President Sylvia Burwell announced in an email to the American University community Wednesday that Doug Kudravetz, AU’s chief financial officer, vice president and treasurer, plans to retire in June.
Kudravetz’s retirement comes after over 35 years of service to AU as associate vice president of finance and assistant treasurer, assistant vice president of finance and director of internal audit.
“Doug’s stewardship of University finances has been the foundation of so many of AU’s achievements and our ongoing strategic vision,” Burwell wrote. “His careful management resulted in the lowest tuition increase on record in the last budget cycle and dedicating an additional $13 million to financial aid in 2020.”
According to the email, Kudravetz also grew the value of the endowment by nearly 50 percent and led the transition to an investment portfolio when AU fully divested from its fossil fuel investments in April 2020.
Kudravetz discussed his intention to retire with Burwell over the past year, but he stayed at the request of Burwell to help navigate the transition of the pandemic, she wrote. He was able to manage the University budget concerns by deploying reserves and endowment income streams to fill significant portions of the financial shortfall.
Additionally, Kudravetz oversaw the multiple construction projects that took place on campus including the Hall of Science, the East Campus complex, the Washington College of Law-Tenley Campus and the 2021 campus plan.
In the email, Burwell wrote that a “small and diverse” search committee will work with a search firm to find initial candidates for the position.
“Additional stakeholders representing the different components of the AU community will conduct further interviews with candidates who have been selected to move forward in the process,” Burwell wrote. “Ultimately, final candidates will meet with me, the cabinet, members of the Board of Trustees, and other key community leaders.”
