Jeff Bethke became Executive Vice President in January 2016. Before being appointed to this post, he served as university treasurer from March 2008 to December 2015. In that
role, he led the treasury operations and liquidity management
functions of the university, administered its endowment and other
investment holdings, oversaw the institution's capital finance strategy
and managed its debt portfolio. Bethke managed the commercial real
estate of the institution and was responsible for the acquisition,
disposition and leasing of its fixed assets. He also supervised the
institutional compliance, risk management, and insurance and loss
prevention functions as well as the university's procurement and
equipment salvage activities.
He is president of the Educational Advancement Fund, Inc., a joint
venture of DePaul, Columbia College of Chicago and Roosevelt University,
which owns and operates the 1,720-bed, 18-story University Center of
Chicago dormitory facility in downtown Chicago. He is the investment
chair of the DePaul University defined contribution retirement plan and
an oversight committee member of the DePaul University Student Managed
Investment Fund. He is the administrative liaison to the Investment
Committee of the DePaul University Board of Trustees and is engaged in
numerous other standing committees of the board. He is a member of the
university's Joint Council, its Executive Compliance Committee and the
university Enterprise Risk Management Oversight Committee.
Bethke joined DePaul in 2002. Before becoming treasurer, he served as
associate treasurer, associate vice president for the office of the EVP,
budget director and director of procurement services. Prior to DePaul,
Bethke was a management consultant and principal at Jeslen Corporation, a
Chicago-based management consulting firm. He also has held positions in
corporate finance, procurement, logistics management and marketing. He
previously served as director of procurement for the 79-branch Chicago
Public Library System.
Bethke has an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of
Chicago Graduate School of Business, now the Booth School of Business,
and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history from the
University of Missouri at Kansas City. He is a member of the Economic
Club of Chicago, a board member of the Civic Federation and a member of
the board of directors of DePaul College Prep Catholic High School, where he also serves as chairman of the board finance committee.
He is a first-generation college graduate and a native of Independence, Missouri.