It is with regret that I announce the resignation of Kathy Chudakoff effective August 22. It has been a pleasure to work with her and our misfortune that she has decided to accept employment elsewhere. Nicole Stelzer will be assuming Kathy’s duties on a temporary basis and the staff in the accounting department will all be sharing additional responsibilities. Nicole most recently served as NEOMED’s Assistant Controller and has been with the University for 13 years. We are confident in Nicole’s abilities to pick up where Kathy will leave off and are excited to be able to provide her with this opportunity.
As Controller, Kathy has been an integral part of the University for the past 13 years and has seen it evolve and change through each phase of its development.
Kathy has accepted every challenge presented to her as an opportunity to improve not only her department but the University. She assisted in the development of the financial structures and debt issuance for capital projects such as the NEW Center and The Village, frequently under crushing deadlines.
As numerous entities such as the REDIzone and ERS Strategic Properties were added to NEOMED, Kathy and her staff designed and developed all of the financial components as well as took over all reporting responsibilities. These projects have added significant ongoing financial complexities to the area of accounting, record keeping, and taxing structure and she successfully led her team through these changes, all the while getting high marks from external auditors.
Kathy participated in Leadership Portage County as well as the Academic Leadership Program. She is a past recipient of the Olson-Blair Award for Administrative Excellence and serves as Treasurer or Secretary on various Boards such as SOAR and ERS Strategic Properties.
On behalf of everyone at NEOMED, I would like to thank Kathy for her unconditional commitment and significant contributions to this University. She has been a valuable and well-respected member of our team and we wish her success in future challenges.
John Wray
Vice President for Administration and Finance