Meet Ritu Kalra; Harvard’s new VP for finance and CFO
Ritu Kalra, an investment banking and financial management expert, has been named VP for finance and CFO of Harvard University. She will oversee all aspects of financial management and lead multiple financial departments with a workforce of over 200 people. Her new role begins in July.
PremiumRitu Kalra, an Indian-American investment banking and financial management expert, has been named vice president for finance and chief financial officer of Harvard University. She currently serves as assistant vice president of finance and treasury and special projects adviser in the university.
The university in The Harvard Gazette said Kalra will oversee all aspects of financial management, including long-range planning, annual budgeting, endowment fund spending policy, treasury, and financial accounting and reporting.
Her portfolio will also include research administration, strategic procurement, capital planning, and risk management.
Overall, she will lead multiple financial departments with a full-time workforce of more than 200 people, the university release said.
“Harvard’s ability to forge collaborations within and beyond the University, across a breathtaking breadth of disciplines, doesn’t happen by accident," said Kalra. “It requires a rare and sustained marriage of strategic leadership and executional excellence. Tom Hollister has been instrumental in kindling this marriage across the organization, and I look forward to working with the broader University community to build on this essential partnership to advance the academic mission," Kalra said.
“I am thrilled to have Ritu stepping into the VP and CFO role," said executive vice president Meredith Weenick. “Since joining Harvard in 2020, she has provided exceptional leadership and been a trusted adviser on an array of financial matters and University priorities. Her Harvard experience, coupled with her track record as an innovator in private sector banking and finance, positions her well as a leader who will continue to build on what has been strong stewardship of the University’s finances in recent years."
Before joining the University, Kalra spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs, where she held several progressive roles culminating in managing director and served as head of public sector and infrastructure finance for the western region, and as head of higher education finance nationally. In her infrastructure financing practice, she provided strategic advisory services to public and private sector entities throughout the US, including designing innovative financing strategies to manage climate-related risks, the university release said.
Her new role begins in July and she will report to executive vice president Weenick, with a dotted line to president Claudine Gay.
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