FINRA Foundation Awards 2023 Ketchum Prize to Long-Time Financial Fraud Fighter Doug Shadel

Former AARP Washington State Director Recognized for a Career Dedicated to Protecting Consumers Through Fraud Investigation, Research and Education

WASHINGTON—The FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) today awarded Doug Shadel, Ph.D., the 2023 Ketchum Prize—its highest honor—in recognition of his outstanding service and research on protecting consumers, particularly vulnerable Americans.

Shadel is one of the nation’s foremost experts on financial fraud, having dedicated the past 30 years to safeguarding consumers, especially older people, through fraud investigation, research and education. Until his recent retirement, Shadel spent two decades at the helm of AARP Washington in Seattle. He also served as the strategy director for AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, which is now one of AARP’s most visible and valued initiatives to educate and protect its 38 million members. While at AARP, Shadel also developed fraud education curriculum that has been used throughout the U.S. for more than a decade.

“Doug Shadel’s tireless work protecting consumers and his groundbreaking research on financial fraud embody the ideals celebrated by the Ketchum Prize,” said FINRA Foundation President Gerri Walsh. “The experts serving on this year’s Ketchum Prize review committee were especially impressed by the many practical ways that his research has helped people from all walks of life recognize and counter the tactics used by fraud criminals. His work has helped tens of millions of people understand and avoid financial fraud.”

“I am honored and humbled to receive the 2023 Ketchum Prize from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. To be recognized for my work is wonderful, but it is particularly meaningful coming from FINRA, which has been an important strategic partner in the fight against fraud. I have always believed that fraud fighting is a team sport,” Shadel said. “The problem has become so pervasive and complex that no one person or organization has the capacity to take it on alone. Together, we have done important work identifying what makes investors vulnerable to scams, which consumer education tactics are most effective at deterring the crime and how technology can be an effective solution to blocking access to vulnerable populations.”

Throughout his career, Shadel has conducted pioneering studies on fraud persuasion tactics, risk factors associated with fraud victimization, the role of emotion in scam victimization and the efficacy of forewarning messages to protect vulnerable consumers. He co-led a three-year U.S. Department of Justice/AARP Foundation study (2003) that was the first to document fraud prevention strategies capable of dramatically reducing victimization. He has also authored and co-authored several influential books and reports on these topics.

Before leading AARP Washington State, Shadel was the consumer affairs director and later the associate regional director of AARP’s West Region. Earlier in his career, he was a special assistant attorney general and fraud investigator in the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. Shadel currently serves as managing director for Fraud Prevention Strategies, LLC.

About the Ketchum Prize

The FINRA Foundation’s Ketchum Prize honors FINRA’s former chairman and CEO Richard “Rick” Ketchum, who retired in 2016 following three decades of distinguished leadership in securities regulation. Ketchum also served as chairman of the FINRA Foundation and is a longtime advocate for helping families achieve economic well-being.

Following Ketchum’s retirement, the FINRA Board of Governors and the FINRA Foundation Board of Directors took steps to perpetuate his vision and achievements by endowing a prize to recognize researchers and educators who have made major and uncommon advances toward improving investor protection and financial capability in the U.S.

Previous Ketchum Prize recipients include: University of Georgia Professor Cesar Escalante; First Nations Development Institute financial education consultant Shawn Spruce; University of Pennsylvania Professor Olivia S. Mitchell; Professor Annamaria Lusardi, founder of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center and currently senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; Michael Morris of the National Disability Institute; and Professor Michael Collins, faculty director of the Center for Financial Security at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For more about the FINRA Foundation’s Ketchum Prize and the prize recipients, visit www.finrafoundation.org/awards.

About the FINRA Investor Education Foundation

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation supports innovative research and educational projects that empower underserved Americans with the knowledge, skills and tools to make sound financial decisions throughout their lives. For more information about FINRA Foundation research and education initiatives, visit 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 U.S. 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.