Michael Papadakis
Michael Papadakis leads all financial activities of the institution and oversees a $9+ billion annual budget as the senior vice president of business and finance and chief financial officer for The Ohio State University.
Mike is focused on advancing the university’s mission through operational excellence and resource stewardship, including efficiencies and innovative funding solutions.
He began as Ohio State’s vice president and treasurer in 2011 and has been serving as the university’s senior vice president and CFO since February 2018. As CFO, Mike oversees offices including business advancement, corporate engagement, financial operations, internal audit, investments, risk management & insurance, treasury, energy innovation and the Wexner Medical Center CFO.
Mike led the university’s team on the $1.165 billion comprehensive energy management partnership, which represents the largest-ever investment in Ohio State’s academic mission. The university has invested most of the funds in endowments that support student scholarships, teaching excellence and other academic priorities. The partnership is also improving the sustainability of the Columbus campus — with work underway to improve building energy efficiency by at least 25 percent within 10 years — and creating a $50 million energy innovation center to advance discoveries to market.
Some of his other accomplishments at Ohio State include the $483 million campus parking concession, 20-year wind power purchase agreement, and agreements with Apple, Coca-Cola, Huntington Bank and NIKE that support the academic mission in various ways. Mike has utilized his capital markets expertise to provide the university with access to affordable financing for projects such as the North Residential District. Capital highlights include the issuance of the university’s century bonds and subordinated housing bonds, and the establishment of a corporate “shelf-like” registration process, which has been utilized for a $600 million round of financing.
Mike serves as a board member of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, OSU Health Plan, OSU Physicians, Inc., Transportation Research Center, Rev1 Ventures, Oval Limited, Ohio State Innovation Foundation, Ohio State University Foundation, Science and Technology Campus Corporation (SciTech) and Campus Partners.
Prior to joining the university, he served as a director of energy investment banking at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Mike held previous roles in corporate tax at Deloitte and strategic business valuation at Arthur Andersen.
Mike earned his MBA in Finance from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and a BBA in accounting from the University of Cincinnati. He also completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School. Mike is a CPA (inactive).
Mike resides in New Albany with his wife, Kennia, and two daughters, Gabriela and Anna.