WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Al Diaz, Purdue's executive vice president for business and finance, treasurer, on Friday (Dec. 6) was named treasurer and chief financial officer at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. The appointment is effective June 1. Diaz will continue in his current role at Purdue until he joins Marymount.<br /><br />Diaz has been Purdue's chief financial officer since July 2009. Marymount is an independent Catholic university that enrolls nearly 3,700 students.<br /><br />"I am grateful to Al for serving Purdue so well through recent years of economic uncertainty and guiding us as we navigated our goals of efficiency and effectiveness," President Mitch Daniels said. "Purdue has long been a model of sound fiscal management, and much of that is due to Al's leadership and expertise."<br /><br />Over the past four years, Diaz has overseen Purdue's nearly $2.4 billion annual operating budget, helping guide the university as it addressed economic challenges while still meeting its strategic goals, keeping wages competitive, improving operations, investing in academic programs, and this year freezing tuition and cutting some student fees.<br /><br />"Purdue is one of the world's great universities, and I am honored to have been a small part of its success," Diaz said. "I will miss the dedication of the talented faculty and staff at Purdue, but the opportunity offered to me by Marymount, which will allow me the chance to be closer to my family, is one I could not pass up."<br /><br />Prior to arriving at Purdue, Diaz was vice chancellor for administration at the University of California, Riverside. He also has extensive experience at NASA, where he managed a $3 billion budget as director of the Goddard Space Flight Center and then a $5.5 billion budget as associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.<br /><br />Diaz holds a bachelor's degree in physics from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and a master's degree in physics from Old Dominion University, as well as a master's degree in management from MIT.