About Laurent Heller

Laurent Heller was appointed executive vice president for finance and administration at Johns Hopkins University in June 2021, reporting to President Ron Daniels. In this role, he leads all financial and administrative affairs for the university and oversees the financial offices of the controller, investment management, planning and budget, and treasury, as well as the administrative areas of human resources, information technology, purchasing, risk management, and internal audit.

As the university’s top financial and administrative leader, Laurent is accountable to the university’s board of trustees to ensure the overall fiscal and administrative health of the institution and helps lead the board’s Committee on Finance, Committee on Investments, and Committee on Audits and Institutional Risk Management—as well as related subcommittees.

Laurent and his leadership team are committed to helping fulfill President Daniels’ Ten for One strategic vision, including focusing on making Johns Hopkins University a national employer of choice and securing resources to support the university’s overall mission of teaching, research, and clinical care. Since his appointment, Laurent has—among other accomplishments—helped launch a new Staff Advisory Council to create opportunities for senior leadership to hear directly from staff representatives, implemented a working cash investment strategy, and helped deliver significant financial margin improvements for the university.

Before joining Johns Hopkins University, Laurent served as vice chancellor for finance and administration at University of Wisconsin – Madison. There he oversaw the finance, facilities, information technology, human resources, housing and dining, and public safety functions. At Wisconsin, Laurent worked to identify opportunities for performance improvements and to secure resources for reinvestment in the university’s academic mission. He led the development of a new strategic plan for Finance and Administration at the university and demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering an engaged, inclusive, and diverse campus community.

Earlier, Laurent served as assistant vice chancellor for financial planning and analysis at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was responsible for financial projections and developed a new budget planning system for that university’s $2.5 billion annual budget.

Laurent’s career in higher education began at Harvard University as a financial analyst and database administrator with the Civil Rights Project, a multidisciplinary think tank that worked to advance diversity and inclusion by bringing together social science research and policy advocacy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.