Sandra Kim was appointed Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the University of California, Riverside (UCR) this month after serving in the role in an interim position for over a year. As Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Kim will head the Office of Planning, Budget & Administration, which oversees a wide variety of campus business, support, safety, facility and auxiliary services.
Kim previously served as the interim Vice President of Finance and CFO at Barnard College and Vice President of Finance and Administration and CFO at Saint Mary’s College of California. Kim was the Managing Director and the Group Head for higher education and non-profits at San Francisco-based UBS Public Finance from 2017 to 2023. From 2008 to 2017, Kim also worked in the UC Office of the President in finance roles, including as Associate Vice President of Finance for Capital Asset Strategies and Finance.
Kim described how serving as the interim Vice Chancellor for Planning, Budget & Administration prepared her for her now-permanent position by demonstrating the importance of using resources to achieve real outcomes for the campus community. She also highlighted her dedication to the community at UCR, stating, “Given my own belief in education as a pathway for opportunity, I’m looking forward to taking on the role permanently and continuing to support the work across UC Riverside — from student success to research and impact in the Inland Empire.”
UCR Chancellor Jack Hu expressed his pleasure to welcome Kim to the role, considering her extensive experience in higher education financial administration. Hu added that Kim’s leadership experience was well-suited to “help steer UCR through challenges and toward leadership’s ambitions for a financial strategy that is both sustainable and ambitious.”
Since adopting her interim position, Kim has replaced Gerry Bomotti, who served for eight years as Vice Chancellor of Planning, Budget and Administration. Among the financial challenges facing the school that Kim must navigate are cuts to the state funding UCR receives. In 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom’s new state budget slashed funding for UC and California State University schools by nearly 8%. In the wake of record enrollments at UCR, these cuts posed a substantial risk to both students and faculty alike.
Despite this, since Kim’s term as interim Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration, UCR has been able to supplement diminished funding through additional tuition, investment income and savings on salaries and leases. UCR has also compensated for cut funds through grants and philanthropy, such as the $800,000 grant it received this year from the W. M. Keck Foundation. The grant supports scientific research in agricultural science, quantum mechanics and regenerative medicine.
