
After nearly a decade of leadership at Willamette University, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer Dan Valles has departed the university since April 2015. In preparation for becoming the vice president for finance and administration at Albion College in Michigan, Valles was announced to be leaving Willamette on Nov. 1, 2024, and a Farewell Open House was hosted for Valles in the University Services Building on Oct. 28, 2024 to thank him for “his guidance and service.”
The announcement of Valles’s arrival at Albion College formally stated that his new role began on Nov. 18, 2024. In providing information about Valles’ past, Albion College outlined that Valles had managed a $100 million budget during his decade at Willamette, overseeing the financial planning, budgeting, facilities and financial aid. He also helped manage Willamette’s mail operations, the bookstore, enrollment and marketing. Additionally, Valles was on Willamette’s board of trustees.
Willamette University’s leadership team had been operating on a Chief Operating Officer (COO) framework. Now, due to Valles’ departure, the university is beginning to adopt a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) framework instead. Management responsibilities have shifted toward Anne Gallagher, the former associate vice president for budget and facilities. She is now the CFO vice president of finance who oversees the budget, accounting department, the endowment and facilities of Willamette. Gallagher stated that the responsibilities of Valles’ position were “distributed across the leadership team,” and she stepped up to assume the responsibility of managing finances.
Gallagher noted that Valles’ departure will not cause significant changes that would dramatically impact students or the university itself. “I think everything is in good hands. He played a big role at the university, but the university does have a strong leadership team,” Gallagher said.
Regarding the permanence of the CFO model the university oversight is run by, Gallagher noted that either COO or CFO models work in terms of oversight of a university, meaning the leadership may or may not revert back to a COO model in the far future. All shifting of positions within the leadership team can be seen on Willamette University Announcements.
Colleen Kawahara, chief of staff to the president and vice president for communications, also worked closely with Valles in Willamette’s leadership team made up of vice presidents and deans. Reflecting on Valles’ time as COO, Kawahara outlined his accomplishments, mentioning his strength in leadership within operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and his management of Willamette’s merger with Portland’s Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). Additionally, she said that the “restructuring [of] our debt to help pay for some important infrastructure projects at Willamette” was also conducted under the leadership of Valles. This included the entire replacement of the boiler system and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system throughout the entire campus.
Kawahara recalled that Valles had set up the institution management with “succession planning,” a system devised to ensure that the entire leadership team “knew as much as he did about the finances and plans” prior to his departure.
In a final farewell statement Valles gave to The Collegian provided by Kawahara, he said, “After nine years at Willamette, my decision to pursue other opportunities was not made lightly. Willamette has been more than just a workplace for me. For as much as I worked to transform it on the financial and operations side to ensure its long-term sustainability, Willamette has transformed me even more. This opportunity to pursue a new professional challenge in a different part of the country will allow me to apply the leadership skills and knowledge I've developed during my time at Willamette, but a part of me will always remain at Willamette and I am grateful to have had the chance to serve alongside the students, faculty, staff, and broader community on this journey.”
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