Jeff Roth, an innovative finance leader with experience at top higher education institutions and the nation’s largest public library system, will become Pomona College’s vice president, chief operating officer and treasurer, starting September 6.
Roth currently is associate vice president for academic planning and budgeting at UCLA, where he has worked to increase transparency in allocation decisions for the $10 billion annual operating budget and developed a multi-year budget approach to strengthen the university’s finances for the future.
Before joining UCLA in 2016, Roth served in a series of key leadership roles over 15 years at the New York Public Library, directing finance and strategic planning for the 92-location system, largest in the U.S., and known for its significant research resources.
Roth has a strong commitment to fiscal transparency and using analytics and data science to improve resource management and operations to serve the organizational mission.
“This role is ultimately about people and mission,” says Roth. “I’m excited to join a community so dedicated to providing staff development opportunities, academic excellence and increasing access to higher education.”
Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr notes that Roth’s record of collaboration and experience in multiple areas is particularly fitting for this position overseeing a division that includes most of the College’s staff members, covering finance, investments, human resources, real estate, and conference and event planning as well as campus services such as grounds, dining, housekeeping and maintenance. He will play a key role, Starr adds, in implementing Pomona’s Strategic Vision in the years ahead.
“Jeff recognizes the human aspirations and the critical academic mission that drive how we deploy our resources, as well as the need for thoughtful stewardship in sustaining our commitments,” says Starr. “Jeff will help Pomona build on our unique role in promoting opportunity in American higher education.”
Roth’s interest in managing finance systems to benefit people and communities is longstanding, and his work has extended into other areas of public benefit as well. At the New York Public Library, for example, he developed a partnership with the New York City Department of Education to bring public library books and materials directly into schools to help students learn.
Roth also served in financial management roles at New York Institute of Technology, Teacher’s College at Columbia University and Stevens Institute of Technology.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his MBA from Rutgers Graduate School of Management.