Department of Personal Financial Planning

Derek Lawson

Derek Lawson

Assistant Professor
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Contact Information

343J Justin Hall
785-532-5510
drlawson@k-state.edu

Courses I Teach

  • PFP 460 - Retirement Planning
  • PFP 472 - Tax Planning
  • PFP 482 - Investments II
  • PFP 808 – Research Cluster in Structural Equation Modeling

Education

  • Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning, Kansas State University
  • M.S. in Family Studies and Human Services with an emphasis in Personal Financial Planning, Kansas State University
  • B.B.A. in Finance, University of Iowa

Short Biography

Derek Lawson, Ph.D., CFP®, is an Assistant Professor of Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University and a financial planner at Priority Financial Partners, based in Durango, CO. His research is practitioner-focused, allowing him to combine his past and present experience as a financial planner with his research interests. Lawson's research focuses on relationship dynamics, physiological stressors, financial therapy, behavioral finance, and consumption decisions, with a primary focus on younger adults not near retirement. His work has been published in the Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Financial Services Review, and the Journal of Financial Therapy, and he has co-authored a few book chapters. One of his research pieces, "Integrating behavioral finance, financial psychology, and financial therapy theory and techniques into the financial planning process", was recognized by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association as the 2018 Montgomery-Warschauer award-winning article. Derek has previously served as the Secretary for FPA NexGen, the Director of NexGen for FPA of Greater Kansas City, the Treasurer of the Financial Therapy Association, and the Marketing Coordinator for NAPFA Genesis. Derek earned a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Iowa and his M.S. in Family Studies and Human Services with an emphasis in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University.

When not at the university, Derek enjoys playing ice hockey and being outdoors with his wife, Ashley, their daughter, Raelee, and their two dogs.