Dan Shore, chief financial officer (CFO) at Harvard University since 2008, is stepping down from the position at the end of September to join Onshape, a startup offering cloud, web and mobile-based computer-aided design.
Shore first joined Harvard in 2003, and was in charge of budgets and financial planning. He was promoted to CFO in 2008 just as the financial crisis hit the economy, Harvard’s endowment fund shrank in value and the university had to tighten its belt. He has been instrumental in overhauling Harvard’s finances, setting policies with executive vice-president Katie Lapp, and instigating a university-wide capital planning process.
His departure underlines ongoing personnel changes at Harvard, as Jane Mendillo announced in June 2014 that she would be stepping down at the end of the year. She has been the first woman to be president and chief executive of Harvard’s $32.7bn endowment fund, and was responsible for steadily re-growing it following 2008. Mendillo’s announcement followed May 2014’s news that Paul Finnegan is replacing James Rothenberg as the university’s treasurer. Rothenberg had held the position for a decade.
The university is not expecting a shift in policies or practices as a result of the changes. It is yet to identify an interim successor to Shore, however it will launch a search shortly.
Dan Shore said: “Harvard has had a tremendous impact on me and I will be forever grateful for the quality and integrity of all my Harvard colleagues, and others throughout the Harvard community, who make this such a unique and remarkable place.”
