News Story

Drew Smith has been appointed vice president for finance. His appointment was approved at the Oct. 15 Board of Regents meeting.

Smith joined U-M in 2021 as assistant vice president and treasurer, overseeing treasury and later assumed responsibility for insurance and claims administration and enterprise financial planning and analysis. His responsibilities also included managing banking relationships, credit cards and depository programs, vendor check writing, debt policy, and financial oversight of certain enterprise-priority projects.

Smith became interim vice president for finance in November 2025 and has provided strategic leadership and operational continuity across the university’s central financial functions. His appointment will be effective Nov. 1, 2026, as a non-executive officer.

Before joining U-M, Smith served as the city treasurer and deputy chief financial officer in Boston, helping oversee the city’s financial resources, including cash and debt management and revenue collection. Prior to that position, he served as deputy assistant treasurer for debt management for the commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he helped manage more than $14 billion in financing transactions.

He received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arkansas and an M.B.A. from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

“Drew’s broad financial expertise, thorough understanding of the university and steady, collaborative leadership make him an excellent choice for this role,” said Bobby Hewlett, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

As vice president for finance, Smith will continue to lead U-M’s central financial functions, including accounting and the externally audited financial statements, enterprise financial planning and analysis, enterprise strategic risk management, payroll, procurement, real estate, sponsored programs, tax compliance and planning, and treasury, including cash and debt management and insurance.

In addition, Genevieve Nolan will be named assistant vice president and treasurer following Smith’s appointment as vice president for finance. She has provided important leadership in cash and debt management, insurance and claims administration, institutional financial planning and analysis, merchant services, and debt and liquidity operations in addition to serving on multiple special projects across U-M.

Nolan has served as the interim assistant vice president and treasurer since November 2025, after joining U-M as deputy treasurer in 2023. Her appointment will also be effective Nov. 1, 2026.

“Genevieve’s expertise and leadership have made significant contributions across Treasury and Finance. And I am extremely pleased that she will continue this important work as the assistant vice president and treasurer,” Hewlett said.

Before joining U-M, Nolan was a vice president/senior analyst at Moody’s Investors Service in the U.S. Public Finance Group. While at Moody’s, she served as lead analyst and committee chair for local government, state, utility, state insurance, and transit issuers across the U.S. In this capacity, she also served as a municipal bankruptcy and restructuring expert following her work as the lead analyst for the city of Detroit and commonwealth of Puerto Rico during their restructurings.

Nolan earned a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.S. in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.