CFP Board picks Ph.D. advisor as 2026 chair-elect

It won't take effect for another 18 months, but the CFP Board already has its chair for 2027.

Its board of directors announced Wednesday that at its July meeting, members had chosen Martin Seay as the 2026 board chair-elect.

Current chair-elect Terri Kallsen will serve as chair next year, and Seay will take over that role in 2027.

Seay will officially begin as chair-elect after Kevin Keller's long tenure as CFP Board CEO comes to a close next year.

Keller announced earlier this year he will step down at the end of April 2026 from the organization he has run for nearly two decades.

Seay, who served as 2020 president of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), joined the CFP Board as a director in 2022 and is a member of the CEO oversight and the finance and investment committees.

"What an honor to be selected," said Seay in a statement. "I'm eager to use my years of experience in financial planning to champion CFP certification and grow our community of competent, ethical financial planners."

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Seay is a professor and researcher of personal financial planning at Kansas State University, where he teaches in the CFP Board-registered undergraduate and Ph.D. programs. His research focuses on borrowing decisions, how psychological characteristics shape financial behavior and how consumers seek and use financial advice, according to the CFP Board.

Seay earned his CFP certification in 2014. His research has been recognized with 2014, 2017 and 2019 FPA Annual Conference Research Paper Awards, the CFP Board's 2016 ACCI Financial Planning Award and the 2016 Montgomery-Warschauer Award. He has been published in the Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Financial Planning Review and others.

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Seay earned a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences in 2007 and a Ph.D. in housing and consumer electronics with an emphasis on family financial planning in 2012, both from the University of Georgia. Seay was recognized with the Distinguished Financial Planning Alumnus Award by the school in 2021.

"Martin is deeply committed to the growth and integrity of the financial planning profession," stated Liz Miller, 2025 board chair, in a release. "His experience and passion will help CFP Board continue advancing the profession amid an ever-changing environment."