Len Frey • Vice Chancellor for Finance & Administration | Arkansas State University | Jonesboro
One of Len Frey’s favorite sayings is “You can never go wrong by doing what’s right.”
Frey is vice chancellor for finance and administration at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, a position he has held for five years. He previously served as dean of the university’s College of Business.
“This has been a time of fiscal distress for many institutions of higher education across the nation,” the 54-year-old said, adding that the challenge is “continuing to fund initiatives aimed at enhancing the education experience for our students in a time of flat funding and increasing costs.”
Implementing a plan to make his entire division more service oriented has been one of his major accomplishments during his tenure, he said. Another has been helping the university enter into an energy performance contract that has resulted in $15 million in self-financing energy improvements. For that initiative, ASU received the first Energy Excellence Award from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality this year.
Frey is a member of Jonesboro Unlimited, board member of the Jonesboro Economic Development Corp., member and former chairman of the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce and past president of the Jonesboro University Rotary Club.
He also sits on the Arkansas District Export Council and in 2012 was recognized for his work on the panel by the U.S. Commercial Service, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Frey said he has a “highly participative” management philosophy. “Honest feedback is always encouraged, and I encourage team members to challenge my views and offer dissenting opinions.”
He credits Ben Owens, who was administrator at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro, where he worked before entering higher education, with showing him “the interaction of business and community and business and government.”
The Mammoth Spring High School graduate said his high school basketball coach, Jack Haney, and English teacher, the late JoKay Smith, were also major role models and mentors.
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