Rick Petillo, Clemson University’s senior vice president for finance and operations and chief financial officer, will join Vanderbilt University as vice chancellor and chief financial officer, effective Nov. 1. Petillo will depart Clemson on Oct. 2.
“Rick has provided important leadership to Clemson, and we appreciate his service to the university,” said Clemson President Ben Ayers. “Clemson has made meaningful progress in strengthening our financial planning and resource-allocation processes. Our strong credit ratings and positive outlook reflect the University’s financial strength and provide a solid foundation for the future. I appreciate Rick’s leadership, and we will build on this progress under Kelly Collins’ interim leadership while we conduct a national search for a permanent successor.”
Collins, a Clemson graduate who joined the University in 2003, will serve as interim senior vice president for finance and operations and chief financial officer. Her current role is the senior associate vice president for financial operations within the Division of Finance and Operations, and she previously served as the chief of staff and operations for the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences.
Petillo joined Clemson’s Division of Finance and Operations in 2015 as director of debt and capital financing after a 15-year career in banking and finance. As senior vice president for finance and operations, Petillo provided leadership for finance, facilities, human resources, real estate, public safety, risk management and related enterprise functions. He also served as an administrative liaison to committees of Clemson’s Board of Trustees and worked with campus leaders on institutional strategy, resource allocation, advancing enterprise systems and business intelligence capabilities, and operational planning.
He was named Clemson’s chief financial officer in 2020 and later was promoted to senior vice president for finance and operations.
“Serving Clemson has been one of the great honors of my professional life,” Petillo said. “I am proud of what we have accomplished together and deeply grateful to the colleagues and campus leaders who have supported this work.”
Petillo earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from Clemson University.
