OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. announced the departure of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Matt Brockwell and the retirement of Vice President for Administration and Finance at OU Health Sciences Center Ken Rowe.
According to a mass email sent to the OU community Wednesday morning, Brockwell’s last day is set for March 31, and Rowe will officially retire on Feb. 1. Harroz highlighted Brockwell’s accomplishments over his 35 year career in the financial services industry and during his tenure at OU, which he began in 2021.
Harroz wrote that Brockwell enhanced fiscal strategy in athletics, streamlined the College of Medicine operations, initiated a long-term IT development framework and advanced cross-campus finance team integration.
Rowe joined OU in 1998, Harroz wrote. During his time at the university he guided the OU Health Sciences Center to a sustainable operating model and played a key role in the OU Health merger.
Pending OU Board of Regents’ approval, Brockwell and Rowe will be able to depart from the university and retire respectively, according to Harroz. After that process, effective Feb. 8, Stewart Berkinshaw will transition into the vice president and CFO role.
This role would have Berkinshaw lead the financial operations and strategies across all three campuses. According to Harroz, Berkinshaw previously served as associate provost for academic finance and his current position as the chief budget officer and associate vice president for budget and finance for the Norman campus.
“(Berkinshaw) has fostered a results-oriented culture emphasizing exceptional customer service, collaboration, efficiency, creativity, and transparency, ensuring the success of administrative and financial teams under his leadership,” Harroz wrote.
According to Harroz, Berkinshaw is an OU Price College of Business alum with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting and a master’s degree in accountancy. Before working at OU, he served as the senior manager of KPMG in Dallas, serving clients in higher education, health care and government. Harroz wrote that Berkinshaw is also a certified public accountant.
OU will also open a senior vice president and chief operating officer position, according to Harroz. This position will help improve operational services, provide strategic leadership to ensure the full integration and alignment of human resources, IT, capital projects, safety, facilities and operations and strategic initiatives across all three campuses. Harroz wrote that a national search for this position is currently underway.
“Please join me in recognizing Matt and Ken and sending them our best wishes,” Harroz wrote. “We also extend our gratitude to Stewart for his continued efforts to position the University of Oklahoma for sustained financial health and operational excellence.”
This story was edited by Ana Barboza and Anusha Fathepure. Riley McDaniel and Avery Avery copy edited this story.
