Cheryl Verbruggen named Director of Budget and Financial Planning3 min read

Ann Arbor, Mich., Friday, April 17, 2020 – Cheryl Verbruggen has been named Director of Budget and Financial Planning for the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, effective June 1.

Verbruggen joins the dental school after nine years as Vice Dean of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Mich. She brings more than 30 years of accounting and finance experience in healthcare and higher education in southeast Michigan, including positions at Oakland University, Wayne State University and William Beaumont Hospital.

In her current role at the Medical School, she is responsible for financial, planning and business affairs of the school, including coordination of fiscal operations with the school’s clinical partner, Beaumont Health. She directs the school’s Senior Planning Analyst, Finance Manager, Business Manager/Financial Analyst and Dean’s Office support staff, who together manage the School of Medicine budget, financial reporting, strategic planning, and resource and space planning.

School of Dentistry Dean Laurie McCauley announced Verbruggen’s appointment, which was recommended by a search committee. “Cheryl’s extensive experience in both higher education and healthcare finance makes her an excellent fit for the School of Dentistry,” McCauley said. “She will be a key member of our management team as she advises our senior leadership regarding the broad and complex financial issues related to the school’s educational, patient care and research missions, as well as supporting the fiscal operations of all units and activities in the school.”

The dental school’s Director of Budget and Financial Planning develops and directs financial and accounting activities in areas such as fiscal control, capital financing, cash management, patient accounts and billing, budget projection, cost accounting and project planning. The director prepares budgetary materials for the annual university budget and directs the preparation of all financial analyses and reports. In cooperation with the leadership team and department managers, the director oversees the school’s financial management information systems and assists in school-wide and university-wide strategic planning and policy development.

Verbruggen began her finance career at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak where she held several positions leading up to Business Manager of Nutritional Medicine. She joined Oakland University as Associate Director for Budget and Financial Planning, a position she held for five years before being named Wayne State University’s Director of the Office of University Budget. In April 2006, she returned to Oakland University as Assistant Vice President and Controller, then was named to her most recent position at the university, as vice dean of the medical school, in 2011.

“Joining one of the top dental schools in the world represents an exciting new opportunity,” Verbruggen said. “I look forward to collaborating with the administrators, faculty and staff as part of the school’s team-oriented environment.”

Dean McCauley thanked members of the search committee, which was chaired by Dr. Brent Ward, chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Dean McCauley also thanked Cathy Jenkins Newton, Department Administrator for the dental school’s Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics, who served as the Interim Director of Budget and Financial Planning since last September.

###

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.  Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.