About me

I'm a finance and operations executive with over twenty years of experience in higher education. I've spent my career helping institutions make clear decisions about resources, invest strategically, and execute well—especially when the tradeoffs are hard and the stakes are high.

My work has spanned public and private universities, research institutions and teaching-focused colleges, growing systems and schools navigating decline. What connects all of it is a belief that good financial leadership isn't about spreadsheets—it's about enabling mission.

How I approach the work

I lead through what I call strategic empowerment: setting clear direction while enabling teams to innovate within defined parameters. This means radical transparency about financial realities, data-driven objectivity that removes politics from difficult decisions, and empowerment with accountability that develops future leaders. Institutional capacity is the engine that dirves leadership capacity.

I believe people can handle difficult truths better than comfortable deception. When stakeholders understand the "why" behind decisions, they become partners in solutions rather than obstacles to change. This philosophy has served me through both crisis and growth, always maintaining fiscal discipline while investing in people.

My technical expertise includes budget modeling, treasury and debt management, capital project oversight, procurement strategy, and enterprise risk. But I've learned that technical skills matter less than the ability to translate complex financial information into strategic insight—and to build the trust required for institutions to act on that insight.

What I've done

Over my career, I've led finance and administration portfolios with operating budgets exceeding $300 million. I've managed divisions of 70+ professionals spanning accounting, treasury, procurement, human resources, information technology, facilities, and real estate. I've served as primary liaison to governing boards, presenting complex financial strategies to trustees and translating data into decisions.

I've worked on transformational revenue diversification, helping institutions reduce dangerous dependencies on single revenue streams. I've led capital project oversight for campus developments exceeding $100 million and negotiated complex real estate transactions that created new revenue without adding debt. I've implemented strategic procurement reforms across hundreds of vendors, delivering seven-figure annual savings.

I've also learned from mistakes. Early in my career as a chief business officer, I sometimes moved too fast without enough consultation. I've learned that sustainable change requires bringing people along, not just being right about the destination.

Background

I hold an MBA from Virginia Tech and a bachelor's degree from George Mason University. I'm a Certified Public Accountant with active licenses in multiple states. Before focusing on higher education, I spent several years in corporate finance doing financial statement analysis, which taught me rigor and precision. Before that, I served in the United States Army and was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I was a non-traditional college student from a family without significant means. That background shapes how I think about higher education's mission and why getting the finances right matters so much—not as an end in itself, but because financial sustainability is what allows institutions to keep their promises to students.

Beyond work

I'm a marathon runner. My wife Kelli and I have completed eight Boston Marathons. We were married in Boston Public Garden on the day of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing—a ceremony planned for months that became, unexpectedly, an act of choosing love over fear. Our daughter's middle name is Copley, after the marathon finish line.

Running teaches the same lessons as leadership: pace matters more than speed, preparation determines outcome, and the mental game is harder than the physical one. Long-range planning and long runs both require discipline, patience, and good feedback loops.

I'm also a soccer fan, an avid traveler, and someone who believes that the best decisions—in finance and in life—come from asking good questions, listening carefully, and staying curious about what you might be missing.

Connect

I'm always happy to talk about higher education finance, institutional strategy, or the parallels between marathon training and organizational leadership. Reach me at hello@robertwatling.com.