Vice President Jed Shivers departing UND

Shivers to take on similar role at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY

Jed M. Shivers, UND vice president for finance & operations/chief operating officer, announced this week that he will be leaving the University next month to take on a similar role at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY.

Shivers’ last day at UND is slated to be Friday, July 15. A national search for his replacement is expected to be conducted and an interim will be named in the coming weeks.

“Jed has been an incredible member of our UND community. Since the day I first set foot on campus, I relied heavily on his financial acumen and his wonderful leadership of campus operations,” said UND President Andrew Armacost. “His foresight in planning for our COVID-19 response made our campus safe and allowed us to come through the pandemic in a strong financial position. I will miss Jed’s kindness, humor and extraordinary vision for the future of the UND campus.”

‘Great experience’

Shivers was selected as UND Vice President for Finance & Operations/Chief Operating Officer in April  2018, succeeding Alice Brekke, who had been with the University for nearly 40 years.

As vice president, Shivers provided leadership for the University’s administrative, financial and operational divisions, including most areas of financial operations, public safety, facilities, affirmative action/equal opportunity employment, records management, and the Chester Fritz Auditorium.

“My work on behalf of UND and the tax payers of North Dakota has been a great experience,” Shivers said. “Thanks to Alice Brekke, there was a terrific administrative group to work with. And thanks also to the late (former UND Provost) Tom DiLorenzo and then to (Former Interim Provost) Debbie Storrs, who were wonderful partners, along with all of the deans and other vice presidents, associate vice presidents and assistant vice presidents in other divisions.

“Now with Andy Armacost as president and Eric Link as provost, I think UND has stable, thoughtful academic leadership that will continue UND’s upward trajectory. I’m looking forward to watching UND’s continued success.”

Shivers also had a special shout-out for all those on and off campus with whom he served on committees and in meetings over the years – both in-person and virtually.

“You’ve helped to make my professional life meaningful, and together we’ve solved problems and celebrated successes as well as experienced sadness and setbacks,” he said. “Thank you for spending time with me on our adventure together.”

Shivers will be missed, said Karla Mongeon-Stewart, Associate Vice President for Finance at UND.

“Jed has been one of the best leaders, mentors and colleagues I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” Mongeon-Stewart said. “I will miss his sense of humor, positive attitude and is collaborative spirit so much. I feel so blessed to have had to opportunity to work with Jed over the past four years and I wish him every success in his new position.”

Mike Pieper, Associate Vice President for Facilities, agreed. “Jed’s leadership was to bring people together to talk through what was in the best interest of the University, and he always was willing to engage in finding creative solutions,” Pieper said.

Fiscally healthy

In addition to his role in helping to keep UND healthy – physically and fiscally — throughout the pandemic, as the campus’s COVID-19 point person, Shivers made his mark in other important areas. His time at UND coincided with a surge in new construction, renewal and transformation across campus. His work with UND’s administration and student leaders was instrumental in the creation of a revised plan which ultimately decreased the impact on students to fund the new Memorial Union. Under his watch, he also continued a UND practice to seek innovative ways to fund new construction and decrease deferred maintenance costs through public-private partnerships.

Along with President Armacost, Shivers also helped lead the University through the 2021 Legislative Session and subsequent special session, which were extremely successful for UND in terms of securing approvals for multiple high-impact UND projects, including a Merrifield-Twamley renovation, new runway apron for UND Aerospace and several space research initiatives.

Shivers said he enjoyed his interaction with State lawmakers and other leaders in Grand Forks and across the state.

“They represent our citizens and their support of higher education has been critical to our success,” he said.

Shivers didn’t forget about his colleagues at the North Dakota University System and the State Board of Higher Education.

“It gratifies me how committed they are to quality and efficient higher education in our State,” Shivers added.

Back to NYC

Shivers came to UND from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, N.Y.), where he served as associate dean for finance and administration for 11 years.  Prior to that he spent 24 years at medical schools in such places as the University of California San Francisco, Yale University, University of Miami and Stanford University.

Shivers was born in Madison, Wis., where his father earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. He grew up near the campus of the University of Connecticut, where his father was a faculty member from 1962-2005. His mother taught at the local University High School.

Shivers met his wife, Sandee, as she was completing her Ph.D. thesis at the Stanford University School of Education. They have three grown sons.

Jed and Sandee, who’s currently retired, are looking forward to new adventures and returning to the New York City area.

“It has been great to be a citizen of the State of North Dakota,” Shivers said. “As someone who spent his adult life on both coasts, living in the Northern Plains has been an important part of my and Sandee’s life.  While we mostly worked in large cities, where one lives a more anonymous life, we became much more integrated with our University community in Grand Forks and it has been very gratifying.”