Stephen T. Golding to assume CU executive vice president post

By Linda Grace-Kobas

Stephen T. Golding, a seasoned professional with experience in higher education financial affairs, investment management, strategic resource planning and government, has been appointed to be the first Samuel W. Bodman Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration at Cornell.

Golding

Golding's nomination by President Jeffrey S. Lehman was approved by the Executive Committee of Cornell's Board of Trustees at a special meeting Feb. 1. He will assume the post full time in April.

"Steve brings an extraordinary range of experience to the role," said Lehman. "He has held positions of responsibility at one of our nation's finest private universities and at one of our most complex public university systems; he has worked for an outstanding investment firm, and he has held a position of great responsibility in state government. Those who have worked closely with him in the past speak enthusiastically of his intellect, his drive and his humanity. We are delighted to be welcoming him to the administrative leadership of Cornell."

As executive vice president, Golding will be a member of the president's senior management team, advising on university policies and strategies. He will be responsible for implementing financial policies and managing most of the university's financial and administrative functions and operations on the Ithaca campus. He also will work closely with administration at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and will be involved in operations of eCornell, the Cornell Center for Technology and other university enterprises.

Golding succeeds Harold D. (Hal) Craft, who has served Cornell with distinction as vice president for administration and chief financial officer since 2000. Craft, who a year ago announced his intention to retire before the summer of 2005, has held a variety of university positions since 1971 and served as vice president for facilities and campus services from 1993 to 2000. "Hal Craft has been a superb leader at Cornell for more than three decades," said Lehman. "Even as he retires from his role as vice president, I am grateful for his willingness to remain available to Cornell to help with special projects that will benefit from his wisdom and experience."

"I am honored by President Lehman's offer to join his leadership team at this time in Cornell's history," Golding said. "The energy and commitment to this great institution demonstrated by all those I met in the last six months affirms my belief that there is nothing Cornell can't achieve when supported by the collective will. I look forward to the opportunity of working with each member of the Cornell community in building on a legacy of sound financial management and 'best in class' administrative services."

Golding, 56, comes to Cornell from the University of Colorado system, for which he has served as vice president for budget and finance since June 2003. As chief financial officer for the four-campus system, which includes a university hospital, he oversaw accounting, human resources, computing and budget functions and served as the system's primary spokesperson on fiscal matters with the executive and legislative branches of Colorado state government.

Before going to Colorado, Golding was with Morgan Stanley Investment Management for six years as head of eleemosynary, or philanthropic, marketing and client services. Previous to that, he was vice president for finance at the University of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 1997; he had joined the Penn administration in 1991 as executive director of resource planning and budget.

Golding also served in state government in Delaware, first as director of administration in the Department of Transportation from 1981 to 1983, then as the state's budget director and then secretary of finance from 1983 to 1991, positions in which he reported to two successive governors, Pierre Samuel "Pete" DuPont and Michael N. Castle.

"I've always enjoyed public policy, and I've enjoyed thinking about how public institutions can provide services or improve service delivery to their constituencies," he said. While in state service, he added, "I came to appreciate the fact that good public policy can actually produce good things."

As his first order of business at Cornell, Golding said, he will meet with Lehman to develop a near-term game plan, and added: "Then I will sit down with the provost, deans and vice presidents and identify, from the community's perspective, what they see as critical areas they would like me to look at. I'll also sit down with administrative unit heads and learn what they see as critical areas and try to integrate those into the strategy."

Already identified during his interview process as high priorities for his attention are land-use planning for the campus, maintenance of campus facilities and a review of the charge-back algorithms used by various units, Golding said, as well as support for technology transfer and for "creative and imaginative solutions" to linking the campuses in Ithaca and New York City.

"There has been significant progress in these areas already but more can be done," he said. "It will require my talking to people across the schools, units and administration and getting a perspective to identify what are the critical areas." He will begin those discussions even before arriving full time in April, he added.

Golding has been familiar with Cornell administrators and operations since his time at Penn, so the campus is not entirely new to him. "What strikes you about Cornell," he said, "are the opportunities it has and the energy and enthusiasm people have as you talk about those opportunities, such as expanding academic programs, building new facilities and achieving the president's goal of being a transnational university. The community at large is highly motivated and charged with building on the successes already achieved."

A native of Boston, Golding attended schools on the Eastern seaboard. His father, the late Rev. John Golding, was an Episcopal minister who served for seven years as vicar of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Stephen Golding earned a bachelor's degree in history from Washington College in Chestertown, Md., and a master's degree in political science from the University of Delaware.

He is a member of the board of visitors and governors of Washington College and an ex officio member of the National Association of State Budget Officers.

He and his wife, Carolyn (Cally), have two grown children: a son, Chris, who lives in Philadelphia, and a daughter, Gayle, who is a student at Simmons College in Boston.

Executive VP position is endowed

The executive vice president position has been endowed by the Bodman Foundation to honor Samuel W. Bodman, a 1960 graduate of Cornell who was confirmed Jan. 31 as U.S. Secretary of Energy in a unanimous vote by the U.S. Senate. The Cornell Board of Trustees approved the new position, believed to be the first endowed senior financial position in higher education, in May 2004.

The purpose of the Bodman gift was to strengthen Cornell's financial management in perpetuity by allowing the university to attract top candidates as its chief financial officer.

Bodman, who has a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell, served as deputy secretary in the Commerce and Treasury departments during President George W. Bush's first term. According to an Associated Press article Jan. 31, "... senators said his academic and business background make him well suited to head a department that oversees a wide range of research ..."

Bodman is a former president of Fidelity Investments and former chief executive officer of Cabot Corp. He was an associate professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) early in his career. He serves on MIT's board of trustees and on Cornell's University Council and Chemical Engineering Advisory Council.