Mar. 4, 2009 – With rising tuition costs, the stock market sinking and unemployment soaring, students feel the pain. This year’s Mary Lowe Family Policy Lecture at the University of Utah aims to help students beef up their financial literacy and navigate the uncertain future.

P. Brett Hammond, Ph.D. managing director and chief investment strategist for TIAA-CREF, will deliver the lecture titled “Macro and Micro Financial Literacy: Bridging the Gap in Tumultuous Times” on Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 11 a.m. in the Olpin Union Ballroom. The event, sponsored by the department of family and consumer studies and the office of student affairs, is free and open to the public. Media are welcome. Hammond will be available for media interviews the hour prior to and immediately following the lecture.

Hammond’s lecture will be followed by the opportunity to talk informally with representatives from a number of local financial education organizations including representatives from Zions Bank, AAA Fair Credit Foundation, the Utah Division of Securities and Utah Saves.

Hammond is a managing director and chief investment strategist for TIAA-CREF Asset Management. His group is responsible for asset allocation modeling and institutional advising, economic and market commentary and investment product and portfolio research.

Within TIAA-CREF, he was previously responsible for performance attribution modeling, played an influential role in the creation of the company’s inflation-linked bond and lifecycle funds and conducted pension research.

Prior to TIAA-CREF, Hammond held positions at the National Academy of Sciences, UCLA and UC Berkeley. He received a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

For more information contact Cathleen Zick in the department of family and consumer studies at 801-581-3147 or at zick@fcs.utah.edu.