Cornell University Athletics

Years at Cornell: 16
At Cornell: Zehr has over 25 years of experience in budget and finance for both the public and private sectors. In her current role as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Finance & Administration, she is responsible for oversight of all financial activities, including managing the annual budget, developing financial projections, guiding rate-setting, overseeing various accounts, ensuring compliance with financial reporting, guiding capital planning, managing reserve funds, and evaluating risk management compliance. Zehr began her career at Cornell was a finance manager overseeing a transactional team for units that included payroll.  She moved into an Assistant Director of Finance role primarily responsible for budgets and forensic variance analysis where she designed monthly financial reporting and dashboard tools helping management gain insight to key performance indicators and helped drive profitability. At Cornell Dining, she took on the role of Director of Organizational Excellence where she was able to have an impact on strategy and programmatic enhancement for the dining organization through nutrition, sustainability, training & development, food systems & innovation, customer satisfaction and project leadership. She played an integral role in the North Campus Residential Expansion initiative where she was heavily involved in the partnership with the College of Human Ecology and the evolution of the Discovery Kitchen innovation and teaching lab located in Morrison Dining Hall.