Chris Cowen is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the University of Florida – a comprehensive research and land-grant university. He was appointed to the role in August 2020. In this capacity he has fiscal oversight of the $8 billion University of Florida Enterprise and serves on several boards, including UF Health, the University Athletic Association, the UF Research Foundation, the University of Florida Investment Corporation and the University of Florida Foundation. He is also a member of the Treasury Institute for Higher Education Leadership Group and CFO Roundtable, and a member of the Southern Association of College and University Business Officer’s advisory committee for research universities.

Prior to joining the University, Mr. Cowen had a 30 year career in investment banking, most recently serving as Managing Director and head of the higher education finance groups at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. His clients have included many of the nation’s comprehensive research universities, private colleges and not-for-profit organizations. He regularly speaks and writes about issues pertaining to higher education finance.

Mr. Cowen received his undergraduate degree in finance and public policy from the Wharton School and in history from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.