Barbara J. Holahan was appointed vice president for financial affairs, chief financial officer, and treasurer in June 2019. Previously, she served as interim CFO and treasurer since late 2018, and as controller since 2014. Holahan currently oversees institutional financial planning and risk management functions including budget, bursar, catering and dining services, controller’s office, environmental health and safety, insurance, and treasury operations.

Holahan’s career has been concentrated in higher education and non-profit finance, and she has restructured and streamlined accounting and financial operations at several high-profile New York institutions with the goal of providing high-quality service and promoting practical yet compliant solutions to solve operational needs.

During her first four years at New York Institute of Technology, Holahan’s achievements include the redesign of New York Tech’s long-term debt, yielding a 40% reduction in interest costs and re-alignment of the student health insurance plan, with a 30% drop in fees and expanded health coverage for students. Before joining the institution, Holahan was controller at the Metropolitan Opera, and associate treasurer and associate controller at Columbia University. She began her career as an auditor at KPMG and has worked as an independent consultant for the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium) and controller at other New York City area non-profits, providing services in audit, accounting, compliance, process re-engineering, policy writing, and FEMA disaster recovery management.

Holahan is a trustee of Sacred Heart Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school on Long Island, where she chaired the Finance, Investments, and Audit Committees from 2010 until 2018. She has an M.B.A. from Molloy College and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Richmond. She is a member of the AICPA and NYSSCPA.