Paul Jenny Takes on Leadership Role at Cincinnati Children’s

Paul Jenny, senior vice chancellor for finance and administration, has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), effective Jan. 25, 2021. Established in 1883, Cincinnati Children’s is one of the oldest and most distinguished pediatric hospitals in the United States.

As UC San Francisco’s chief business officer, Jenny has managed a complex and wide-ranging portfolio that embraces a myriad of departments across the UCSF enterprise, including Audit and Advisory Services, Finance, Campus Life Services, Real Estate, Human Resources, Information Technology, Police Services, the Program Management Office, and the Anchor Institute. Jenny also served as the interim Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the entire University of California system for fiscal year 2019-2020.

Since he came on board in 2016, Jenny has overseen the University’s finances during a period of exceptional expansion, as UCSF grew from a $5.4 billion to $8 billion enterprise. Clinical revenues have risen sharply along with grants and contracts for research, and UCSF remains San Francisco’s second-largest employer and the fourth largest in the nine-county Bay Area. The University also added over one million square feet of new building space, including research, clinical, and administrative facilities, as well as student housing.

“Everything I’ve done was made possible by the unparalleled UCSF community,” Jenny said. “In my leadership role at UCSF Financial and Administrative Services, I’ve always seen my job as working for the extraordinary group of folks within FAS, from my direct leadership team to our custodians, shuttle drivers, technicians, and fiscal analysts. In helping me fulfill UCSF’s important missions, they’ve always come through, and they will forever have my gratitude.”
Jenny also played a significant role in campus governance as a member of the Chancellor’s Executive Team and Cabinet, as well as leadership roles on various committees including the Budget and Investment Committee and Space Committee. He also served as Treasurer for the UCSF Foundation.

“Few roles at UCSF come with the enormous responsibilities that Paul has shouldered during a truly remarkable time in our history,” said Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “And he has done so with both expertise and collegiality. Cincinnati Children’s is a jewel of the American healthcare system, and while we will miss Paul’s able leadership, wise counsel, and friendship, we look forward to following his accomplishments in his new role.”

This diverse range of experience he gained at UCSF will be invaluable in his new role at CCMHC, Jenny said.

“The work I’ve done at UCSF, touching on IT and HR and capital facilities, while not part of my portfolio at Children’s, has prepared me to partner with the leads of those parts of their organization and to understand their needs in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise,” Jenny said. “At Children’s I will of course play the fiduciary role of a CFO, but thanks to UCSF it will be coupled with a deeper understanding of the complex interplay of clinical and research missions. With the research enterprise at Children’s doubling over the last 10 years, it will need to be managed in tandem with the great expansion they’re also seeing in patient care.”

Jenny had previously served the University of California system at UC Berkeley from 2004 to 2008, where he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget and Resource Planning. He also held positions at the University of Washington, the University of Alaska, the Brookings Institution, and Loyola University New Orleans. Jenny received his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Washington, and an MBA with honors from Loyola University New Orleans.

Jenny also served as president of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers (WACUBO), and on the board of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).