Matt Babick hired as Internal Audit director

Matt Babick has been hired as director of Internal Audit at Western Washington University.
Babick, hired following a national search, will begin at Western in August. He succeeds former Internal Audit Director Kim Herrenkohl, who left Western to take a position as chief deputy auditor for San Juan County.

"I am very pleased and excited to join Western. The university's history of excellence in education is the kind of opportunity for which I've been waiting,” Babick said. “I'm so glad I'll be able to contribute my experience to helping maintain the already excellent programs and operations of the university. My entire career has been about public service and I can't think of any better place to work."

Babick has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University and a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He has more than 25 years of experience, most recently as a special investigator with the California State Auditor. His experience in higher education is extensive, including as a university auditor for California State University, Fresno; as director of internal audit for El Paso (Texas) Community College and as management auditor for the California State University Board of Trustees, Long Beach.

On special assignment during 1994-95, he also assisted in writing, negotiating and monitoring multi-million dollar contracts for disaster recovery services to help California State University, Northridge, following a devastating earthquake in 1994 that damaged much of that campus.

Other experience includes as police performance auditor/auditor project manager for the City of Los Angeles; and as city auditor for the City of Santa Monica, California. He also conducted performance audits of federal agencies as a Congressional auditor and served as a Reserve Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Babick is a certified internal auditor, certified fraud examiner, certified law enforcement auditor, and certified government audit professional.

The Office of the Internal Auditor reports functionally to the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees and administratively to the President. The Office of the Internal Auditor is committed to assisting WWU management and staff in achieving their oversight, operating and management responsibilities through independent reviews designed to evaluate and promote the system of internal controls established by management.