UR administrators announced on Wednesday, Oct. 21 that Senior Associate Vice President for Budgets and Planning Holly Crawford would succeed Ronald Paprocki as Senior Vice President for Finance and Administrator when Paprocki retires in January. The announcement was made at a press conference on Wednesday morning in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library. Paprocki’s plans to retire were announced in May of this year, prompting the Board of Trustees to organize a nationwide search committee to find his replacement.
“[Crawford] starts with a nuanced and complete understanding of the University,” University President Joel Seligman said in a press release from UR Communications. At the press conference, Seligman noted that, prior to the decision, he had been approached by board members and UR leaders who had praised Crawford, calling her “terrific.”
Crawford holds an MBA from the Simon School, of which she said at the press conference, “It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.” She has been an employee at UR since 1998, when she was hired as Director of University Audit. There, she developed a construction auditing program to reduce costs within the UR Facilities department. In 2000, she was tapped to become UR’s budget director by Paprocki, and has worked in budgets and planning since that time. Recently, Crawford was a key leader in the $100 million development of College Town.
As Senior Vice President for Finance and Administrator, Crawford will be responsible for overseeing nearly all of UR’s finance operations, a vast sector of the University that encompasses Dining Services, Public Safety, Human Resources, and the various departments within Facilities and Services. She will also be tasked with planning and construction on the River Campus.
Passanisi is a member of
the class of 2017.
