Sean D. Galloway has been named William & Mary’s new chief financial officer, bringing more than two decades in public, private and higher education finance experience to the university.
Galloway will take the reins on June 10, reporting to Mike Todd, executive vice president for finance & administration. In the CFO role, Galloway will lead a finance team that includes budget and financial planning, budget analytics and the university controller.

“Sean brings an uncommonly broad body of financial leadership experience in higher education to William & Mary,” Todd said. “Following his early career experience as an auditor, he’s served as university controller, overseen treasury functions, guided investment management and sponsored program accounting.

“Sean also impressed the search committee and university stakeholders with his open, transparent approach to financial leadership and deep appreciation for the teaching and research mission of William & Mary. He stood out from an exceptionally strong candidate pool.”

A key role

Galloway joins William & Mary from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he has served in a variety of roles with increasing responsibility since 2016, when he was hired as controller and director of financial operations. Most recently, Galloway served as associate vice president for finance and acting vice president in 2023.

“In Sean’s nine years at Franklin & Marshall, he has evolved the financial processes and reporting at F&M to be more timely, efficient and effective,” said Shawn Curtin, Franklin & Marshall’s vice president of finance and administration. “His calming presence and ability to build relationships across campus has made him a trusted partner to all who he has worked with. William & Mary has selected an excellent chief financial officer and his presence at F&M will be deeply missed.”

At William & Mary, Galloway will oversee an operating budget of nearly $600 million, leading the university’s financial operations and strategic vision. The CFO will convene business leaders from W&M’s academic and administrative units, liaise with financial leadership from affiliated foundations and report to the Commonwealth of Virginia on major financial processes.

Responsible for financial planning and aligning resource distribution with institutional priorities, the CFO role also tracks internal costs and communicates transparently about the university’s finances. The role represents the university’s primary voice on major financial policies and processes.

Committed to education, transparency

William & Mary is looking beyond the six-year financial plan required by the Commonwealth in order to plan strategic growth and meet long-term institutional goals. W&M is also in the process of adopting a new enterprise resource planning platform, Workday, upon which the university’s financial systems will run.

Galloway offers experience in both, having been at Franklin & Marshall when that college reimplemented its ERP.

“I’m joining the William & Mary finance team at an exciting time of change,” Galloway said. “Building on the momentum of the Workday implementation, this role is an opportunity to develop and lead initiatives that build the continued sustainability of this prestigious institution
“On a personal note, I have dreamed of coming to William & Mary since my first visit to the Wren Building as a 9-year-old visitor to Colonial Williamsburg. I am deeply honored to be joining W&M as CFO.”

Galloway said that as a finance leader, he is particularly passionate about transparency and increasing literacy regarding higher education finance. While at Franklin & Marshall, he worked with students to help them understand how institutional investments are structured and said he welcomes interactions with faculty and staff as opportunities to collaborate.

“Sean displays a clear depth of finance knowledge and was able to relate easily to a variety of different people in the interview process,” said Sean Hughes, W&M chief business officer, who chaired the CFO search. “He is immensely personable, easy to speak with and clearly demonstrates a strategic thinking mindset in his conversations.”

A distinctive history

Galloway launched his finance career in 2003 as a staff auditor in the private sector when he went to work for accounting and auditing firm Beard Miller (now Baker Tilly), where he would advance for the next decade. He then joined the U.S. member firm of the global accounting network BDO International as senior tax manager before becoming the tax director for Select Medical, a Pennsylvania-based healthcare company.

At Franklin & Marshall, Galloway tackled a number of impactful projects that increased the college’s ability to forecast and make data-driven decisions. Under his leadership, the college improved its multi-year financial model, standardized its financial reporting templates and data sets and embarked on an ambitious plan to improve understanding of university finances for the campus, trustee and donor communities.

“Sean approaches issues evenly and calmly, determining facts and then methodically problem solving,” Hughes said. “In my experience, this approach is immensely successful. I look forward to having a financial partner think and act in this way.”

Galloway holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and was formerly a certified public accountant in Pennsylvania. He has served as an investment committee member for the Lancaster County Community Foundation and as president of the board of trustees, as well as treasurer and finance chair, for the Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School.

He comes to Williamsburg with his fiancé, Philip, a U.S. Navy chief yeoman who recently retired after 20 years of service, and their two schnauzers, Ollie and Marty.