CONTACT: Mike Lurie
Office: 410-455-6380
Cellphone: 443-695-0262
mlurie@umbc.edu

Lynne Schaefer, a veteran university administrator with expertise in financial and facilities management, is the new vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

Schaefer, who has 26 years of budget management and higher education administration experience in the state of Michigan, assumed her position on July 1. She succeeds Mark Behm, who has retired after 32 years of service to UMBC.

Schaefer comes to UMBC from Oakland University (Rochester, Mich.), where she was vice president for finance and administration. In that role, she had lead responsibilities for financial and facilities management, human resources, and business services. Under her guidance, Oakland University strengthened its financial management, redesigned its budget development process, and re-engineered its procurement process. Schaefer was also responsible for more than $100 million in capital improvements construction and development, and implementation of a new market-based compensation structure for 400 professional staff.

“We especially want to welcome Lynne Schaefer, who joined us after a national search," said Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC. "She has substantial experience, having served as administrative vice president at two other universities, President of the Michigan Education Trust, and earlier as a budget analyst in that state. We are very fortunate to have recruited her here."

Schaefer served Wayne State University as vice president of administrative services, a position she assumed after serving the school as director of the budget office. Schaefer also held positions at various state agencies, including the Michigan Department of Treasury, the Michigan Department of Management and Budget, and the Governor’s Council on Jobs and Economic Development.

Schaefer received a B.A. in political science from Michigan State and an MBA from Wayne State. A recipient of numerous awards, Schaefer was selected twice as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Detroit and was named the 1981 Michigan Budget Person of the Year. She is active on several boards, including the Women’s Economic Club Advisory Board, the Michigan Women in Finance Board, Cranbrook Institute of Science Board, and the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce.

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