literacy is an essential tool for success,” Dr. Lusardi said.

The Foundation’s prize is named for Richard “Rick” Ketchum, who retired as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Chairman of the FINRA Foundation in 2016. Ketchum is admired for his distinguished leadership in the field of securities regulation over a career spanning three decades.

Following his retirement, the FINRA Board of Governors and the FINRA Foundation Board of Directors took steps to perpetuate Ketchum’s vision and achievements by endowing an annual $10,000 prize to honor researchers and educators who have made major and uncommon advances toward improving investor protection and financial capability in the United States.

In 2017, the FINRA Foundation awarded the Ketchum Prize to Dr. J. Michael Collins, an associate professor of public affairs and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and faculty director of the Center for Financial Security at the university. The center conducts research and provides services to help individuals and families improve their financial outcomes.

The FINRA Foundation supports innovative research and educational projects that give underserved Americans the knowledge, skills and tools to make sound financial decisions throughout life. For more information about FINRA Foundation initiatives, visit www.finrafoundation.org.

The Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2019 Ketchum Prize. The nomination form and complete details are available at www.finrafoundation.org/ketchumprize.

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation supports innovative research and educational projects that give underserved Americans the knowledge, skills and tools to make sound financial decisions throughout life. For more information about FINRA Foundation initiatives, visit www.finrafoundation.org.

About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry – brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.