Nov 22
Jun 22, 2021
Lake Superior State University has selected veteran economist Dr. Nafez Alyan as its new vice president for finance and operations/chief financial officer upon conducting an exhaustive national search. He will succeed Morrie Walworth, who is retiring on Aug. 1, 2021, after five years in the position and 30 years at LSSU. Alyan begins at LSSU on July 15, 2021.
He arrives to the Sault from Old Greenwich, Conn., with more than 20 years of financial experience in leadership roles in academia and government. Most recently, Alyan has been a managing partner at the Lebanon-based NOVUS International Consultants for nine years, heading its higher education practice that focuses on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. His other executive jobs in education include CFO at United Arab Emirates University (2008-12), director of independent schools and finance at the Supreme Education Council of Qatar (2003-07), and dean of the business school at American University of Technology in Lebanon (2001-03), after starting there as an assistant professor.
Alyan also served as economic and financial adviser to the minister of finance of Qatar for a year and as credit manager of the National Bank of Kuwait for nearly a decade. A naturalized U.S. citizen, he earned a B.S. in economics from Kuwait University, an M.A. in accounting and financial management from University of Sheffield, and a Ph.D. in economics from University of Oklahoma. Over his career, Alyan has taught at several universities in the U.S. and in the GCC countries.
“We received many highly qualified applicants, and Dr. Nafez Alyan rose to the top because of his deep knowledge of finance and the wide range of his portfolio,” said LSSU President Dr. Rodney S. Hanley. “In higher education, the government sector, and the banking industry, Nafez has been an accomplished steward and analyst. He can implement, oversee, and advise on a multitude of topics, and that should serve him well at LSSU, especially regarding the fiscal resilience and operational excellence pillar of our strategic plan.”
“I am honored to join the Laker family and become part of the senior management team,” said Alyan. “Higher education is a building block for success, and I look forward to helping LSSU continue its 75-year tradition of innovative, inclusive, responsible, and affordable excellence.”
Alyan and his wife, Dr. Hanine Salem, a public policy consultant who specializes in organizational performance management and is a managing partner for K-12 education at NOVUS, have three adult children: Dr. Hala Alyan, a clinical psychologist and novelist and poet in New York City; Talal Alyan, a poet, stand-up comedian, and educational consultant in Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Miriam Alyan, a junior account executive at the New York City office of Infinite Global international communications firm.