Stanford's Sullivan named assistant VP at Western

Brian J. Sullivan has been hired to serve as the assistant vice president for Business and Financial Affairs at Western Washington University.

Sullivan formerly was at Stanford University, where he served as director of Finance Operations, budget officer for Land, Building and Real Estate, senior associate director for Finance at the Department of Medicine, and business manager for Medicine.

“We are delighted that Brian has agreed to join Western as the assistant vice president for Business and Financial Affairs. He is a highly skilled leader with strong communication skills and extensive finance and operations experience,” said Richard Van Den Hul, vice president for Business and Financial Affairs at Western. “He also has a strong commitment and proven track record in resource planning, business process redesign, and operations. He is an excellent addition to the team here and will help us all in fulfilling our mission of serving Western and the citizens of Washington state.”

Sullivan will begin his duties at Western in April. He was hired after a national search.

“I am excited about the opportunity to join the Western Washington University. I look forward to collaboratively working with the professional staff, faculty and WWU community overall to provide financial and operational support to further the university’s vision to build a stronger Washington and beyond. My family and I are looking forward to relocating to this beautiful area of Washington State,” Sullivan said.

As assistant vice president at Western, Sullivan will provide leadership and management oversight for Business and Financial Services, Financial Systems, Division Budget and Internal Control functions of the University. The position has direct oversight of approximately $3.7 million in funding.

Sullivan received his bachelor of science degree in Business Administration-Finance from California State University, Hayward.

From 2007-2011, Sullivan was the director of Finance Operations and budget officer for Land, Building and Real Estate at Stanford. He implemented program efficiencies by balancing the budget, reorganizing the finance group, improving employee morale and performing an IT risk assessment. The organization consisted of 12 business units, including Capital Planning, Project Management, Sustainability/Energy Management, Warehouse Operations, Land Use, Environmental, Maps/Records, and Campus Planning, which consisted of 500 staff, including union employees. He managed staff supporting $170 million in operations, and $600 million in capital projects.

From 1998-2007 Sullivan was the senior associate director for Finance for the Department of Medicine at Stanford, where he led finance and operations. He was accountable for operational improvements, revenue enhancement and long-term fiscal sustainability. He managed a staff of six supporting $150 million of research grants, $2 million in capital projects, clinical/teaching departments, gifts and endowments for 16 divisions consisting of 190 faculty and 1,000 support staff.

More information is available on the Business and Financial Services website.