Dan Layzell named Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Dear Members of the App State Community,

I am pleased to announce that after a national search, I have named Dr. Dan Layzell to the position of Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations, effective August 15.

Dan currently serves as Vice President, Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer of Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. He brings a career of nearly three decades in higher education and a decade of policy and legislative experience to this role, as well as classroom experience as teaching faculty.

As Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations, formerly known as Vice Chancellor of Business Affairs, Dan will be responsible for administrative oversight of finance and administration, campus services, facilities management and human resources.

Previously, Dan served as Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration/Chief Financial Officer at Louisiana State University, where he was the Chief Financial Officer for the University’s statewide operations and of LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge. During his tenure at LSU, he also served as Interim President and CEO of the LSU Foundation. His higher education experience also includes serving as Vice President for Finance and Planning at Illinois State University, as Associate Vice President for Planning and Administration at the University of Illinois and as Director of Policy Analysis and Research for the University of Wisconsin System. His career also includes serving as Deputy Director of Planning and Budgeting for the Illinois Board of Higher Education, as a fiscal analyst for the Arizona and Florida state legislatures, and for a consulting firm partnership in the higher education practice MGT of America, Inc.

Dan has also been an adjunct faculty member in the graduate higher education administration programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Florida State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education with a minor in Public Administration from Florida State University, a master’s degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration from Illinois College. 

On behalf of the university, I thank the search committee for serving the university through their work on this committee, and would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Sharon Bell for serving as Interim Chief Financial Officer since August 2021.

Please join me in welcoming Dan to App State.

Best wishes,


Sheri Everts, Chancellor