Teaching

Ms. Kelly has taught UC Santa Cruz’s COWL 52 Personal Finance and Investing since 2014. In 2019, before the pandemic, she received a grant from the Office of the President of the University of California to produce an online version for the UC Systemwide. In a 2024 UCSC News article, Kelly explained the course’s mission:

“We talk about things that are personal and important, like what you value in life and how that should guide your financial decisions.”

Offered every quarter and now reaching over 1,000 students per term UC-wide, the course empowers students to understand their finances in both practical and deeply personal ways.

To learn more about the course, you can find more in-depth information here.

Professional Career

Ms. Kelly’s professional career was spent in the financial industry, beginning as an investment banking analyst on Wall Street in the 1980’s, to a partnership at a Palo Alto-based investment management firm responsible for managing $2.5 billion for institutional clients, including the Vanguard Equity Income Fund. Switching gears in 1999, Ms. Kelly moved to Aptos, California, to work with her (ex-) husband running a strawberry grower/shipper operation.

She was a past President of the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California and is on the Harvard Business School Alumni Board.  She also serves on the investment committee of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.

Associations

UC Santa Cruz, Cowell College, Lecturer

University of California Office of the President, 2024-present, Key Partner, Financial Literacy Initiative and Advisory Board

UC Santa Cruz, Center for Analytical Finance, Financial Literacy Initiative, Research Affiliate

Education and Licenses

Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, MBA, 1987

University of California, Santa Cruz BA in Economics, 1982

Stanford Graduate School of Business, Executive Education, Sustainability Program 2009

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Level 1

NASD Series 6 and 7: General Securities Representative

Selected Presentations, Interviews, and Press

“Financial Literacy in Higher Education,” Presentation
National Council on Teacher Retirement | Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary | July 13-16, 2025

“Teaching Personal Finance,” Panel Discussion
Stanford Financial Education Symposium | Stanford Graduate School of Business | April 10-11, 2025

“Potential Impacts of the New California High School Personal Finance Graduation Requirement on the UCSC Cowell College Personal Finance and Investing Course (COWL52)”, Patricia Kelly, October 21, 2024.(Article)

[UC Santa Cruz’s] “Cowell College Personal Finance Class is Shaping Financial Education
Across the UC [University of California]” (Article)
UC Santa Cruz Campus News | August 19, 2024

Interview with Tim Ranzetta, Co-Founder, Next Generation Personal Finance, January 2025 Interview

KZSC UCSC Slug Podcast, “Financially Fit” with Cara Tuininga, Fall 2024, February 4, 2025