Transitions at the Chancellor-Provost Office

March 24, 2023

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,

I write to share the news of transitions at the Chancellor-Provost Office, prompted by the impending departure of Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff Alex Perez, who will be leaving Rutgers on May 12 to join The New School as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Beginning April 17, Jon Oliver will join my office as the new Chief of Staff to the Chancellor-Provost, to provide high-level analytical and organizational leadership to projects and initiatives stemming from the Chancellor-Provost Office. He will also be responsible for the administrative oversight of my office. Mr. Oliver is an accomplished administrator with a distinguished record of service to Rutgers. He is a current member and past chair, vice chair, and parliamentarian of the University Senate, and has served as the Senate’s representative to the Board of Governors and President’s Administrative Council. He serves in the School of Communication and Information as Assistant Dean for Information Technology—a position he has held since 1994 and from which he will step down to take his new role—and as a part-time faculty member. He also serves on several administrative task forces including as Chair of the Presidential Employee Excellence Committee and as a member of the Future of Work Task Force, President’s Emergency Operations Committee, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Council for Online Education, and Chief Information Officer’s Leadership Council. He received the President’s Award for Excellence in Administration from President Francis L. Lawrence in 1999. Mr. Oliver’s Rutgers roots are deep: He joined Rutgers in 1986 as a Research Specialist in what was then the College of Engineering, earned his bachelor’s degree at Rutgers College in 1985 and master of science degree from the College of Engineering in 1993, and is currently completing his doctoral dissertation in Materials Science and Engineering.

Effective March 1, the former Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance Nayland Smith now serves as permanent Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Chief Business Officer for Rutgers–New Brunswick. In addition to his previous duties, he will lead campus-wide strategy relating to facilities, information technology, and human resources. Mr. Smith will also provide high-level strategic leadership for Chancellor-Provost priorities and initiatives. Mr. Smith has served as Interim Vice Chancellor with distinction since November 1, 2022. He previously served for more than four years in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology as Associate Dean for Business and Finance, and as Executive Director for the Center for Applied Psychology, during which he developed a skilled team of financial professionals, added rigor to GSAPP’s financial planning, managed financial strategies that helped double the school’s tuition revenue over three years, and developed financial resources to assist students experiencing hardships, among other accomplishments. He is currently earning a doctorate in business at Rutgers Business School and is in the dissertation phase. Prior to joining Rutgers in 2018 as Associate Dean for Business and Finance, Mr. Smith worked at Dow Jones, Bridge Information Systems, and Brown Brothers Harriman, and served in several executive roles at various institutions.

I want to close by congratulating Alex Perez on his appointment at The New School and applauding his achievements at Rutgers since coming to the Office of the General Counsel in 2012. I am deeply grateful for his exemplary service as the first Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff under my chancellorship, through which he has left an indelible mark by helping to shape the administrative structure and function of the office and providing organizational leadership to the strategic priorities and initiatives of the Chancellor-Provost.

Please join me in congratulating these three outstanding colleagues in their new positions and in continuing our collective work toward Rutgers–New Brunswick’s mission of excellence in education, research, and service.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor-Provost, Rutgers University–New Brunswick