President George W. Bush yesterday appointed Tahira Hira, executive assistant to the president and professor of personal finance and consumer economics at Iowa State University, to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

An executive order signed by President Bush appointed Hira as one of the 16 members of the council, which will be chaired by Charles Schwab.

“I have asked people from the business world, the faith world, the nonprofit world, to join this council in order to come up with recommendations as to how to better educate people from all walks of life about matters pertaining to their finances and their future,” President Bush said in his prepared statement Tuesday.

Tuesday was the first time all 16 members met in the White House. Because of the recent establishment of the council, members were not permitted to conduct any formal business. Hira said the group’s first formal meeting may take place in February. During that meeting they will learn more about charge of the council, specific assignments and timelines.

Hira has taught and conducted research in family financial management, consumer credit, gambling and consumer bankruptcy in the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand since 1976. She came to Iowa State in 1980 and is internationally known as a leader in the field. She also has given approximately 200 national and international presentations on topics such as the social and psychological aspects of the borrowing and investment behavior of middle- and high-income Americans, consumer bankruptcy, consumer credit, gambling and the borrowing behavior of college students.

Hira said she is thrilled to serve on the new council and looks forward to the challenging work over its proposed two-year term.

“He (President Bush) said, ‘Thank you very much for agreeing to serve,’ and ‘I am so glad you’re doing this important work,'” Hira said. “And I said, ‘Thank you for elevating the importance of this topic to this level, and I’m honored to serve on this important council.'”