JOHN E. GRABLE, PH.D., CFP®

Professor and Athletic Association Endowed Professor of Financial Planning, University of Georgia

Professor John Grable teaches and conducts research in the Certified Financial PlannerTM Board of Standards Inc. undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Georgia, where he holds an Athletic Association Endowed Professorship. Before entering academia, he worked as a pension and benefits administrator and later as a Registered Investment Adviser at an asset management firm. Dr. Grable has made significant contributions to the financial planning profession, serving as the founding editor of the Journal of Personal Finance and co-founding editor of both the Journal of Financial Therapy and Financial Planning Review. He also served as editor of the field's oldest academic journal, Financial Services Review. He is best known for his financial literacy and education work, financial risk tolerance assessment, behavioral financial planning, and evidence-based financial planning. Dr. Grable has received numerous research and publication awards and grants, and he is actively promoting the connection between research and financial planning practice. He has published 175 peer-reviewed papers, co-authored several textbooks, collaborated on a financial planning communication book, and co-edited two financial planning books along with a graduate-level personal finance book. Since earning his Ph.D., Dr. Grable has served on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC), the Association of Financial Services, and the Arizona Financial Planning Association. He has also served as Treasurer and President of the American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) and held the position of Treasurer and board member for the Financial Therapy Association. Dr. Grable's achievements include receiving the prestigious Cato Award for Distinguished Journalism in the Field of Financial Services, the IARFC Founders Award, the Dawley-Scholer Award for Faculty Excellence in Student Development, and the ACCI Mid-Career Award. He also provides research and consulting services through the Financial Planning Performance Lab.

MICHELLE E. KRUGER, PH.D., CFP®

The University of Georgia

Michelle Kruger is a Ph.D. candidate with a concentration in Financial Planning at The University of Georgia (UGA). She graduated magna cum laude with a B.B.A. in Finance from the Terry College of Business at UGA in 2015. Michelle teaches classes in computer application in financial planning, as well as advanced financial planning seminar courses. Her research interests include financial planning interventions, risk tolerance assessment, and behaviors associated with building wealth. In addition to her graduate studies, Michelle works as a research assistant at the Financial Planning Performance Lab, the nation’s only applied clinical facility designed to obtain evidence about the effectiveness of the financial planning process. She has worked as a financial planning analyst at Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group, a fee-only, comprehensive financial planning firm located in Athens, Georgia. She also has served as a financial counselor at the Aspire Clinic, an interdisciplinary teaching and research institution, applying marriage and family therapy theories and techniques to her work with financial clients.