Trinity College Announces New Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Trinity College has appointed Scott Jordan as the next vice president and chief financial officer. He will join the Trinity community on August 14, 2025.

Trinity President Dan Lugo said that he is pleased to welcome Jordan after a highly competitive national search. “We are beginning to chart a course for Trinity’s next chapter, which includes enhancing the financial strength of the College,” said Lugo, who became Trinity’s 23rd president on July 1.

“A historic institution of academic distinction, Trinity is positioned as a leader in preparing the best young minds to shape and influence our society and the world,” Lugo said. “Recruiting the strongest candidate meant finding a leader with demonstrated talent and a proven track record for navigating challenges, finding new opportunities, and charting a course for financial success. I am confident that we have found such a leader in Scott Jordan.”

A Connecticut resident, Jordan comes to Trinity from Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the largest faculty of Harvard University and the academic administration for undergraduate and graduate education. Since 2021, Jordan has served as the dean of finance and administration and leads operations with a focus on long-term financial sustainability, managing the return to in-person work following the pandemic, and recruitment and retention of staff, which currently sits at 3,000. His portfolio includes responsibilities for FAS finance, human resources, research administration, facilities, museums, animal care, and educational support services.

Prior to Harvard, Jordan served as executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer for the University of Connecticut. His work in the role of chief operating officer for the university included oversight and executive responsibility for UConn’s $1.3 billion operating budget; all campuses, including UConn Law and the medical campus; buildings and grounds; human resources and labor relations; emergency operations; real estate; and the campuswide master plan.

Before entering higher education, Jordan spent two decades in public finance leadership roles for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, serving under five governors. In his most recent role as undersecretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Jordan oversaw the preparation and management of a $17 billion, five-year statewide capital plan, including higher education campuses, highways, bridges, state buildings, public housing, water infrastructure, and information technology. He also managed a $2 billion, 10-year capital finance program for Massachusetts public higher education, providing new and renovated buildings on each of the 29 campuses of the state college, community college, and University of Massachusetts systems.

Jordan said that he was attracted to Trinity both by the chance to join Lugo’s leadership team and the closeness of the community. “Being at a small college will allow me to get to know and to work more closely with faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni—who are themselves impressive—to make Trinity’s liberal arts education one of the most sought after and envied in the nation,” Jordan said. “I look forward to engaging all in problem-solving and thinking creatively about the opportunities ahead.”

Jordan received an undergraduate degree in economics, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government as a Bradford Fellow.

The search committee that conducted the recruitment process was chaired by Vice President for Library and Information Technology Services Kristen Eshleman and also included Associate Dean for Curriculum and Allan K. Smith and Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of English Hilary Wyss, Trustee Chris Delaney ’83, and Trustee Jeff Hawkins ’92, chair of the board’s Finance Committee. Trinity faculty, staff, alumni, administrators, and trustees provided feedback during the search, which was guided by consultants at Spencer Stuart.