Who is Professor Dunnaville?
So, as you know I am the University’s Director of Financial Education and A Finance Professor. I have been at the University now since 2015 – where has the time gone? I came to the University after a career and experience doing several different things in the Financial Services and Wealth Management industry.
In my former life for example, I designed training programs, managed offices and worked with Teams to take care of high net worth families, so. I really have had a lot of versatility in what I can teach and as a result. What a lot of people probably don’t know about me is that I am originally from New York City, and my passion for Investing and Finance started at age 12 when I was lucky to take a one-week course at my school on Wall Street.
First introduction to Wall Street?
We were introduced to the Wall Street Journal and Investing through an investment game/competition, where we were each given $25,000 of Monopoly money and got to invest it. The game which I won, was only supposed to last a month, but I kept playing and learning with my teacher for two years. At which point I was old enough to get my working papers and that summer got a job as a runner on the floor of the Stock Exchange. So, today if you are in one of my classes, as part of what I try to do is merge theory and textbook stuff with real application and to help students prepare for their careers in business, I get them started reading the Wall Street Journal.
What do you teach?
Because of my background, I would say that I am most passionate about teaching Personal Finance and helping young people learn the importance of being financially responsible, setting financial goals and other basics like having an emergency fund, understanding credit scores and credit cards, basic investment skills and getting started early with saving for retirement to take advantage of the time value of money.
As a parent myself, I think that when we send our kids off to college one of the things we hope is that when our kids graduate, we want them to be not only book smart, but we also want them to have matured and gained some life skills so that they can take care of themselves, their eventual families, and communities.
What are you working on?
When I came to the University, we had just one Personal Finance course and it was a 400-level course in the Business School. I am pleased to say that we now have four Personal Finance courses, beginning with our Smart Money 1 credit 10-week pass/fail class and concluding with a brand new Advanced Financial Planning and Counseling course for folks interested in a career in Wealth Management.
We also have a Club called the Cash Flow Club with nearly 100 student members and pre – pandemic we had begun a partner program to have college students work with high school students in their schools to teach Financial Literacy. In Oregon at one point, it was required that you had to take Personal Finance in High School in order to graduate. That requirement went away because of funding, lack of teachers able to teach the concepts and a desire for schools to focus on the initiatives brought about from the No Child Left Behind mandate.
Today, out of 50 States, Oregon ranks as one of the worst States for financial literacy. I am hoping that UP and our students can help lead the charge and make a difference. So, we are hoping to get our High School program back on track now that we seem to be pulling up from under the Pandemic. We are also hoping to reinstitute our UP Smart Money Day during National Financial Capability Month.
Last, I have also been doing a lot of Financial Education workshops for various groups and corporations. I think that with the current state of the economy, World and market events, folks are looking for financial help and advice.
What do you do for fun?
For fun – and because of being at home with the pandemic, I have gotten into canning food, vegetable gardening and working on my wine collection. As a person who grew up in a 2-bedroom apartment in Manhattan – I myself am quite surprised by my hobbies – wine of course, being the exception.
Connect with Professor Dunnaville – Contact information here