Ms. Katz is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas.  She is also a founding partner of Evensky & Katz, a wealth management firm, located in Coral Gables, Florida.  She is an internationally recognized financial advisor and practice management expert and the author of seven books on financial planning and practice management topic and has been a contributor to many financial publications, such as Financial Planner and Financial Advisor.   Ms. Katz has made many national and local television appearances.

In 2010, Ms. Katz was named as Investment Advisors “Thirty-Thirty, Most Influential Award” honoring thirty people who over the past thirty years have significantly contributed to the advancement of the planning profession. She again received the honor in 2015 in “35 for 35” Most Influential Award from Investment Advisor. She was one of the first advisors named as Financial Planning Magazine's “Movers and Shakers” for 2001and 2008, as well as one of Accounting Today's Top Ten Names to Know in Financial Planning, in 2001 and 2002. She has consistently been on the Investment Advisor's Most Influential People in the Industry.    In 2013, Deena and her firm received the prestigious Trailblazer Award from Charles Schwab Corporation.  In 2014 she received the Iconoclast award from Bob Veres' Insiders Forum.  In 2015, she was named by Investment News as a “Woman to Watch” and in 2016 received the Alexandra Armstrong Lifetime Achievement Award, again from Investment News.  In 2019, she received recognition from Investment News as one of the Top 50 Influencers in 50 Years of publication. 

Ms. Katz is largely credited with focusing attention on the next generation of financial planners by joining the faculty at Texas Tech University and growing their Personal Financial Planning program.  Her work in bridging the practitioner and academic professions together extends, not just in the United States but in countries around the world.  A frequent international speaker, Deena has addressed planners in many countries including, the England, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Japan, India, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and South Africa. In 2015-16, she served as an international judge for the Outlook Money India planning awards.

Ms. Katz is a past member of the National Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association, is past member of the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for Financial Planning, Past Chair of the South Plains Boy Scouts Investment Committee, and in 2009-10 served as an advisor to the Comptroller of the State of Texas on their college funding plans.  In 2009, Ms. Katz testified before the Senate Committee on Aging regarding “Boomer Bust: Securing Retirement in a Volatile Economy.”