President Beverly Warren announced Mark Polatajko as the school’s new senior vice president for finance and administration, who will start this January.

Polatajko comes to Kent State from Wright State University in Dayton, where he serves as vice president for business and finance/chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

Prior to his time at Wright State, Polatajko served as vice president of Cuyahoga Community College’s Administration and Finance Division and worked numerous roles for the Ohio Lottery Commission in Cleveland, ultimately becoming the lottery’s deputy director of finance. Polatajko also has public accounting experience with Ciuni & Panichi in Beachwood, Ohio, where he worked for five years.

The Division of Human Resources and its vice president will report directly to Polatajko. Polatajko, in turn, will report directly to President Beverly Warren.

Polatajko will lead Kent State’s Division of Business and Finance. He will be responsible for budget, financial reporting, facilities planning and operations, business and administration services, public safety, internal auditing, compliance/risk management and real estate.

Polatajko is a native of Parma, Ohio, and graduated from the University of Akron with his Bachelor’s in accounting, his Master’s of Business Administration with a specialization in finance from Ashland University and his Ph.D. in urban education, specializing in leadership and lifelong learning, from Cleveland State University. 

“We are delighted that Mark will be joining our executive leadership team and look forward to his contributions as a strategic and innovative leader in finance and administration,” Warren said in a statement. “He joins Kent State at a time of great momentum and will be instrumental in advancing our vision as a transformative, dynamic and distinctive university.

He will replace Gregg Floyd, who announced his retirement in March. Floyd will continue to work with the president on special projects and will assist in Polatajko’s transition until he officially retires June 30.

“I want to thank Gregg Floyd, who has served in this position since 2008 and announced this past March his plans for retirement,” Warren said in a university statement. “I am deeply grateful to Gregg for his dedication to the university and the many contributions he has made, such as executing the historic Foundations of Excellence: Building the Future initiative, working with trustees to strengthen investment strategies, continuing the university’s leadership in campus safety and emergency preparedness, and most of all, advancing the town-gown relations and developments including the revitalization of downtown Kent. We wouldn’t be where we are today without his leadership.”

Ian Flickinger is the administration reporter for The Kent Stater, Contact him at [email protected].