David Jewell joins the university Sept. 1

CLEVELAND (July 15, 2021) – �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� has named David N. Jewell, a higher education finance executive with extensive experience at large research universities, as Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, following an extensive national search.

Jewell is currently Deputy Vice President for Finance at the University of Wyoming (UW), that state’s flagship university, where he leads and manages the financial and administrative operations of the Financial Affairs Division and is responsible for managing and overseeing all budget and planning operations, large-scale capital projects, treasury functions, endowment and gift fund spending, university staffing and talent development. He begins his new role at �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� on Sept. 1.

“David Jewell brings an impressive track record of higher education financing and budgeting expertise, financial operations management, process improvement, team-building and innovative resource allocation modeling,” said �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� president Harlan Sands. “His firm grasp of university financial and operational complexities, record of designing and implementing transformational projects and proven success aligning resources with strategy make him a perfect fit for �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼����.”

According to Sands, Jewell will play a vital role in implementing �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� 2.0 – the university’s aggressive, growth-oriented plan for emerging from the pandemic as a stronger, more-focused institution. The plan sets a goal of 4,500 additional students and 200 new faculty members by 2025. It outlines multi-million-dollar investments in research, faculty positions and initiatives to advance student success, grow existing programs and build new partnerships.

“As an Ohio native, I am thrilled at the opportunity to return to the Buckeye State and join the �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� team and Cleveland community at such an exciting and pivotal time,” Jewell said. “Guided by �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼���� 2.0, Cleveland State is embarking on a number of impressive strategic endeavors that many universities only talk about doing. I’m especially excited about �ϰ������ϲʿ�����¼����’s efforts to enhance student success, invest in its faculty, and help drive economic development for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio through workforce development initiatives.”

At UW, he and his team transformed the university’s treasury functions and grew the university’s liquidity and number of days cash on hand, implemented a new cash investment policy that increased returns and restructured the university’s existing debt to take advantage of historically low interest rates and realize substantial debt-service savings.

Before being elevated to his current role at UW, he served as Associate Vice President for Financial Affairs from 2018-2020, and as Associate Vice President for Budget & Institutional Planning the previous two years. Under his leadership, the university streamlined financial operations by implementing cloud-based systems for financial management, human capital management, grants management, budgeting and planning, supply chain management and reporting and analytics.

Prior to joining UW, Jewell was a private higher education consultant, where he worked with more than a dozen national and international universities on resource allocation, planning and management and performance improvement projects. Among his clients were Brown University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Florida, Drexel University, George Mason University and Queen’s University.

Earlier in his career, he served in number of roles at Vanderbilt University including Financial Manager for Academic Affairs for the Provost’s Office of Finance and Administration.

Raised in New Richmond, Ohio, Jewell holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development. He and his wife Shelley have three children, daughters Madelynn and Frances and son Shep.