James Murray Author, Editor & Illustrator

A renowned author, advisor, and academic, Dr. E. Thomas Garman is a Fellow and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Virginia Tech University, where he directed the National Institute for Personal Finance Employee Education. He subsequently founded the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation. Author of 40 books and 200 academic research articles, Dr. Garman directed several award-winning research studies that link the financial fortunes of employers with the financial health of their employees. His research consistently showed that decreasing employee financial distress and improving personal financial well-being created better workers. Dr. Garman's research has been the most cited in the field for more than 20 years. He has worked for a U.S. senator in Washington, D.C., in economic development in West Africa and for a national non-profit credit counseling organization. He is an elected Distinguished Fellow of both the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education and the American Council on Consumer Interests. Dr. Garman has served on advisory boards for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, International Board of Standards and Practices for Certified Financial Planners, American National Standards Institute, National Foundation for Credit Counseling, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and National Advertising Review Board. His consulting includes work for Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America, Manulife Financial, AT&T, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Department of Defense. His work has been featured in hundreds of publications, including USA Today, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and U.S. News & World Report, and he has appeared on National Public Radio and NBC Nightly News. James Murray is a senior lecturer in the Department of Enterprise and Digital Innovation at Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand. Prior to this he taught in both Australia and New Zealand, mainly at Monash University. His teaching, primarily in finance (including superannuation and insurance), has also extended to accounting, economics, and research methodology. He graduated with a PhD in finance from Monash in 2009. He is also a graduate of the University of Canterbury and Lincoln University in New Zealand and the University of Newcastle, Australia. He was recently awarded the New Zealand Certificate in Adult and Tertiary Teaching from Ara Institute of Canterbury. His research interests are broad; covering interactions between finance, law and tax. His current research examines how new developments in financial technology (Fintech) is changing the financial marketplace for investors and companies. Best paper awards have been given to his research at the Conference on Interdisciplinary Business and Economics Research in 2017 and the New Zealand Finance Colloquium in 2019. James has previously authored chapters in Wiley’s Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, Australasian edition. Dr Mariya Yesseleva-Pionka held teaching and senior academic management positions in Australia and Central Asia. While working for Westpac Banking Corporation and BT Financial Group in Australia, she specialised in general investments, and personal and corporate superannuation investments. She was elected to join The Housing Connection, a not-for-profit organisation in Sydney, Australia, as Treasurer and board member from November 2019. In 2020 and 2021, she received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Commonwealth Bank, recognising her contribution to the Australian community. Dr YesselevaPionka is the Associate Editor for the Journal of the International Council for Small Business (JICSB). She is a Master Teacher for the ICSB Global Certificate in Entrepreneurial Finance, has won teaching awards at the University of Sydney Business School and was recognised as Top 20 at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. In July 2021, Dr Yesseleva-Pionka was awarded the International Council for Small Business Presidential Award for her service and empathy as an innovative leader. Dr Yesseleva-Pionka completed a Bachelor of Business Studies and Doctor of Philosophy, PhD (Finance) degrees at Charles Sturt University, and a Master of Business in Finance degree at the University of Technology Sydney. She also completed The Management Development Program for senior academics at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include entrepreneurial finance, traditional and alternative ways to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), FinTechs and Blockchain. She has been published by the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Council for Small Business as part of a report on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises submitted to the United Nations, in addition to academic journals Raymond Forgue retired after 28 years as an associate professor in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Kentucky. He served as chair of the department and acting dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Dr. Forgue taught various courses in consumer studies, personal finance and insurance. He has also served as president of the American Council of Consumer Interests and the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. Since retirement, Dr. Forgue has continued to write and consult on personal finance education training for the Accredited Financial Counselor certification program, AARP and other organizations. Dr. Forgue serves on the Boards of the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundation and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.