Kent named interim vice president of finance at Princeton

Matthew Kent, associate treasurer in Princeton’s Office of Finance and Treasury since 2006, has been named the office’s interim vice president and treasurer.

Matthew Kent

Matthew Kent

Kent will assume his new duties effective Oct. 1, when Vice President and Treasurer Carolyn Ainslie becomes chief financial officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Joining Princeton in 1981 as a budget analyst in what was then the Controller’s Office, Kent has managed a wide range of University financial functions over the years, including payroll, accounts payable, travel accounting and the capital budget as well as participating in many systems implementations and upgrades.

In his role as associate treasurer, Kent has overseen endowment and gift accounting, cash management and short-term investments, banking relationships, the capital budget, loans and receivables, mortgage services and, through his work on the capital planning process, the management of the University’s debt program.

Kent said he is honored to have been asked by President Christopher L. Eisgruber to join his senior leadership team. 

“I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with Carolyn Ainslie for the past 10 years and greatly admire her vision, leadership and personal qualities, all of which I will miss,” Kent said. “I look forward to leading the Office of Finance and Treasury and its dedicated staff in the delivery of financial stewardship, analysis and operations for the University. “

Kent received a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Virginia. At Princeton, he has served on many committees and panels and has attended and presented at regional and national professional conferences.

A search for the next vice president for finance and treasurer will begin soon.