Yale School of Management - Alumni Leaders

"Yale SOM confirmed my commitment to working in higher education -- not simply pursuing a path of least resistance, but understanding the special opportunities for truly collaborative work and leadership as well. Understanding the business world is invaluable to a manager in a non-profit setting. Yale SOM was a wonderful learning experience, a great community, and the foundation for my career."

Elizabeth (Betsy) Eismeier has served as vice president for finance and administration since July of 2001. In that position, Betsy oversees the financial management of the College, from planning through reporting; human resource services; physical plant administration and construction; property management; risk management and insurance; and certain support operations (post office, the Vassar College Bookstore). She chairs three campus committees (Campus Master Planning, Benefits, and Crisis Response Committees) and is very actively engaged in the work of the Priorities and Planning Committee and the Emergency Response Committee. With the assistance of her administrative group, she supports the work of four board committees: Audit, Budget and Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Investments.

Prior to joining the Vassar administration, Betsy held several senior positions at Colgate University, including associate provost (1980-1985), associate vice president for business and finance (1985-1987), and financial vice president and treasurer (1987-2001). She chaired the Personnel Review Committee and the Benefits Committee, and served on governance committees concerned with financial planning and affirmative action. During her career, Betsy staffed trustee task forces on financial aid policy and strategic planning, and represented Colgate in the development of new athletic league structures, ultimately serving as chair of the Policy Committee of the Patriot League and co-chair of the ECAC Division I Hockey League. Before her Colgate career, Betsy spent nine years at Yale University, holding administrative positions in the experimental summer term in Yale College, the Provost’s Office and the Campaign for Yale.

Betsy served on the Smith College Investments Committee for ten years, and is a past treasurer of the board of directors of the Smith College Alumnae Association. Currently she is a member of the advisory board of the Private Equity Funds of Commonfund Capital and of the Forum on the Future of Higher Education. In her community, Betsy is a trustee and secretary of the board of Vassar Brothers Medical Center and serves on the Finance Committee of HealthQuest, the medical center’s corporate parent. She is a board member and secretary of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation and serves on the Investment Committee of the Dutchess County Community Foundation.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College with a major in American Studies, Betsy also holds a masters degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management. She is married to Theodore J. Eismeier, professor of government at Hamilton College. They have three children and reside in Poughkeepsie near the Vassar campus.