Monday, April 26, 2021
Dear UNT Faculty and Staff,
I am proud to welcome Clayton Gibson to our UNT family as vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer. Clayton's financial acumen, compassionate supervision, and ability to focus on process improvement will help us continue our efforts to grow as a Minority-Serving Tier One institution. His appointment is effective June 7.
Clayton will oversee the development and execution of a budget model that anticipates and responds to the opportunities and challenges inherent in the contemporary higher education environment. He also will support UNT's academic and research mission by providing quality financial, business, and administrative services to all divisions.
A licensed Certified Public Accountant, Clayton joins us from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, where he currently serves as senior vice president for finance and administration, managing 520 full-time employees over all non-academic functions. Clayton quadrupled institutional cash on hand through robust budgeting and process improvement, oversaw growth of the annual budget by 33% from $150M to $200M, externally secured over $100M for new construction projects, and invested $80M to renovate aging campus infrastructure, both physical and technological.
Prior to joining higher education in 2012, Clayton held management positions at Ernst & Young, LLP where he was an audit manager and provided consultation to clients in various industries. To learn more about him, read the news release announcing his appointment.
To continue UNT's momentum, it is crucial that our chief financial officer possesses a student-first mindset and collaborative spirit as all divisions work together to achieve UNT's strategic goals. I believe Clayton is a rising star in higher education finance, and I look forward to the impact he will make on our Mean Green Family.
UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President