Announcing Lafayette’s next Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

I am excited to share with you the news that Audra J. Kahr will be joining Lafayette as our new Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration. Audra stood out in a pool of outstanding candidates from across the country for her financial acumen, extensive leadership across numerous areas of campus administration, in-depth knowledge of the mission of a liberal arts institution, and deep understanding of our community and our region. In this role, Audra will oversee finance, operations, facilities, and an array of critical administrative services. Audra will join us November 29, 2022, and I look forward to welcoming her to my senior leadership team and to the many positive ways she will impact Lafayette.

Audra comes to us from our outstanding Allentown neighbor, Cedar Crest College, where since 2010 she has served as the chief financial officer, chief operating officer and treasurer, following five years serving as manager of financial and operational analysis and controller. In her role as Cedar Crest’s CFO, she has been a key figure in shaping the college’s programmatic and financial direction, overseeing the college’s finances as well as human resources, student financial services, conference services, the aquatic center, telecommunications and transportation, campus police, and the Mayfair Festival of the Arts.

Audra has also played a leadership role in Cedar Crest’s two most recent strategic plans and its new campus master plan; the college’s Middle States Assessment and re-Accreditation process; and the college’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic, overseeing everything from the testing strategy to management of all federal funding sources. She has directed the financing of numerous campus renovation projects, including the redesign of the campus’s College Center, residence halls, and new academic spaces, and the development of a new turf athletic facility and fieldhouse. She also implemented enterprise risk management practices to mitigate risks across the institution and helped the president implement the college’s new Budget Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining Cedar Crest, Audra served as senior auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and as senior financial analyst at Tyco International. She is a Certified Public Accountant, and a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She serves as a member of the Program and Services Committee for Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers, Treasurer of the Wildlands Conservancy and Vice President of the Moravian Development Corporation, and on the board of directors of the Forum for Ethics in the Workplace, among other service roles. She earned her bachelor’s degree in management and accounting from DeSales University. She and her husband Jason live in the Lehigh Valley with their three children, Joshua, Sophia, and Olivia.

Besides her extensive leadership in higher education finances and administration, Audra is also a warm and outgoing person, and I very much look forward to introducing her to our campus as soon as she arrives.  I know you will join me in welcoming her to our community.

To great things ahead,

Nicole Farmer Hurd
President