Office of the Treasurer Records

The first financial officer of Oberlin College was Eliphalet Redington, who was appointed Treasurer in 1833. In those early years, the Treasurer did double duty, also serving as Secretary (or "Corresponding Secretary") to the Board of Trustees. The Secretary/Treasurer carried out all of the Board's correspondence, kept records of donations, fees collected, expenditures, and loans and scholarships, and managed the College's property and investments. Essentially, all business matters for the College were handled by the Secretary/Treasurer. From the beginning until the present day, financial matters of the College have been governed under guidelines established by the Board of Trustees and/or a trustee committee appointed to oversee investments.

In 1899, the responsibilities of the Secretary (including Secretary to the Board of Trustees, correspondence, record keeping, publications, and public relations) were separated from the financial responsibilities of the Treasurer, resulting in two separate positions. The 1904 Constitution and By-Laws provides the first detailed description of the Treasurer's duties as a separate office. In matters of finance, the Treasurer had responsibility for "funds, securities, investments, muniments of title, indicia of ownership, assets, property, choses in action, accounts and items of credit and things receivable by or belonging to the College." He maintained account books of assets and liabilities, receipts and expenditures, financial and property transactions, and trust funds, and prepared the annual balance sheet and financial report for the Board of Trustees.  He also estimated the upcoming year's receipts in order to plan the budget, and determined each department's share in the general expenses of the institution.

On the recommendation of the Investment Committee, the Board voted in 1915 to assign management of investments to the Cleveland Trust Company or any legally constituted trust company in the state. This arrangement was initiated in the final year before James R. Severance's retirement after thirteen years as Treasurer and continued until 1933. In 1933, the position of Investment Executive (called Investment Officer in some years) was established to manage the College's investments and endowment, apparently in response to the economic depression and instability of the financial market. The Treasurer retained responsibility for all other financial and accounting matters. As did the Treasurer, the Investment Executive reported directly to the President.

The next significant step in the evolution of the financial management of the College occurred in 1939-40. On July 10, 1939, the Executive Committee appointed a Special Committee on the Organization of the Financial Offices of the College. The report essentially recommended adherence to the status quo, with the offices of the Treasurer, Investment Executive, and Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds (responsible for plant maintenance and operations) continuing as then constituted, each reporting directly to the president. Two long-range recommendations, however, were eventually adopted: consolidation of the responsibilities of the Treasurer and Investment Executive and establishment of a high-level executive office to oversee all financial operations and reduce the number of people reporting to the president.

In 1942, the Board of Trustees voted to unify the offices of Treasurer and Investment Executive. This was accomplished by enlarging the duties of the Treasurer to include managing investments.  The Investment Executive ceased reporting to the president and began serving as a member of the Treasurer's staff. The Treasurer was replaced as secretary of the Investment Committee by the Investment Executive.

In 1955, the position of Business Manager was created to oversee all financial operations and to supervise and coordinate the administration of all non-academic departments. Lewis R. Tower, who had been working for the College as a consultant, was hired as the first and only person to bear the title of Business Manager.  When he retired, he was succeeded by Dayton Livingston. Between 1971 and 1976, the position went through several names changes, culminating in the new title of Vice President for Business and Finance. Designated the chief financial officer of the institution, the Business Manager or Vice President reported directly to the president. The Treasurer, Investment Executive (no longer under the Treasurer), manager of residences and dining halls, purchases and stores, superintendent of buildings and grounds, data processing (later the Computing Center), and the Controller each reported to the Business Manager or Vice President.

The first Board of Managers of Allen Memorial Hospital had been appointed by the Oberlin College Board of Trustees in 1925, with the Treasurer of the College serving ex-officio as treasurer of the Board of Managers. Allen Memorial Hospital was completed that same year with funds donated to Oberlin College by Elizabeth Severance Allen Prentiss.  From 1925 to 1955, the college operated the hospital primarily to serve students, faculty, and staff, and secondarily to serve members of the community and surrounding areas. In 1955, Oberlin College transferred ownership of Allen Memorial Hospital to the City of Oberlin and in 1959, Articles of Incorporation were adopted establishing, among other things, the make-up of the Board of Trustees. Any citizen of the City of Oberlin or the Joint Township Hospital District was eligible to apply, in accordance with regulations adopted by the first Board. The Code of Regulations subsequently adopted stated that the President of Oberlin College would serve ex-officio on the Board, but not the Treasurer or Business Manager.  Both Lewis Tower and Dayton Livingston, however, served on the Board through the regular selection process.

The Controller's position was created in 1958 and caused some confusion as to the distinction between the Controller and the Treasurer. A September 2, 1958, memorandum from President William E. Stevenson to all department and office heads detailed the functions of the two offices as follows: the Controller had responsibility for general accounting procedures, including paying bills, reviewing proposed budgetary changes and transfers, preparing and distributing periodic departmental operating statements, and reconciling accounts with departmental records. The Treasurer was responsible for collecting tuition and fees, administering student loans, maintaining student account records, supervising finances for student organizations, and receiving gifts and donations. The 1960 By-laws indicate that the Treasurer was also responsible for "custody of all funds, securities, investments, and evidences of title to the assets and properties of the College," but responsibility for day-to-day management of investments and the endowment remained in the hands of the Investment Executive.

A major administrative study was completed by the Trustee Committee on Administrative Organization in 1961 and is informally known as the Gladieux Report. On November 10-11, 1961, the Board approved a number of changes, including three new positions to report to the Business Manager. These included a Personnel Officer and a Director of Administrative Services to oversee purchasing, data processing, the college photographer, and graphic services. A supervisory position for graphic services was also created. The specific duties of the Treasurer's Office, the Controller, and the Investment Executive were not impacted by the Gladieux Report. In 1963, however, the position of Investment Executive was eliminated; the duties of that position devolved on the Business Manager and remained largely in his hands until 1988.

When Roger Cooper retired as Treasurer in 1984, the responsibilities of the office were again redefined to encompass and focus upon supervising the endowment. The former duties of the Treasurer in regards to receiving tuition, fees, gifts and donations, overseeing student accounts and loans, and supervising the finances of student organizations were transferred to the Bursar.  The Treasurer's position went unfilled for five years, however, and the Vice President for Business and Finance continued to supervise the endowment.

When Dayton Livingston retired as Vice President in 1988, that position was abolished. In its place, a Vice President for Operations was established to supervise grounds and land planning, the Oberlin College Inn, the physical plant, purchasing and auxiliary services, security, and personnel. The position of Provost had been created in 1960 as the chief administrator of academic programs, but by the early 1970s, the Provost had become the chief budgetary and planning officer of the College and in that capacity worked closely with the Vice President for Business and Finance and the Controller. In the 1988 restructuring, the Provost remained the chief budgetary and planning officer, adding the Office of the Controller. The Computing Center (formerly data processing) previously reported to him.

In 1989, the position of Treasurer was once again redefined as a senior executive officer reporting to the president and responsible for providing staff support to the Trustee Investment Committee, evaluating and initiating investment policy, monitoring the performances of investment managers, supervising the investment of unitrusts and separately invested funds, maintaining custodian and commercial bank relationships, preparing budget projections of endowment income and recommending appropriate endowment payout policies, monitoring the activities of the Capital Ventures Office (now separate from the Development Office) in relation to policy guidelines established by the Investment Committee, negotiating lines of credit, and preparing materials and reports on these operations for the Trustee Investment Committee and the College administration.

FINANCIAL OFFICERS OF OBERLIN COLLEGE, 1899-1995

Secretary/Treasurer (1833-1899)

1833-1835: Eliphalet Redington

1835-1841: Levi Burnell

1841-1864: Hamilton Hill

1864-1865: George N. Allen

1865-1875: George Kinney

1875-1887: James B. T. Marsh

1887-1893: Giles W. Shurtleff

1893-1899: James R. Severance

Treasurer (1899-1995)

1899-1916: James R. Severance

1916-1934: Hiram Thurston

1934-1941: H. Wade Cargill

1941-1958: William P. Davis

1958-1970: Karl Aughenbaugh

1970-1971: Roger S. Cooper (Acting)

1971-1984: Roger S. Cooper

1984-1988: vacant

1989-1995: Charles Tharp

1995- vacant

Investment Executive/Officer (1937-1963)

1937-1942: Clayton K. Fauver

1942-1954: Vincent Hart

1954-1955: vacant

1955-1963:Robert Buss

Controller (1958-)

1958-1975: Arthur L. Cotton

1975-1993: Richard B. Comstock

1994- : Ronald Watts

Provost (1960-1995)

1960-1964: Thurston E. Manning

1965-1969: John W. Kneller

1969-1971: Ellsworth Carlson (Acting)

1971-1975: Ellsworth Carlson

1975-1982: James L. Powell

1982-1984: Sam Carrier (Acting)

1984-1995: Sam Carrier

Business Manager (1955-1971)

1955-1971: Lewis R. Tower

Vice President for Business and Finance (1971-1988)

1971-1988: Dayton Livingston

Vice President for Finance (1995- )

1995- : Andrew B. Evans