Tucked away in an inner office of the Aiken Center, Kathleen Wells manages the daily business operations of the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School. Assistant Director of the School’s Business Service Center since 2015, Kathleen joined the School in 2007 as a temporary financial assistant to Rose Feenan, Assistant Dean for Business Operations. 

Kathleen gradually took on more responsibility in the Business Service Center and became a permanent University employee. Now as Assistant Director for Business Operations, with Rose working on special projects, Kathleen oversees and coordinates the School’s financial transactions, processes, and analyses; grants, gifts, and endowments; and building space and equipment surveys. Most of her time, she spends on human resources tasks involving personnel payroll, position descriptions and classifications, and new hires. 

She supervises two grants managers, a financial assistant, and a temporary staff member. She teams up with Grants Managers Heather Bullet and Deb McAdoo, Financial Assistant Jackie Bruning, and the University’s Sponsored Program Administration to manage Rubenstein School faculty research grants. She also partners with Carolyn Goodwin Kueffner, Graduate Program Student Services Specialist, to coordinate funding of graduate student research and teaching assistantships. 

Prior to working at the University of Vermont, Kathleen earned her degree at Champlain College. She then worked in financial accounting at Vermont Bicycle Touring, the Girl Scout Council, and Champlain Vocational Services prior to taking her position in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. 

“I enjoy how the School community works to help the environment and the world,” says Kathleen, a lifelong Vermonter who grew up in Lincoln around horses and, through her father’s influence, learned to love animals at a young age. 

An avid horseback rider, Kathleen is dedicated to her horse Kit. She lives in the family home in Lincoln and has two sons and a granddaughter living in Vermont.