Vice President for Finance Melody Bianchetto Announces Retirement

Vice President for Finance Melody Bianchetto recently announced her intention to retire from University Service effective February 3, 2023.

Bianchetto is a dedicated alumna, a UVA parent, and a longtime University employee.  After graduating from the University with a B.S. in Commerce in 1988, she worked for Ernst & Young and two other firms before returning to UVA in 1996. She has brought technical expertise, institutional knowledge, and passion to her work for 26 years, and has risen through the ranks here at UVA. 

Bianchetto began as a senior budget analyst in 1996, was promoted to budget manager in 1997, and then to director of budget in 1998. She earned an MBA from JMU while working full-time. In 2006, she was named assistant vice president for budget and financial planning; in 2013, she was promoted to associate vice president for finance. Finally, in 2015, she was named vice president for finance.

Bianchetto's legacy at the University is both broad and deep. She will be remembered for her  collaboration on initiatives that include:

• sponsoring technology solutions, including Finance Strategic Transformation, Adaptive Planning, University Business Intelligence, TravelUVA, and others
• serving on the team that achieved three record-breaking bond issuances and overseeing the University’s $3.2 billion AAA-rated debt portfolio 
• establishing the financial model for and stewarding the financial management of the strategic investment fund 
• creating the financial plans to enable the stability of AccessUVA, the creation of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and the School of Data Science, the construction of capital projects across Grounds from the John Paul Jones Arena to the South Lawn, the reduction the University’s deferred maintenance backlog, and financial self-sufficiency for the Law and Darden Schools 
• leading the annual budget process that established balanced budgets through significant state budget reductions, periods of strategic investments, and the COVID-19 pandemic
• constructing the University’s management agreement with the Commonwealth that provides extensive decentralized authority in finance, procurement, human resources, information technology, and capital.

Bianchetto has partnered with colleagues across Grounds to support their strategic initiatives and set an example for others in her intentional work to develop her team. In addition, she has carefully led diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within UVAFinance and expanded the supplier diversity program for the entire University.

EVP COO J.J. Davis will convene a search committee in the coming weeks for Bianchetto's successor.  In the meantime, please join UVAFinance in congratulating Melody and thanking her for her excellent work and her lasting influence on the University!