Ghosh named vice president, CFO for U of I System

Veteran administrator filled role in interim capacity since September

URBANA, Ill. – Avijit Ghosh, a former business school dean who has served in senior leadership positions across the University of Illinois System for nearly two decades, has been named the system’s permanent vice president and chief financial officer, President Tim Killeen announced today.

Ghosh, who has filled the role in an interim capacity since a national search was launched last fall, will assume the position on a permanent basis effective June 1, pending approval by the Board of Trustees at its July 19 meeting.

Killeen said Ghosh has brought a unique set of skills to the role – more than 35 years of experience as a business educator and administrator, coupled with deep knowledge of the three-university system from earlier roles that include serving as a dean, vice president and head of the U of I Hospital and clinics.

“Avijit has seen our operations from nearly every angle and knows our strengths, our opportunities and the power of our academic and research missions,” Killeen said. “He shares the U of I System’s commitment to keep building on its contributions to students and the public good, and his leadership will help us reach our ambitious goals.”

Ghosh said he is grateful for the opportunity to continue his leadership role with a growing system that is poised to invest in its future.

“The U of I System has weathered recent financial challenges and emerged on firm financial footing, with record enrollment, a sense of optimism and a forward-looking vision for tomorrow,” Ghosh said.

As vice president and chief financial officer, Ghosh is responsible for all system financial functions, overseeing costs, revenues, capital expenditures, investments and debt. He also works with the executive vice president and leadership from the three universities to develop and implement an annual budget that has grown to more than $6.5 billion system-wide.

Ghosh joined the U of I in 2001 as dean of the College of Business and a professor of business administration in Urbana-Champaign. From 2008-2011, he served as vice president for technology and economic development, a position that has since been restructured and retitled as vice president for economic development and innovation.

He served as senior advisor to then-President Robert Easter from 2011 to 2014, when he was named chief executive officer of the University of Illinois Hospital. He had been scheduled to leave the CEO position at the hospital last August and return to the College of Business in Urbana-Champaign when he was appointed interim vice president and CFO.

Before joining the U of I System, he spent more than 20 years as a professor and administrator at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Ghosh earned his bachelor’s degree from Calcutta University, a post-graduate diploma in business management from Xavier Institute and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Iowa.

He was named to his new position after a national search that began last fall. Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs Barbara Wilson headed the search advisory committee, comprised of members from the system’s universities in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign.

Ghosh succeeds Walter K. Knorr, who retired in August after more than a decade as vice president and chief financial officer.