Martin Seay

At 34, Martin Seay is the youngest president in the history of the Financial Planning Association and only the second academic to have occupied the post. Due to COVID-19 precautions, he and other FPA members are unlikely to take part this year in many in-person meetings — which he calls “the fun part” of the job. The work part will involve continuing efforts to “push the profession forward.” One of his goals is to draw in more young people through pipelines that support students. Another is to strengthen relationships with local chapters; and the third is “moving FPA to a new tech world,” Seay (pronounced See) said.

The best ways to accomplish these goals are informed by research, said Seay, whose own research efforts have involved the consumer and personal finance aspects of mortgages and real estate, an area that was the subject of his doctoral dissertation at Georgia State University. Seay, the father of a young son, and his wife, who is a bank trust officer, constitute a two-CFP household: “She does, I teach.”

– Evan Cooper