Professor Robert D. Manning is past Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance (IHELG) at the University of Houston Law School (2000-2021) and past Dean of the College of Business at American University in the Emirates, Dubai, UAE. He is a past Filene Research Fellow (2007-2010), Madison, Wisconsin and past Director of the Center for Consumer Financial Services (2006-09), Research Professor of Consumer Finance (2004-06), and Caroline Werner Gannett Chair of the Humanities, Rochester Institute of Technology (2001-2003). Professor Manning earned his doctoral degree from The Johns Hopkins University with a specialization in Economic Sociology and Comparative International Development.  He is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Northern Illinois University (MA, Economic History) and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University (Comparative Political Systems).

 

Dr. Manning is author of the internationally acclaimed book, CREDIT CARD NATION: America’s Dangerous Addiction to Credit (2000) as well as LIVING WITH DEBT: A Life-Stage Analysis of Changing Attitudes and Behaviors (2005), and THE BLENDED WALMART BUSINESS MODEL: MoneyCenters, Banco Walmart de Mexico, and the Formidable Challenge Facing Credit Unions (2010).  He was also Associate Editor of the award winning documentary, IN DEBT WE TRUST: America Before the Bubble Bursts (2007).  His current manuscript examines the role of financial engineering in the 2008 US Financial Crisis.

 

Dr. Manning has testified as an expert witness before US Senate and House of Representatives and other federal and state regulatory agencies.  His work on behalf of consumers contributed to the 2006 FTC Policy Guidelines for Debt Settlement Services, 2009 Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure (CARD) Act and the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in 2010.  He has also served as an expert witness in a wide range of criminal, federal, and class-action lawsuits including a 2012 US Supreme Court decision.

 

Dr. Manning has taught and conducted research in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and throughout the United States. He is also a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance (IHELG) at the University of Houston Law School. His pathbreaking FinTech system, MyMoneyEd, has been used by Fannie Mae, Housing Counseling organizations, Debt Management, Bankruptcy law firms, and financial education programs.

 

Dr. Manning’s research has been widely reported in the U.S. and international media including Sixty Minutes II, ABC World News, ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, ABC's Good Morning America (Diane Sawyer), Bloomberg Financial News, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CNBC, CNN Headline News, Burden of Proof, C-SPAN, FOX Evening News, O'Reilly Factor, MSNBC with Brian Williams, Jim Lehrer News Hour (PBS), National Public Radio (All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, Weekend Edition), Voice of America, Jim Bohannon Show, Australian Public Radio, British Broadcast Corporation, Canadian Public Radio, Reuters International, and Swedish Public Radio.

 

His research has been cited or quoted in American Banker, American Prospect, Associated Press, Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, BusinessWeek.com, Card News Cardrate.com, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Chronicle of Higher Education, City Lights, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Consumer Reports, Cosmopolitan, Dallas Morning Herald, Detroit Free Press, Family Circle, Fortune Magazine, Gannett News, Knight-Ridder, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Money Magazine, Newsday, Newsweek, Newhouse News Service, The New York Times, New York Post, New York Magazine, The New Yorker Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, Reuters, Salon.com, San Diego Union, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Smart Money, Toronto Star, USA TODAY, US News & World Report, Village Voice, Washington Business Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Washingtonian Magazine, and White House Bulletin.

 

Dr. Manning’s projects in the GCC region focuses on the rise of entrepreneurship, gender empowerment, consumer credit and debt, investor protection policies, changing insolvency laws, economic ramifications of changing marriage and demographic trends, and US-GCC foreign policy issues in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. His new Propensity for Entrepreneurship (PfE) © attitudinal assessment system is available for evaluating start-up entrepreneurial business plans and his global small business-investor matching program will launch in summer 2021.