Vice-President Finance & Operations
Frank Laezza is the Vice-President, Finance & Operations, for the University of British Columbia. He is responsible for leading the VPFO team of over 1400 individuals in the core financial, facilities, and safety functions of the university across both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
Reporting directly to the President and Vice-Chancellor, Frank serves as a key member of UBC’s executive leadership team. He represents the VPFO in working with diverse constituencies across the university, as well as with external partners, to support and amplify UBC’s academic mission through the stewardship and continuous improvement of the university’s physical and financial assets.
As part of his role, he serves as a member of UBC’s Board of Governors, and oversees the university’s relationships with both UBC Investment Management, which manages the university’s endowment and staff pension plan, and UBC Properties Trust, which develops and manages real estate assets for the long-term benefit of the university community.
Frank is a strong believer in connected leadership, bringing a focus to collaboration and honest, two-way dialogue that enables him to build meaningful and productive relationships within his team as well as with external partners. He began his career with UBC in March 2023 after serving in leadership roles at a suite of Australia’s post-secondary institutions, including Murdoch University, Technical and Further Education State Vocational College (NSW), the University of Technology in Sydney, and the University of New South Wales. He holds a degree in Business/Commerce from the University of Technology Sydney, and an MBA from the University of Wollongong.
Updates from the VP
Fostering a culture of purpose-driven leadership
Welcome to the hustle and bustle of a full campus! I have to say, that’s the first time I’ve seen over 5,000 people line up for a hamburger… What a welcome back to the Vancouver campus! The new school year is always a time of promise and new beginnings — this year especially. We’ve had […]
Okanagan wildfires
The past weeks have been difficult, as many of us watched the wildfire situation developing in the Okanagan and especially around our campus near Kelowna. I want to acknowledge our UBC Okanagan leadership and campus operations teams for pivoting and managing this situation, the first responders and wildfire volunteers, and all of our VPFO teams in Vancouver that have aided in supporting our colleagues in the Okanagan. Thank you for your dedication and hard work, and for supporting one another.
Connected Leadership: Online and across our campuses
I genuinely believe in the power that people and relationships have to move organizations forward and that the best working relationships are founded upon meaningful personal connections. One way I hope we as individuals can improve our connections is by better using our collaboration tools; another way I’m looking to build connections in our portfolio is by reaching out across our campuses.
Our purpose shapes us
Over the last 3 months, I’ve met with teams from across the VPFO, most recently with our new VPFO Project Management Team. Through these conversations one thing is always abundantly clear: what we do in the VPFO matters — deeply — to the success of UBC.
Hello from my first 80 days
Each month I’d like to share a message with the portfolio, and today I want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who joined us last Wednesday at our “We are the VPFO” team event on the Vancouver campus.