The International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) announces Dr. Jerry Mason of Cedar City, Utah as the 2016 recipient of the Loren Dunton Memorial. This award is to “honor a person who has made a substantial contribution to the financial services profession and/or the financial interest of the public.”
Generally regarded as the “Father of Financial Planning”, Loren Dunton organized financial professionals in the late sixties and with their help created the financial planning movement. Loren Dunton developed associations, magazines, colleges, university programs and foundations. He was able to use his experiences to frankly explain what all financial advisors now recognize – that the ethical sales of financial products and the delivery of competent advice is a noble calling. Loren Dunton was a man of vision who cared deeply about both financial consultants and consumers.In bestowing the Loren Dunton Memorial Award, the IARFC recognizes Dr. Jerry Mason’s contribution to Loren Dunton’s vision and his mission to help the public and their consultants.
“Our nominating committee reviewed Mason’s long standing career and his dedication to financial services education,” said H. Stephen Bailey, IARFC Chairman. “We felt he embodied the commitment to excellence and forward thinking that was true to Loren’s Dunton mission.”
Jerry Mason has indeed had a career of longevity – forty years involved with financial planning. 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, the Vice President of Education for NAIFA, and worked for Ric Edelman for six years. In 1983, he held a financial counseling and planning conference at Brigham Young University which launched the Association for Financial Planning and Counseling Education the following year at Iowa State. 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. 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 has partnered with other industry leaders in creating and competing in national financial plan case study competitions. Among those events was a first place finish with his team from UVU in the 2013 IARFC National Financial Plan Competition.
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 six children and eight grandchildren.
“I am thrilled and honored to receive the Loren Dunton award. Like most of us old timers I too consider Loren the father of financial planning and a great man in many ways,” relates Mason. “His enthusiasm for financial counseling and financial planning was contagious.”
