IU CFO named president of Temple University

IU is on the hunt for a new senior vice president and chief financial officer after Neil Theobald was named president of Temple University last week.

Theobald will assume the presidency Jan. 1, becoming Temple’s 10th president. He has been at IU since 1993 and has served as CFO since July 2007.

Theobald’s office has led initiatives to help decrease student debt and understand the implications of borrowing. The University’s new Office of Student Financial Literacy opened in June, and Theobald has contributed to increasing financial aid while keeping tuition stable.

“We have been able to address what I think is the biggest issue in higher education, which is student debt and affordability,” Theobald said. “Certainly that will be a major focus when I get to Philadelphia, working with financial aid and affordability.”

He increased the number of tenure-track faculty members by 80 and increased the campus financial aid endowment from $150 million to $370 million.

“We’ve succeeded in keeping IU affordable while keeping the quality of the academic programs very high,” he said. “I know my replacement will follow in recruiting great students and keeping university affordable.”

Thoebald said the biggest accomplishment in his current position has been increasing the mean SAT score for incoming students from 1096 to 1202.

Patrick O’Connor, chair of the Temple University Board of Trustees and Presidential Search Committee, said Theobald’s financial experience and concern with the cost of college contributed to the unanimous vote.

“Dr. Theobald has a deep and practical understanding of the changing dynamics of higher education,” O’Connor said in an announcement regarding the president-to-be. “He wants to ensure that students have access to an education that is first-class and affordable. At Indiana, he made the tough decisions demanded by our times while creating greater opportunities for student scholarship.”

Theobald said the affection is shared.

“I like the trustees at Temple a lot,” he said. “They are very bright people that are willing to try to do things differently.”

Theobald has already worked internally to reach a deal with the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

“If they would leave our appropriation fixed, we would not raise tuition,” he said. “Additionally, we’ve been working with Bill Cosby, who is a Temple graduate. He will be the spokesman for a fundraising campaign focused specifically on financial aid.”

His biggest upcoming project will be helping Temple settle into the Big East Conference.

“It will be a major opportunity for us,” Theobald said. “It will get our name into D.C., New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Louisville, Cincinnati and Tampa. It is a chance for Temple to become better known nationally.”

Mark Land, director of communications for IU, said the search process for a new CFO is not yet officially underway. Theobald, however, expects the position to be filled internally.

“We have wonderful people here,” he said. “Of course, that is President (Michael) McRobbie’s decision. I expect the transition to be very smooth. In six months, they will be wondering who I was.”

McRobbie made clear Theobald’s legacy will not be forgotten.

“Indiana University and the state of Indiana owe Neil a great deal for his outstanding service over the past two decades,” McRobbie said in a press release. “Personally, I will miss his wise counsel and his friendship, and I have no doubt that Neil will make a superb college president.”

Theobald said he will miss the relationships he formed in Bloomington, but he is excited to assume his new position.

“I’m thankful President McRobbie gave me this job,” he said. “He will be someone on my speed dial for advice going forward. Temple has immense potential, and I can’t wait to get there.”

Until January, Theobald will work on finalizing a budget to present to the Indiana General Assembly. As he begins to step back from his position, he is catching a glimpse of the future.

“Higher education is going to be different 10 years from now,” Theobald said. “The current model, which has generally been state funding, and whatever the state doesn’t fund we charge to students in tuition, needs to change. It’s such a demand to go to college, and people need those degrees. We need to look at different models, and IU-Bloomington will be part of that.”