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UNotes

Laura Whitney to Leave UHart at End of June

June 24, 2022
Submitted By: Office of Marketing and Communication

After seven years of dedicated service, Vice President of Finance Laura Whitney M’87 has decided to leave the University of Hartford at the end of June to pursue other professional opportunities.

Laura commenced her employment with the University in 2015, when she was hired as the controller. In that role, Laura effectively administered accounting, payroll, and bursar functions and, in early 2018, her role was expanded to include administration of the University budgeting process. In September 2018, Laura was named interim CFO. The following year, she was appointed vice president and CFO for the University.  

Prior to joining UHart, Laura worked at Coopers and Lybrand (currently PricewaterhouseCoopers), where she gained a wealth of experience working with clients from a broad range of industries. Her professional interests soon led her into the field of college finance and audit, initially serving as assistant controller at Yale University, and then as controller at Connecticut College and Albertus Magnus College. Laura’s professional experience was enhanced by her educational accomplishments, having received a bachelor's degree in economics from Trinity College and, in 1987, an accelerated Master of Science in Professional Accounting from the University of Hartford (Barney School of Business).

Laura has served the University with dedication and distinction, and her contributions are numerous. As controller, Laura modernized many accounting functions, including automating the accounting for all endowment funds and chairing the HR/Payroll Banner reimplementation team. In 2018, recognizing the importance of an inclusive and transparent budget process, she envisioned the new Resource Priorities and Planning Committee. In 2019, Laura executed a refinancing of the University’s debt portfolio, resulting in fixed debt repayments and reduced annual expense, and secured financing to support the construction of the Hursey Center.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laura worked to maximize federal and state incentives, including securing FEMA recovery of testing costs. She proudly served on the President’s Steering Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and was twice recruited to serve on New England Commission of Higher Education visiting teams. 

The University of Hartford is deeply appreciative of Laura’s contributions and wishes her well in future endeavors. A leadership plan will be shared with the campus community soon.