Lois A. Vitt: Biography

Lois A. Vitt, Ph.D., is Chair and Founding Director of the Institute for Socio-Financial Studies (ISFS) in Middleburg, Virginia. Dr. Vitt has a background in business and finance for both entrepreneurial companies and investment banking firms, and she is a consultant to financial services companies and community organizations.

She has conducted research on consumer decision making, financial literacy education, consumer health finances, the finances of retirement and aging, and financial instruments and organizations. Dr. Vitt has conducted studies for the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Consumer Health Education Council (CHEC) on Consumer Health Care Financial Education and Consumer Health Values, and she also directed Personal Finance and the Rush to Competence: Financial Literacy Education in the U.S. for the Fannie Mae Foundation. She has developed interdisciplinary curricula and taught undergraduate and certificate courses in the social psychology of money and finance and the finances of aging for American University and Catholic University of America.

Dr. Vitt is also an advisor to the American Institute of Financial Gerontology (AIFG). Dr. Vitt pioneered the development of real estate financing vehicles for the capital markets, and her research on the beneficial effects of homeownership has been presented to audiences around the world. She received an Executive M.B.A. from Pace University, New York, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology at the American University in Washington, D.C.