Vice President for Administration and Finance

Meet Ethan Erickson

As vice president for administration and finance, Erickson manages the university's operating budget of more than $900 million. He is responsible for providing strategic financial management and overseeing the campuswide budgeting processes and capital planning. He manages campus administrative and operations management.

Erickson, who joined K-State in 2014 as assistant vice president for budget planning, developed and implemented the university's new performance-based budget model and received the 2019 President's Award for Excellence for Unclassified Staff in the Distinguished Accomplishments category.

Named the university's chief financial officer in 2019, Erickson managed the university's $55 million in federal COVID relief funding and led the refinancing of university debt during the market instability caused by the pandemic. This effort achieved $10 million in savings. In 2021, Erickson added interim vice president and chief operating officer to his title, launching grounds maintenance and campus beautification projects to assist student recruitment efforts. He also developed a five-year capital improvement plan for university construction and improvement projects to support K-State's $2.3 billion in physical plant and infrastructure.

Before joining K-State, Erickson was fiscal services and operations director at the Kansas State Department of Education from 2008 to 2014. He also has served in budget leadership and analyst roles for the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Division of Budget in the Kansas Department of Administration and as a human resources professional and consultant with the Division of Personnel Services for the state Department of Administration.

Erickson earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and a Master of Business Administration from K-State.