Donella Rapier (MBA ’92) has recently been appointed associate dean for External Relations at HBS, following the resignation of James C. Schroeder, who accepted a position as chief development officer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Rapier has served as the School’s CFO since 1996 and will continue in that role along with her new leadership position at External Relations.

“This is an exciting time to be involved in External Relations at HBS,” Rapier notes. “The School is poised to move forward on a number of fronts to strengthen alumni connectedness to each other and to the School. Our growing technology capabilities will enable us to broaden our offerings to alumni in ways that have never been possible before. In addition, as we move ahead with initiatives to expand our impact worldwide, our alumni will play an even greater role in helping us to meet our goals.”

As an alumna, administrator, and former faculty member at HBS, Rapier approaches her new role from a unique perspective. A native of Los Angeles, she began her career there, working as a CPA for Price Waterhouse. The firm awarded her a full scholarship to HBS, and after graduation she rejoined the company as an audit senior manager in Boston. In that position, Rapier developed materials and conducted courses on a variety of accounting and auditing topics. This interest led in 1995 to a part-time faculty appointment, teaching accounting at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and then later at HBS, where she taught the first-year MBA accounting course, Financial Reporting and Control.

Since making the transition to CFO, Rapier has overseen and managed all aspects of the School’s finances, including long-range financial planning, budgeting, capital planning, financing alternatives, and financial reporting. She is involved in setting policy issues as they relate to the financial concerns of the School and is actively engaged in the design and installation of new financial systems, policies, and procedures at the University.

No stranger to alumni affairs, Rapier has participated in meetings of the Alumni Board, the Visiting Committee, and the Board of Directors of the Associates. “I’ve enjoyed working with the talented External Relations staff, and it has been a real privilege to have met so many outstanding graduates,” she says. “It feels great to be in a position where I can have a real impact on the relationship between the School and its alumni.”

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