To: The Wellesley Community
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: News about Ben Hammond
Date: January 27, 2017
Dear Wellesley community,
I am writing to share the news that Ben Hammond, Wellesley’s vice president for finance and administration and treasurer, has decided to resign from the College at the end of February to pursue new opportunities.
We greatly appreciate all that Ben accomplished for Wellesley during his three and a half years at the College.
Ben was charged with the enormous task of taking Wellesley’s administrative operations to the next level. During an ambitious period of campus renewal, Ben led the process to strengthen the College’s overall management of its facilities. Among other advancements, Ben’s efforts resulted in identifying our new assistant vice president of facilities management and planning, and Ben has strongly supported his efforts to evolve our facilities operations to meet new challenges ahead. Ben was also instrumental in enhancing our new Title IX program under the supervision of the College’s new Title IX coordinator. And, Ben has helped Wellesley make other improvements in the area of risk management—most recently, working with me to initiate the search for a general counsel.
Ben has also provided important oversight of the College’s substantial financial resources. Under his watch, the College made progress toward the long-term goal of balancing operating costs with the need for campus renewal. Ben worked with the provost to better align resources with institutional priorities. He also led efforts to establish Wellesley’s new strategic growth initiative, which aims to generate new revenues for the College. More recently, Ben launched an extensive customer-service initiative for finance, which will generate insights to inform Wellesley’s future financial planning.
As a member of the President’s Leadership Team, Ben has worked to advance other key priorities of the College. He has been an active member of the Wellesley community, serving on many committees of Academic Council, and he has championed efforts to build the College’s relationship with the local community and government, including leading the sale of the North 40 to the Town of Wellesley.
I thank Ben for his important contributions to Wellesley, and I wish him well as he prepares to take on new challenges and opportunities in the next phase of his career. Please join me in wishing him all the best.
