Muhlenberg Appoints Curtis Topper Chief Financial Officer
Currently vice president for finance and administration at Delaware Valley University, Topper brings wide-ranging experience as CFO in higher education, government and business.
Monday, April 17, 2023 11:00 AM
President Kathleen Harring has appointed veteran executive Curtis Topper chief financial officer of Muhlenberg College. Topper will provide leadership in all financial and business-related matters and assume responsibility for budget, financial accounting, investments, risk management, human resources, and the College’s physical plant.
“Curt is a tremendous addition to our leadership team,” said Harring. “He brings a wealth of high-level experience, by all accounts is a steady and accomplished leader, and perhaps most importantly shares our values and sense of mission.”
Topper, pictured, joins Muhlenberg at the height of a successful career of leadership in the public and private sectors. His appointment comes as the result of a national search, launched in anticipation of longtime Muhlenberg chief business officer and treasurer Kent Dyer’s retirement in June of this year. Beginning on June 14, he will work closely with the president and the College’s Board of Trustees, liaising with the Board’s Audit and Compliance, Capital Projects and Infrastructure, Financial Performance, and Asset Management committees.
“I am honored and excited to join the leadership team at Muhlenberg,” said Topper. “It is an extraordinary opportunity to join an institution famous for its innovation in higher education, with momentum and a clear vision for the future.”
Prior to joining Delaware Valley University, where he is responsible for all budget, finance, information technology, security, risk management, facilities, and auxiliary services, Topper spent seven and a half years as a member of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s cabinet. As secretary of general services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he was the commonwealth’s de facto chief operating officer, leading the Department of General Services’ 850-person team and managing its $200 million operating budget along with a broad range of services and assets, $5 billion in contract expenditures and a $1 billion capital project portfolio. Those experiences built on a number of years in higher education, private enterprise, and the public sector, including as assistant vice president for purchasing, contracts and accounts payable at Georgetown University, an earlier tenure in state government under Ed Rendell’s governorship, and stints at KPMG and the State of Rhode Island. Throughout his career, Topper implemented change in response to advances in technology, connectivity, and management techniques.
“We have been the beneficiary of exceptional financial management over 175 years,” said Harring. “Curt joining us will help build on that foundation in a new era for higher education and Muhlenberg.”
At Delaware Valley, Topper introduced new efficiencies to the university’s enterprise resource planning system and operations, producing energy savings and streamlining operating costs. For the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he delivered more than $500 million in cost savings through strategic sourcing and operational improvements. He also led the commonwealth’s first-ever statewide disparity study on state government contracting, spurring a three-fold increase in small diverse business participation. He led Georgetown’s procure-to-pay design and implementation of the Workday financial management system, and he introduced strategic sourcing, job order contracting and new electronic payment technologies.
“Colleges like Muhlenberg have a vital role to play in shaping our future, training students to confront increasingly complex challenges with integrated solutions that draw from multiple disciplines,” said Topper. “I look forward to helping Muhlenberg continue its long record of financial success and operational excellence in support of this mission.”
Topper earned an A.B. in political science from Brown University and a Master of Philosophy in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
