Catherine Brennan

Catherine (“Cathy”) Brennan is the Vice President for Financial Planning and Analytics and Chief Budget Officer at Rutgers University, where she leads the university’s financial planning, budgeting, and data analytics strategy for a $5.6 billion enterprise. A results-driven public finance executive, Cathy oversees Rutgers University Budget Office and UFA Data Analytics teams, advancing long-range financial planning, multi-year projections, and a data-informed approach to institutional financial decision-making.

Cathy brings more than 30 years of experience navigating complex financial environments across higher education and state government. Before joining Rutgers, she served as Senior Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the State’s public polytechnic university, where she oversaw NJIT’s financial operations and led major initiatives in budget modernization, capital funding, enterprise risk management, and financial stewardship.

Earlier in her career, Cathy served as New Jersey’s Deputy State Treasurer during the first term of the Murphy Administration, where she directed the State’s Office of Management and Budget, Division of Taxation, Office of Revenue and Economic Analysis, and the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. She played a central role in shaping the Governor’s annual budget, presenting New Jersey’s finances to credit rating agencies, and guiding major fiscal policy decisions. Cathy previously spent more than two decades in the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, where she became a trusted expert on State budget development, tax policy, and fiscal analysis. During her OLS tenure, Cathy staffed the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee for many years, was the lead bill drafter on the State’s annual appropriations bill, and ultimately served as Section Chief of Revenue, Finance, and Appropriations.

Nationally recognized for her leadership, Cathy is a member of the Board of Directors for the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers (EACUBO) and has been honored as one of NJBIZ’s Best 50 Women in Business and an ROI-NJ Influencer: Women in Business.

Cathy earned her M.A. in Economics from the New School for Social Research and her B.A. in Economics from Drew University. She has also completed executive leadership programs at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School as well as through the National State Legislature’s Legislative Staff Management Institute.