Office of the Executive Vice President
Katie Lapp
Executive Vice President
The Executive Vice President (EVP) is the University’s Chief Administrative Officer and oversees all aspects of the University’s financial, administrative, human resources, campus services, planning and project management, health services, information technology and diversity functions. The EVP serves as a key member of the University’s senior leadership team, including, among others, the President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Secretary of the Corporation, and the deans and administrative deans of Harvard’s component schools. The EVP works closely with Harvard’s senior leadership team to ensure that Harvard’s financial, capital, and operational resources are optimally deployed in support of Harvard’s mission.
The EVP plays a critical role in:
- Enhancing the responsiveness of central administration to the needs of Harvard’s faculties, Schools, and other units;
- Improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and coordination of existing financial and administrative functions and practices across the University, both within central administration and within Schools;
- Leading the development and improvement of financial and administrative capacity in new areas that cross School boundaries or traditional administrative units;
- Achieving a more integrated approach to the challenges presented by new ventures in science, Allston, and other areas that will call for more collaboration across traditional boundaries.
Administrative units reporting to the EVP include:
- Chief Financial Officer and Financial Administration
- Planning and Project Management
- Campus Services
- Human Resources
- University Health Services
- Harvard University Information Technology
- Chief Diversity Officer
- Planning efforts for Allston
Prior to her appointment at Harvard, Ms. Lapp served as Executive Vice President for Business Operations for the University of California. In that role she served as the University’s chief business officer, responsible for oversight of the system-wide budget office, which included the development, acquisition and management of the University’s $18 billion annual operating budget. Ms. Lapp was also responsible for the effectiveness and accountability of the University’s business functions, including financial management, human resource administration, information technology support, and facility construction and maintenance, and provided administrative oversight for the University’s compliance and audit activities.
Ms. Lapp has also served as executive director and CEO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Lapp, who led MTA for five years until stepping down at the end of 2006, was responsible for the operations, finances and long-term business strategies of North America’s largest regional transportation network, which encompasses 68,000 employees, a $10 billion annual budget, a $21 billion five-year capital program and an annual ridership of more than 2.37 billion.
Prior to joining MTA, Ms. Lapp had a distinguished legal career, serving as New York State Director of Criminal Justice and Commissioner of the Criminal Justice Services Department from 1997-2001; as New York City’s Criminal Justice Coordinator from 1994-97; and as chief of staff and special counsel to the New York City Deputy Mayor for Public Safety from 1990-93. Prior to those positions, Ms. Lapp served as a law clerk to the Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division Second Judicial Department in New York from 1983-1989.
Ms. Lapp received her B.A. in history from Fairfield University and her law degree from Hofstra University.
Central Administration Organization Chart
