{shortcode-9c561c9883d5518949e2d8b60a4fb3f699e2ec3a}
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean for Administration and Finance Scott A. Jordan stepped down from his position at Harvard last week as the FAS continues to overhaul its budget in response to funding pressure from the Trump administration and a new endowment tax.
Jordan, who joined Harvard in August 2021 and oversaw the FAS’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, officially left the University on July 18 to serve as the vice president of finance and chief financial officer at Trinity College in Connecticut. He begins his new role on August 14.
In an email to faculty announcing his departure, FAS Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra praised Jordan for helping lead the school through a “period of significant challenge and change.”
“Scott has shown an unwavering commitment to the mission of the FAS and to ensuring that administrative operations enable and enhance academic excellence,” Hoekstra wrote. “I am grateful for his many contributions.”
The FAS will select an interim dean for administration and finance “over the coming weeks,” Hoekstra wrote. The school is preparing to launch a search for Jordan’s successor.
Jordan’s departure comes as the FAS faces down unprecedented budget pressures brought on by the Trump administration’s attacks on federal funding to Harvard.
The FAS kept spending flat for fiscal year 2026, froze full-time staff hiring, and paused “non-essential capital projects and spending.” The school also instructed professors to prepare contingency plans for center and departmental spending in case of a budget shortfall.
And at a May faculty meeting, Hoekstra warned faculty that the funding challenges facing Harvard would not end soon — and told them to brace for long-term changes to the school’s funding in light of what she called the “fundamentally different” landscape for federal funding brought by the Trump administration.
“These efforts will not be easy. Nothing about the current time is easy. The issues facing Harvard, and higher education as a whole, are as profound as any time in our nation’s history,” Hoekstra said.
Schools are operating under central budget guidance that instructs them to make cuts where possible, and the budgeting process for the next fiscal year generally concludes mid-July.
In her message announcing Jordan’s departure, Hoekstra commended Jordan for supporting the renewal of undergraduate Houses and partnering with Harvard University Dining Services to expand dining options for kosher students.
She added that Jordan played an “instrumental role” in helping the FAS navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. The school lost more than $30 million in “unforeseen expenses and lost revenue” during the pandemic.
An FAS spokesperson pointed to Hoekstra’s email when asked for comment, and Jordan did not respond to a request for comment.
In April last year, the FAS brought on a new chief financial officer — Kofi N. Ofori, previously an administrator at Johns Hopkins University — who served under Jordan. Jordan’s office also oversees human resources, facilities, administrative operations, and data analysis.
In a press release from Trinity, Jordan said he was drawn to the college for its smaller size and tight cohort of faculty, students, and other affiliates.
“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.
—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.
—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
