Dear NKU Colleagues,
Good afternoon. I am pleased to announce that Christopher Calvert, JD has accepted my offer to join NKU as our new Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, effective March 14, 2024. Chris has served as Chief Financial Officer of Cincinnati State since 2017. He has also spent many years in positions outside of higher education, including work in public accounting and corporate finance. Additionally, he served in the United States Air Force and Air National Guard for eight years. Chris earned his BS in Finance from Miami University and JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
During his tenure at Cincinnati State, Chris has led a financial turnaround from a deficit position to record surpluses and cash flow, as well as progress from last to first in Higher Learning Commission and State of Ohio financial ratios.
During this time Cincinnati State achieved the largest 5-year consecutive annual fiscal surplus in the institution’s history by aligning revenues and expenses, and reversing enrollment declines- while also accelerating their facilities, capital and information technology investments.
Chris is hailed as a natural leader who is collaborative, energetic, smart, positive, and respected. I am confident that the expertise, experience, and leadership capacity that Chris brings are precisely what we need at this moment. I am eager to bring his strategic leadership talents, communication strengths, and financial savvy to our cabinet and university.
I also wish to thank our search committee who attracted and interviewed strong candidates for this important position. In particular, I wish to thank Bonita Brown for ably chairing the search committee and all of its members—John Farrar, Barry Kienzle, Diana McGill, Karen Mefford, Chad Ogle, and Steve Slone for their hard work and dedication. Thanks also to everyone on campus who engaged in the interviews and offered their feedback in this process.
Please join me in welcoming Chris Calvert to NKU and his new role. His email address is calvertc2@nku.edu. We will, of course, also thank and celebrate our fantastic interim leaders Barry Kienzle and Karen Mefford soon. What a terrific team we have here at NKU!
Best Regards,
Cady Short-Thompson, Ph.D.
President, Northern Kentucky University
