AFCPE Member Awards: The Distinguished Fellow Award
In honor of Celia Ray Hayhoe, this award recognizes an individual who has made significant and long-lasting contributions to AFCPE over the years. The nominee should be a leader in the field of financial counseling and planning education; and must exhibit the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct throughout his or her professional career. Congratulations to 2023 recipient Syble Solomon.
We are excited to share that 2026 nomination letters will be accepted soon. We will provide more information when available.
Celebrating Our Distinguished Fellow Award Winners
2023: Syble Solomon
Syble Solomon is the founder of Money Habitudes, an innovative product that has revolutionized how we interact with our finances. This resource has helped countless individuals gain control over their financial lives and contributed significantly to AFCPE’s mission. As a longtime AFCPE member, Syble served two terms on the AFCPE Board of Directors, participated in multiple committees, and has consistently shared her knowledge through presentations, articles, and mentorship.
2022: Dottie Durband, AFC®
Dottie Durband is what some call the Godmother of Financial Counseling. As a teacher and educator, she has provided mentorship, leadership, and the gift of knowledge to countless students. She has been a professor and administrator at Texas Tech and Kansas State Universities.
She was the founding chair of the TTU Department of Community, Family, and Addiction Services and is most well-known as the founding director of the nationally recognized Red to Black® program. Her focus as an educator has been on counseling and communication skills and helping those with the greatest need. She has numerous awards and recognitions including two Distinguished Teaching Awards. Recently an award was named in her honor for her exemplary service and dedication to the Red to Black® Peer Financial Coaching organization.
Her research in academic leadership, personal financial behavior, and workplace financial education have been referenced multiple times and influenced many leaders in the room today.
Despite all of her professional success, her greatest success lies in the hearts and lives of the students and individuals that she has influenced over her tenured career.
2021: Ryan H. Law, CFP®, AFC®
Ryan H. Law is the Director of the Utah Valley University Money Management Resource Center where volunteer peer Financial Coaches educate students, faculty and staff through one-on-one counseling sessions and presentations on campus. He also teaches in the Personal Financial Planning program at Utah Valley University.
Ryan is first and foremost a teacher. He loves being in the classroom educating students on how to be better stewards of their money. In 2015 he was honored as the Mary Ellen Edmondson Educator of the Year. Ryan students, helping them become effective financial counselors. As one of these students said, “Ryan doesn’t just care about us as financial counselors – he invites us to his home and we become part of his family.”
Ryan has used his teaching skills to provide guidance and materials to help other institutions start student money management centers nationwide. In 2018, Utah Valley University Money Management Resource Center was named Financial Counseling and/or Planning Center of the Year.
Ryan has contributed to AFCPE as a longtime member, volunteer, content writer, and he served on the AFCPE Board from 2017 to 2021 and as 2020 AFCPE Board President.
2019: Dr. Jinhee Kim, AFC®
Dr. Jinhee Kim, AFC® has served as a Professor and Extension Specialist at the University of Maryland since 2000, building a distinguished career as a researcher, educator, and leader in family financial wellness. Her prolific scholarship includes 48 peer-reviewed publications, three book chapters, and 80+ conference presentations, supported by over $2.9 million in grants as Principal Investigator. She has trained more than 2,000 financial and Extension professionals and mentored countless faculty, students, and researchers throughout her career. Within AFCPE, Dr. Kim has been equally impactful — serving on the editorial board of the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, holding elected leadership roles including President, and chairing multiple committees. A true bridge between research and practice, she exemplifies the AFCPE mission by applying scholarly knowledge directly to the financial well-being of households and communities.
2018: Madeleine Greene, AFC®
Madeleine Greene, AFC® has made profound and lasting contributions to AFCPE across decades of dedicated service. Beginning as a Home Economics teacher, she built a distinguished career as a Cooperative Extension educator in Maryland for 25 years before continuing as a military personal finance counselor — serving families across Europe and the United States and teaching Financial Readiness at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for seven years. A prolific contributor to the field, she co-authored the “Best Little Money Book” and developed programs used by Department of Defense counselors worldwide. Within AFCPE, Madeleine attended every Symposium since 1992, chaired the Certification Council, served on the curriculum writing team and Strategic Planning Task Force, and represented the association at numerous national forums. Her excellence has been recognized with the AFCPE Financial Counselor of the Year Award, the National Extension Educator of the Year Award, and recognition by the Maryland State Legislature as Community Leader for Personal Finance. Known for her high standards, generosity in mentoring colleagues, and tireless commitment to advancing the profession, Madeleine Greene exemplifies the very best of AFCPE membership.
2016: Barbara O'Neill, PhD, CFP®, CRPC®, AFC®, CHC®
Barbara O’Neill, PhD, CFP®, CRPC®, AFC®, CHC® has been a cornerstone of AFCPE® for over thirty years, serving in virtually every capacity — board member, Board Secretary, Board President, task force chair, journal reviewer, exam item writer, and presenter at nearly every Symposium since 1989, with more than 75 presentations to her name. A Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University and Cooperative Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management, she has authored over 1,500 consumer articles and 180 academic publications, secured nearly $1 million in funding for financial education research, and earned more than three dozen program excellence awards, including 10 from AFCPE alone. Her generosity extends beyond her scholarship — she contributes an annual $2,500 mini-grant in memory of her mother, providing over $15,000 to date in support of innovative member projects. Known for freely sharing her program materials and expanding her reach through initiatives like the DoD-funded MFLN project and her widely followed social media outreach, Dr. O’Neill is an educator, researcher, practitioner, mentor, and pioneer whose impact on financial education continues to inspire professionals and consumers worldwide.
2015: Jean Lown, PhD
Jean Lown, PhD was a founding member of AFCPE®, attending preliminary organizational meetings at Brigham Young University in 1983 and at Iowa State University in 1984 when AFCPE® was formalized. Her involvement with AFCPE® has been going strong ever since. Jean has been extremely involved with the AFCPE® conferences, attending almost every year since 1984. She has presented at 22 of the 30 conferences, including 27 paper presentations and 8 poster presentations. She has also encouraged and financially supported dozens of students to attend the AFCPE® conference over the years. She has brought Utah State University students to every conference since 1994.
She has been the recipient of two AFCPE® Awards, including the Mary Ellen Edmondson Educator of the Year and the Outstanding Journal Paper award. But her commitment to and involvement with AFCPE® is not limited to conferences. She has served two terms on the AFCPE® board, 2005-2006 and 2007-2009. She has also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning continuously since 1993, and published 11 articles in the same journal.
In the last year, Jean founded the research task force, building the foundation upon which the theme of this year’s symposium originated. Her work in the field and within AFCPE® embodies the bridge we are building.
2014: Sharon Cabeen, AFC®
Sharon Cabeen, AFC® has spent over 35 years bridging the silos of personal finance — 25 in credit counseling management and financial education and 10 in the student loan industry — driven by a vision she calls “The Farm,” an analogy for the interconnected components of financial well-being. During her 10 years with AFCPE®, she has served as Chair of the Member Services Committee, member of the Strategic Planning Committee, and as both President and Past President of the Board. A true connector, Sharon created two financial literacy programs, spurred a meaningful increase in AFC® certifications among student financial aid professionals, helped establish scholarships for those entering the AFC program, and inspired financial aid offices across the country to create dedicated financial literacy positions. Her leadership has opened doors between industries, fostered collaboration across professional communities, and expanded AFCPE®’s reach and impact in lasting ways — making her a most deserving recipient of the Distinguished Fellow Award.
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