Ruth Lytton, professor of financial planning in the Pamplin College of Business Department of Finance at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of professor emerita by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emerita title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Tim Sands in recognition of exemplary service to the university. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive a copy of the resolution and a certificate of appreciation.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1984, Lytton helped establish Virginia Tech’s Financial Planning Program that was registered with the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. in 1997. She managed the program thereafter as its founding and continuing director. Her leadership, passion, and engagement has led to national acclaim for the program because of its exemplary instruction and dedicated students and faculty.
The program, now the financial planning and wealth management major, graduates about 75 students every year with a nearly 100 percent placement rate. In 2021, the Charles Schwab Charitable Foundation recognized the program as one of the best in the nation by establishing a $500,000 scholarship endowment for students.
Lytton’s dedication to the field of financial planning has been widely acknowledged by industry professionals. In 2020, she was honored by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors with its Special Achievement Award in recognition for her work advancing the advising profession. She received the prestigious Heart of Financial Planning Award from the Financial Planning Association in 2012.
In addition, Lytton was recognized at Virginia Tech with the university’s Alumni Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising and the Award for Excellence in Career Advising.
Lytton is the author or co-author of numerous books and published articles and has given many presentations of her scholarship at international and national symposiums and conferences. The Grable and Lytton Risk Tolerance Scale published in 1999 has become a standard used by researchers and practitioners around the globe.
Lytton received her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.
.