Institute of FAME, Inc.

Press

Information for journalists.

The Institute of FAME welcomes inquiries from journalists writing about FinTech regulation, behavioral finance, central bank digital currencies, financial-equity research, and the institute's policy positions. This page provides the institutional fact sheet, founder media bio, downloadable assets, and contact information.

Media contact

Email is the fastest way to reach the institute for press inquiries.

media@institutefame.org

We aim to respond to journalist inquiries within one business day. For deadline-sensitive requests, please indicate the deadline in your subject line.

What we're available to discuss

  • FinTech regulation and regulatory sandboxes. Including comparative analysis of the UK FCA, U.S.-state, and proposed federal sandbox programs.
  • Central bank digital currencies and digital monetary instruments. Including the digital euro, digital dollar, and digital pound consumer-adoption questions.
  • Behavioral measurement in personal-finance education. Including the institute's Maturity Type Indicator (MTI) instrument and broader curriculum-evaluation questions.
  • FinTech adoption among under-resourced consumers and SMEs. Including BNPL, alternative credit data, and small-business credit policy.

Founder & Chair — media bio

Dr. Patrick Bernard Washington, Founder and Chair of the Institute of FAME, Inc.

Higher-resolution version available — see Downloadable assets below.

Short bio (~80 words — for op-ed bylines and panel programs)

Patrick B. Washington, PhD, is Chair and Founder of the Institute of FAME, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity that funds independent research on financial decision-making, FinTech regulation, and behavioral-finance policy. He holds a Finance PhD from the University of Alabama and previously served as Associate Professor of Finance at Morehouse College, where he directed the Center for the Advancement of Financial Education (2018–2024). Earlier in his career he was an investment-banking analyst at Salomon Smith Barney (Citi) and a credit research analyst at Prudential Financial.

Long bio (~250 words — for press releases and feature pieces)

Dr. Patrick Bernard Washington is the founder and Chair of the Institute of FAME, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 81-4374785) that funds independent peer-reviewed research on FinTech regulation, central bank digital currencies, behavioral measurement in financial education, and FinTech adoption among under-resourced consumers. Dr. Washington holds a Finance PhD (2016) and M.S. Finance (2009) from the University of Alabama and a B.A. in Business Administration (magna cum laude) from Morehouse College (2003). He has authored or co-authored 14 peer-reviewed publications with 1,111 citations, an h-index of 11, and an i10-index of 12 (Google Scholar, May 2026). His FAME-funded research has appeared in Economies, the Journal of Risk and Financial Management, and other peer-reviewed venues, and he has received academic grants from PwC and NVIDIA totaling approximately $29,000.

Dr. Washington served as Associate Professor of Finance at Morehouse College from 2017 to 2024, where he directed the Center for the Advancement of Financial Education (2018–2024) and built the Bloomberg-terminal program. He has presented at the World Finance Conference, the Financial Management Association (where he chaired sessions in 2016 and 2020), and Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He served as President of the PhD Project Finance Doctoral Student Association (2012–2013), and earlier in his career was an investment-banking analyst at Salomon Smith Barney (Citi) in the Automotive Group and a credit research analyst at Prudential Financial through the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) program. Outside the financial-services career arc, he holds a commercial single- and multi-engine pilot license and was certified as a multi-engine flight instructor instrument and Jet Transition Flight Program graduate. He served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Association of Minority Entrepreneurs (GAME) from 2019 until the organization wound down in 2026, and serves on the Faculty Advisory Board of the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative.

Dr. Washington is available for interviews, conference panels, and policy briefings on the issue areas listed above. For scheduling, contact media@institutefame.org.

Institutional fact sheet

Legal name
Institute of FAME, Inc.
Tax classification
501(c)(3) public charity · IRS 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)
EIN
81-4374785
Founded
November 9, 2016
Headquarters
541 10th Street NW, Suite 177, Atlanta, GA 30318
Active issue areas
4 (financial education measurement; FinTech regulation; consumer FinTech and equity; digital monetary instruments)
FAME-funded peer-reviewed papers
2 published, additional under review
Founder publication record
14 peer-reviewed papers · 1,111 citations · h-index 11 · i10-index 12 (Google Scholar); OpenAlex confirms 817 / h-10 from the formal-database subset. May 2026.

Downloadable assets

Press-quality images and short reference materials. For a higher-resolution institutional logo, fact sheet PDF, or specific assets you need for a piece, email media@institutefame.org.

Founder headshot — high resolution

Patrick Washington (1200×1200)

JPEG, 1200×1200 pixels, ≈230 KB. Suitable for print and high-DPI digital use.

Download →

Founder headshot — web

Patrick Washington (600×600)

JPEG, 600×600 pixels, ≈50 KB. Suitable for web embedding, LinkedIn, blog posts.

Download →

Related pages

  • Published papers — FAME-funded research and the founder's broader academic record.
  • Issue areas — the four policy questions the institute researches and translates.
  • Positions — institutional positions on specific policy questions.
  • Newsroom — chronological feed of briefs, op-eds, comments, and testimony.
  • About — institutional history, board, and governance.

For inquiries that aren't press-related, use info@institutefame.org.