Messages to the Rutgers Community 

August 11, 2025

Dear Rutgers Faculty and Staff,

A core goal of my presidency will be to ensure that the central offices deliver the best possible support and service to the academic, research, and clinical mission of Rutgers University.

With this goal in mind, I am writing today to share appointments and transitions among my executive leadership team.

I have appointed Kimberly Lewis as Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Administrative Officer for the university, effective immediately. In this capacity, EVP Lewis will oversee the administrative activities of the university. Areas under her purview are Institutional Planning and Operations and University Finance and Administration, which includes University Human Resources and the Office of Information Technology. By bringing these areas under a single leader, my expectation is alignment around efficient support and service to the university.

I want to express my gratitude to Chief Financial Officer J. Michael Gower and Chief Operating Officer Antonio Calcado. The imprint of their expertise and leadership can be seen everywhere across Rutgers, and as we tackle the work that lies ahead, they will be working closely with EVP Lewis in developing new and innovative ways to work together in service to Rutgers.

EVP Lewis brings extensive experience in state government and higher education to Rutgers University. Most recently, Kimberly served as the Chief Administrative Officer at Louisiana State University, where she oversaw all financial and administrative strategy. She led transformative budget and administrative reforms at LSU, implementing processes that funded faculty merit raises, graduate assistant support, and strategic capital priorities. Her leadership advanced staff compensation, strengthened financial planning and modeling, and expanded insurance coverage amid regional risk. Her work contributed to LSU’s strong ratings from Fitch and Moody’s—even under projected fiscal stress.

Kimberly was the Chief Executive Officer for Louisiana’s Department of Revenue, overseeing $10B in state tax revenue. An attorney and partner at Jones Walker, LLP, where she specialized in economic development financing, state and local taxes, and incentives and government relations. While at Jones Walker, she represented multinational companies across the South, and during her Revenue time, she chaired a national tax policy organization. Kimberly has served as an advisor at the highest levels of state government in Louisiana.

I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Keena Arbuthnot as the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, effective August 18. In this role, Dr. Arbuthnot will oversee the university’s central academic and research policy and support functions. EVP Arbuthnot will work closely with the chancellors, provosts, and academic leaders to drive forward Rutgers’ academic priorities. 

As Chief Academic Officer, EVP Arbuthnot will oversee the university’s tenure and appointments process, build a data-driven academic enterprise to support student and faculty success, and partner with our Senior Vice President for Research, Dr. Michael Zwick, to advance the university’s research agenda. As part of this transition, University Equity and Inclusion moves to Academic Affairs. 

EVP Arbuthnot, a scholar with expertise in educational measurement, applied statistics, and program evaluation, joins Rutgers following her service as Vice President and Chief Data Officer, Dean of the Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School, and Joan Pender McManus Distinguished Professor of Education at Louisiana State University. In these roles, she led the Office of Data and Strategic Analytics, where she advanced efforts to modernize data infrastructure, developed and promoted artificial intelligence initiatives and programs, and aligned institutional data with strategic planning. Her work supported academic and capital planning, student success initiatives, and advancement strategies in philanthropy and government relations. As Dean of the Graduate School, she championed efforts to better support doctoral students and graduate students in terminal degree programs.

I want to thank Dr. Henry Turner for stepping in as interim EVPAA during this transition period. Henry will stay on in Academic Affairs as Vice President for Academic Initiatives. 

Finally, the Rutgers Office of University Labor Relations will now be organized under the Office of the Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel. This office has been led with integrity and dedication by Vice President David Cohen, who is retiring September 1. David has our thanks and appreciation for more than a decade of service to Rutgers and his many contributions to our community.

In visiting all our campuses in my first month at Rutgers, I have begun to understand how remarkable we are. Only two university systems or family of state universities have at least three institutions ranked in the top 50 public universities in the country: the University of California and Rutgers University. I am excited to work with each of you to reach higher. Putting an exceptional leadership team in place will help us bring even more success and overcome the challenges that could prevent it. Please welcome Kimberly and Keena to Rutgers!

Warm regards,

William F. Tate IV
President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

July 1, 2025

Dear Rutgers Community,
 
I arrived at LaGuardia Airport on a warm afternoon in mid-May—the day Rutgers-New Brunswick celebrated the Class of 2025. In the car, I read the box score of Rutgers-Camden’s baseball game versus Johns Hopkins University in the NCAA regional. Great run! The ride to New Brunswick reminded me of many past trips to New York. As we crossed into New Jersey, the landscape felt unfamiliar—yet somehow recognizable. I had seen this stretch of highway before, but never through the eyes of a social scientist.
 
We reached the hotel. No one knew who I was. I decided to walk the streets of downtown New Brunswick.
 
Children laughed and played. Students in graduation attire strolled with family members, beaming with pride. The joy transparent. Their energy, familiar. It felt like the United Nations—alive with language, culture, and aspiration.
 
Suddenly, I was transported back to my youth in Chicago, walking the streets of Hyde Park. Museums. Theaters. Academic buildings. Medical centers. And most importantly—the people. Some help paint this mosaic of intellectual vibrancy; others struggle to navigate it.
 
I stopped, took it all in, and gave thanks as I realized: I am home again.
 
On that May afternoon, it was clear to me that Rutgers is different, that Rutgers has an edge—a spirit of place that fuses the pursuit of truth, excellence with empathy, courageous conversations, and ambition with access. It’s what drew me here. A university grounded in transformative research, clinical distinction, cooperative extension, public service, and ready to lead in a new era of impact.
 
When I was named Rutgers’ 22nd president in May, I talked about the Rutgers Edge. For me, this is not to create a slogan, but to define a compact:

That our scholarship will confront the state’s challenges with courage and creativity.
That our students will be equipped not just to succeed, but to serve with empathy.
That our community will flourish because we commit—together—to opportunity and bold innovation.
 
Today, as I begin my Rutgers presidency, I wear Scarlet. Not just the color, but the compact to live the Rutgers Edge.
 
With gratitude and great anticipation,
 
William F. Tate IV
President, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey