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Effective Sept. 1, Roy L. Ray will begin serving as vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer at The University of Akron. The Board of Trustees approved his appointment at its regular meeting on Aug. 21. Ray succeeds Hank Nettling, who is retiring from the University after 38 years of service.
“Because the University relies heavily on state funding to maintain high-quality offerings and affordable tuition, it is a distinct benefit in these times of challenging economic and budgetary constraints to have someone with Mr. Ray’s experience as our chief business officer,” said University of Akron President Luis M. Proenza.
“From his days as Akron's budget director to his present role, he has continued to exhibit outstanding financial skill,” Proenza added. “Mr. Ray’s combined experience in higher education and government will enable the University to gain additional momentum in pursuing our strategic goals.”
Currently the vice president for finance and administration at Cleveland State University, Ray is a well-known public servant who spent 16 years as a state senator, four years as mayor of Akron and 10 years in other positions with the city, including budget director and finance director. While representing Ohio’s 27th district in the state senate, Ray served as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee for six years.
At CSU, Ray oversaw an annual operating budget of $175 million and a capital budget of $18 million. He was directly responsible for eight departments and all auxiliary services, including the Convocation Center.
“We are sorry to be losing Roy — he has seen this university through some difficult times, and we are a stronger institution for his having been here,” said Michael Schwartz, president of Cleveland State University. “The University of Akron will profit greatly having him as one of its vice presidents.”
Ray, who earned a B.S. in business administration at UA in 1962, received the University’s Alumni Honor Award in 1987. His other honors include the Ray C. Bliss Award, presented in 1983 by Phi Kappa Tau, and the “Legislator of the Year “ award, presented in 1990 by the National Council of Republican State Legislators.
Long active in professional and community groups, Ray’s service includes membership on the boards of such organizations as United Way, Akron General Medical Center, American Cancer Society, Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Girl Scout Council.
Ray said his new position at the University very much represents a homecoming.
“I look forward to joining the team and working at my alma mater. I think President Proenza has done a tremendous job of reshaping the University — certainly from a fiscal point of view — and I’m sure from an academic point of view as well.”
Ray expects to draw on his experience as a legislator, as well as his more recent work at Cleveland State, in his role at UA.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to help at the state level to try to improve the financial situation. It’s going to be a challenge because there’s no money — at least right now. It’s a difficult time in terms of state subsidies. I think the work I’ve done at Cleveland State will help me in focusing on the issues and challenges at The University of Akron.”
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