ASU names Matthew J. Smith as new budget VP

Matthew J. Smith has been named Arizona State University’s vice president for budget planning and management. Smith will assume his position in late July 2019, and he will report to Morgan R. Olsen, ASU executive vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer. 

“Matt’s comprehensive financial management experience in industry, consulting and higher education, including managing large, complex budgets, leading budget-process redesign and creating financial planning tools, will enable him to serve the university well as our new budget and financial planning leader,” Olsen said. “We look forward to partnering with Matt in planning and managing our enterprise-wide budget, which enables all Sun Devils to thrive.” 

“We are pleased to have Matt Smith join us as vice president for budget planning and management,” ASU President Michael M. Crow said. “As we continue to evolve ASU to serve its stakeholders in even better ways, his experience and expertise in strategic resource allocation will be of great value.”

Smith comes to ASU from Brown University, where he was the assistant vice president for budget, planning and analysis. In this role, he facilitated the development and adoption of the university’s all-funds operating budget for fiscal year 2020. 

Before Brown, Smith was with Huron Consulting Group. At Huron, he was a director in the firm’s strategy and operations group as part of its higher education practice. Smith collaborated with presidents, provosts, chief financial officers, deans and others to redesign institutional budget processes, spearhead the creation of long-range financial planning tools to forecast cash flow and operating position, and develop processes, financial models and scorecards to evaluate and prioritize capital projects. 

“I am excited to join Arizona State University and its commitment to academic excellence and accessibility, interdisciplinary research and social embeddedness,” Smith said. “I look forward to leveraging my skills and experience, working closely with stakeholders, to advance ASU’s mission and goals.”

Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from Miami University and a Master of Public Administration degree in financial management from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Smith began his professional career with General Mills in business planning and management. He continued at Wyeth — now Pfizer — Consumer Healthcare to ultimately become a business development manager. Later, he held central budget and finance roles at Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago Public Schools.