Dates

• Usage: 1979-present
• Usage: 1863 - 1959
• Usage: 1975-1976 - 1990-1991
• Usage: 1976 - 1979
• Usage: 1975-1979 - 1990-1991

Biography

The office of Treasurer is one of Boston College's original founding positions, established at the organizational meeting of the Board of Trustees on July 10, 1863. At that meeting, Robert Brady, SJ, was elected Treasurer for a three-year term alongside the university's first President, Vice President, and Secretary. The Treasurership was embedded in the 1863 charter, which authorized the Board of Trustees to elect a Treasurer among the necessary officers of the corporation. By 1917, the Treasurer also served concurrently as Treasurer of Boston College High School, reflecting the shared administrative structure between the two institutions. That arrangement ended in July 1919, when the college and high school were formally separated as independent administrative units.

In 1958 the position was still titled Treasurer and was one of a small number of administrative offices managing the university. As the complexity of university administration grew over the following decade, so did the organizational structure. By 1968 the title had evolved to Financial Vice President, with direct reporting responsibility to the President.

In December 1970, John R. Smith was appointed Vice President for Financial Affairs by President W. Seavey Joyce, SJ. Smith came to Boston College from senior budgeting and management roles at the Raytheon Company and Bendix Aviation Corporation with a mandate to address the university's difficult fiscal situation. As Financial Vice President, Smith chaired the University Budget Committee, a body expanded in the aftermath of a faculty strike to include faculty and student members alongside administrators, and was credited with effecting a positive financial turnaround in a relatively short period.

By 1975 the office had been divided into two positions: Vice President and Treasurer, held by Thomas Fleming, SJ, and Financial Vice President, held by Smith. The Financial Vice President carried responsibility for Budgets, Comptroller, Business Manager, Auditing/Accounting/Policy, Personnel, Plant Services, Physical Plant, and the Computer Center; no specific departments reported to the Vice President and Treasurer. In 1976 Smith's title was restyled to Vice President, Finance and Business Affairs. By 1979, the two positions were recombined into the single title of Financial Vice President and Treasurer, marking the point at which the corporate Treasurer function was fully transferred from the Jesuit community to a lay administrator.

In fall 1987, the Board of Trustees created a Vice President for Administration, carved from the Financial Vice President's portfolio, to oversee physical plant, campus security, bookstores, and dining services. John T. Driscoll, Class of 1949, was appointed to the new role. Driscoll had previously served as chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, treasurer and receiver-general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a state representative, and president of the Boston College Alumni Association in 1980-1981.

In 1990, the Financial Vice President office was again divided to facilitate a leadership transition. Smith retained the title of Treasurer, with the Associate Treasurer, Finance and Business Counsel, and Director of Finance reporting to him. His successor, Peter C. McKenzie, became Financial Vice President, with responsibility for the Controller, Director of Budgets, Director of Purchasing, and Director of Internal Audit. By 1991 the two positions were recombined. Since then, successors have held the title of Financial Vice President and Treasurer.