LAURA SYER, associate dean of finance and administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, has been named VP for budget and planning, effective Aug. 1. Her appointment was approved May 28 by the executive committee of the Cornell board of trustees. Syer succeeds Paul Streeter, who previously announced plans to retire this summer. […]
LAURA SYER, associate dean of finance and administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, has been named VP for budget and planning, effective Aug. 1. Her appointment was approved May 28 by the executive committee of the Cornell board of trustees. Syer succeeds Paul Streeter, who previously announced plans to retire this summer. Syer has served as associate dean of finance and administration in the SC Johnson College since its launch in 2016. She led administrative services for finance, budgeting, human resources, and IT across the college, which has more than 700 employees and about a $300 million budget. She oversaw the integration of the three schools’ finance and human resource organizations, developed financial reporting for one allocated budget with endowed and state resources, restructured human resource and finance school-based groups into single college teams, and supported the centralization of more than 15 units within the college. Prior to that, Syer worked as associate dean of administration as well as executive director of finance and business intelligence in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and manager of decision support and project director in the Division of Budget and Planning. As VP for budget and planning, Syer will be responsible for managing the university’s resources and leading the annual budgeting process of the Ithaca–based campuses, in addition to engaging with the Weill Cornell Medical College on budgetary and planning matters. She will also lead institutional research and planning as well as university-wide space and capital planning efforts. Syer received a bachelor’s degree in health and human services with a minor in business from Ohio University in 2000, a master’s degree in sport administration from Canisius College in 2002, an MBA from Quinnipiac University in 2006, and an executive master’s degree of consulting and coaching for change from INSEAD International Business School in Fontainebleau, France in 2020. Before coming to Cornell in 2012, Syer was a financial analyst and manager of international finance for ESPN, Inc.