Texas Tech University

Personal Financial Planning

Dr. Jerry Mason - Recipient of the A. William "Bill" Gustafson Distinguished Leadership Award 

 

Jerry MasonJerry Mason has been involved with financial planning for 40 years. He taught financial planning at Brigham Young University, Texas Tech University, the College of St. Rose, and Utah Valley University. He also was the Director of Education for the International Association for Financial Planning (now FPA), the Vice President of Education for NAIFA, and worked with Ric Edelman for six years. In 1983, he held a financial counseling and planning conference at Brigham Young University. At that conference Jerry met Bill Gustafson and their brief meeting contributed to the launching of the financial planning program at Texas Tech University. While at BYU, Bud Poduska and Jerry started the first full-time financial counseling clinic on a college campus and the first financial planning software computer lab. While at Texas Tech, he created and launched the Accredited Financial Counseling (AFC) certification program. He pioneered taking students to national financial planning conferences and is probably best known for helping students find internships and jobs, having placed students in positions in 34 states and 7 foreign countries. In addition, he and Bill partnered with other industry leaders in creating and competing in national financial planing case study competitions.

He earned a BS in Economics at Brigham Young University, a Masters of Business Administration at Stanford University and a PhD at the University of Missouri. Forty-eight years ago he married Joyce Hurst, and they are the parents of 6 children and 8.5 grandchildren.

Mason says, "I am thrilled, humbled, and honored to receive the Dr. A. William "Bill" Gustafson Distinguished Leadership Award."