Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP® Elected 2026 CFP Board Chair-Elect
The Board of Directors of CFP Board announced today that it has elected Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP® as its 2026 Board Chair-Elect at its July 2025 meeting. Current Chair-Elect Terri Kallsen, CFP® will serve as Chair of the Board of Directors in 2026, and Seay will become Chair of the Board in 2027.
Martin Seay, CFP® serves as professor and researcher of personal financial planning at Kansas State University, where he teaches in the CFP Board-registered undergraduate and Ph.D. programs. Seay’s research focuses on borrowing decisions, how psychological characteristics shape financial behavior and how consumers seek and use financial advice. His research has been recognized with the 2014, 2017 and 2019 Financial Planning Association Annual Conference Research Paper Awards, CFP Board’s 2016 ACCI Financial Planning Award and the 2016 Montgomery-Warschauer Award. He has been published in the Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Financial Planning Review and others.
Seay joined CFP Board as a Board Director in 2022 and is a member of the CEO Oversight and the Finance and Investment committees.
“Martin is deeply committed to the growth and integrity of the financial planning profession,” said 2025 Board of Directors Chair Liz Miller, CFP®, CFA®. “His experience and passion will help CFP Board continue advancing the profession amid an ever-changing environment.”
Seay was recognized with the Distinguished Financial Planning Alumnus Award by the University of Georgia in 2021 and was selected as a member of the 2020 InvestmentNews 40 Under 40 class. He served as President of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) in 2020.
“What an honor to be selected as the 2026 Board Chair-Elect by my colleagues on the Board of Directors,” said Seay. “I’m eager to use my years of experience in financial planning to champion CFP® certification and grow our community of competent, ethical financial planners.”
Seay earned a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. with an emphasis in family financial planning, both from the University of Georgia. He earned his CFP® certification in 2014.
CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public’s benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP® certification is held by more than 100,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession’s body of knowledge.
Joseph Feese
Director of Public Relations
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