About our authors
The 3 authors, Bill Pratt, Mark C. Weitzel, and Len Rhodes, are passionate about personal financial education. Together, they have a combined 75 years of experience in banking, economics, and entrepreneurship. Over the past 15 years they have taught thousands of students personal finance concepts and decision-making skills, authored textbooks and public press books on personal finance, and helped schools develop innovative personal finance literacy programs. In addition, they were instrumental in developing a personal financial management certification program for leaders in higher education. Their hope is that their books, lectures, and programs give students, parents, and educators the tools and knowledge to make good financial decisions all their lives.
Bill Pratt is an Associate Professor of Business at Piedmont Virginia Community College where he teaches personal finance, business, finance, and marketing. Pratt speaks to college students across the country about personal finance and is the author or coauthor of multiple books on personal finance including The Graduate's Guide to Life and Money; How to Keep Your Kid from Moving Back Home after College; and Extra Credit: The 7 Things Every College Student Needs to Know About Credit, Debt, & Ca$h. He also serves as Vice President of The Money Professors, a financial education company. Pratt understands money as a former industry insider, working as a vice president for the credit card division of Citigroup, earning his MBA in finance, and as a former economist for the federal government. As a college instructor, author, and speaker, He is in-tune with people of all ages and their financial education.
Pratt left the financial industry to focus his efforts on helping students wade through the endless financial and life decisions they will encounter. By making the best decisions with the right attitude and information, he believes that people will accumulate more wealth faster and will be able to use that wealth to improve their lives as well as those around them. Pratt can be seen on Charlottesville CBS 19 every other Tuesday on Money Matters. He lives in the Charlottesville, VA area with his wife and their 4 pets.
Mark C. Weitzel has been active in the areas of banking and finance for more than 33 years. He spent over 13 years in banking and rose to the level of Vice President of Branch Operations. He served as an instructor and regional President for the Institute of Financial Education. Since 1998, he has taught corporate finance in the College of Business at East Carolina University. In 2001, he created East Carolina University's first course in personal finance. He also serves as chief financial officer for 20/20 Vision Center, a Greenvillebased optometric practice, and The Viaticus Group, a financial education company.
He is co-author on several textbooks on personal finance and popular press books. In 2008, he received the Centennial Award for Excellence in Leadership for his work in improving financial Literacy at East Carolina University. In 2010, he earned the designation of an East Carolina University Leadership Fellow. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1984, and he earned an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago in 1989. Weitzel lives in Winterville, NC, with his wife of 33 years.
Len Rhodes is the Director of Technology, Information, and Operations at the College of Business at East Carolina University, a teaching instructor in the Department of Finance, and President of The Viaticus Group, a financial education company. A graduate of East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and an MBA, he spent 14 years in small business and entrepreneurship in eastern North Carolina.
In 2000, Rhodes joined the College of Business at ECU and has served in several roles, including Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs for the College of Business and then as Director of Institutional Research. He has served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Council on Economic Education and on the Personal Financial Education Advisory Board of the Inceptia Institute. Rhodes is passionate about helping students acquire the financial decision-making skills they need to achieve their personal and professional goals. Len lives in Winterville, NC, with his wife.
