Henry Sobanet named CFO of CSU System

Contact for reporters:
Mike Hooker
(970) 491-1545
mike.hooker@colostate.edu

Henry Sobanet

The Colorado State University System announced today that Henry Sobanet will join the CSU System as Chief Financial Officer, bringing to CSU decades of experience as a leader in state government budgeting and fiscal planning in Colorado.

Sobanet comes to CSU from the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) where he has served as director under Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, since 2011. Sobanet also served in the same role under Republican Gov. Bill Owens from 2004 – 2007 and founded his own consulting company in the time between serving the two administrations. Sobanet has announced he will be leaving his current position with OSPB effective June 30 and will begin his role at the CSU System Aug. 1.

“Henry Sobanet’s statewide perspective on the fiscal issues facing higher education is unmatched,” said Tony Frank, Chancellor of the CSU System. “Henry has a reputation for bipartisan approaches, integrity, being an exceptional thinker, teamwork, and a strong, steady, and responsible fiscal management. He will be an outstanding addition to our team, and we feel very proud and fortunate he has agreed to join our System staff.”

The Chief Financial Officer of the CSUS provides fiscal oversight and leadership to the System, oversees the System Treasurer, and serves as a liaison with state government on fiscal matters. Since the retirement of previous full-time CFO Rich Schweigert, the role has been filled by Lynn Johnson, who primarily serves as vice president for university operations and CFO of the Fort Collins campus, where she oversees HR, business and financial operations, budget and facilities management. Johnson will continue in this role for the System’s flagship institution and will also serve as deputy system CFO for transitional purposes.

Vast experience in Colorado

Sobanet has served the state for 20 years in both the executive and legislative branches. He is recognized as an economist who is an innovative and bipartisan problem solver with a deep understanding of Colorado’s state budget and the fiscal issues facing higher education. While at OSPB Sobanet’s portfolio also included performance management and strategic planning duties. At CSU, he will be serving Colorado’s Land Grant institution, which is built on the tradition of providing greater access to higher education, a mission that Sobanet says he embraces personally.

“My parents were immigrants to this country and they worked so hard to give me and my brother an education for our own American dreams,” Sobanet said. “I am so excited to join a world-class university and further its mission of research and educating students.”

Sobanet grew up in Colorado and earned his master’s degree in Economics from the University of Colorado-Denver in 1994 after graduating cum laude from CU-Boulder with a BA in Economics.

About the CSU System – The CSU System has three campuses, each with distinct roles and missions, including CSU, CSU-Pueblo and CSU-Global Campus. Combined, the CSU campuses and System have a total operating budget of $1.42 billion and annual research expenditures totaling more than $340 million. The three institutions of the CSU System educate more than 40,000 new and returning scholars annually. Highly skilled graduates number more than 6,800 a year, and more than 200,000 alumni of the System’s three institutions live around the globe.