Dear Rice Community,
I am writing to announce that Kelly Fox, a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience in higher education, has been named Rice University’s vice president for finance and administration.
Kelly currently serves as executive vice president and chief budget officer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, leading the financial management and planning activities for the university’s $2.3 billion budget. Kelly also provides leadership, oversight and direction for the institute’s division of administration and finance, which includes financial management and reporting; budgeting; human resources; business services; campus sustainability; facilities planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations; campus safety; information systems and technology; campus planning; and real estate development. More than 1,200 staff report to Kelly’s division.
In the newly combined role of vice president for finance and administration at Rice, Kelly’s responsibilities will include supervision of financial planning and policies; financial reporting; debt and cash management; financial systems; non-academic budgeting; compliance; capital markets; accounting and audit; construction; facilities; security; housing and food; and human resources. Other responsibilities span the entire institution, including all divisions of the undergraduate, graduate and professional school programs. Although Kelly will report directly to the president, she will also work with Rice’s provost on academic budgets and be a key strategic partner with other leaders at Rice.
She will assume her new role Aug. 22.
As a senior executive at Georgia Tech, Kelly, as part of the university’s COVID-19 task force, led the institute’s pandemic response from a financial, infrastructure and personnel perspective, steering the university away from a projected loss of more than $100 million. She also launched a budget reform initiative that provides incentives for key strategic goals such as enrollment growth and increased diversity.
Before joining Georgia Tech in 2020, Kelly led the strategic resources and support team at the University of Colorado Boulder, guiding the financial management and planning activities of its $1.8 billion budget. She oversaw nearly $1 billion in capital improvement projects and improved access to the university by simplifying tuition and fees and increasing aid initiatives. She also began a financial overhaul project to generate new revenues from non-traditional sources, eliminating unnecessary duplication of services, reexamining the university’s procurement strategy and enhancing utilization of gifts.
Kelly spent nearly 20 of her years in higher education at the University of Colorado System Office, Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado Boulder. She has received several leadership and administrative honors, and served on many national higher-education governing and advisory boards. Kelly earned her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Colorado Denver and her Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Her appointment at Rice comes after a nationwide search was launched in January and conducted by Russell Reynolds, one of the country’s leading executive search firms. The effort was spearheaded by a seven-member committee of faculty, staff and trustees led by Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business.
I look forward to working with Kelly and to creating shared goals and commitments for the future. Please help me give her a warm welcome when she assumes her new role next month.
Warm regards,
Reginald DesRoches, President