Book event will bring life, investment lessons home to Lawrence

LAWRENCE — David Booth, University of Kansas alumnus and successful investment manager, has spent the last 50 years learning all he can about investing. Now the founder of the investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors is sharing his knowledge in his upcoming book, “Stay Calm: Learn to Embrace Uncertainty in Investing and Life,” an accessible guide to investing with a helpful dose of inspiration and confidence.

Bill Self, KU men’s basketball head coach, and Mario Chalmers, former men’s basketball player, will join Booth on Sept. 10 for a book event and panel discussion, hosted by the university and DFA. The free event is open to the public, and registration is required. Attendees will receive a free copy of “Stay Calm.”

When: 5 p.m. Sept. 10

Where: The University of Kansas Conference Center at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium

How to attend: More information and free registration.

Get the book: Event attendees will receive a complimentary copy of “Stay Calm.” The book is also available for preorder at the KU Bookstore and will be available for purchase Sept. 1.

To Booth, “Stay Calm” is exactly what some people need to make the leap in investing. He witnessed this apprehension firsthand, growing up with Depression-era parents who didn’t trust the stock market.

“When my dad passed away in 1985, my brother and sister and I went to his bank and opened the family safe deposit box,” Booth said. “Inside was $15,000 in cash, more than 15% of everything my parents had. If they’d invested that money when my dad came home from World War II, it would have been worth more than $1 million by the time we opened that box.”

Booth’s first sales experience was selling shoes in Lawrence as a teenager, and he spent his formative years in a home just down the road from Allen Fieldhouse. His KU pride runs deep: He gave a record-setting gift in 2025 to renovate the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The return to Lawrence for this book event is a homecoming to the place where it all started for Booth.

“There are people losing sleep over their financial future who’ve never had access to these ideas,” Booth said. “That’s what I’m trying to fix.”