News and Announcements

Zheming Yu has been named VPF Director of Treasury and Planning. In this role, she leads the VPF team responsible for managing MIT’s non-endowed financial assets and the Institute’s debt portfolio and maintaining relationships with MIT’s operating and investment banks and rating agencies.

Bringing 16 years of treasury experience to MIT, Zheming was previously Treasury Director for capital markets and foreign exchange at Nuance Communications. Prior to that, she was Associate Director in the Office of Treasury Management at Harvard University, where she managed Harvard’s central bank and liquidity management for its individual schools and units.
 
“I am first and foremost a treasury professional,” says Zheming, who joined MIT in late November. “I’m drawn to the complexity of the role, the need to be simultaneously aware of MIT’s internal financial structure and liquidity needs and paying close attention to external markets, trends, and forecasts. Since liquidity impacts every corner of the Institute, a major aspect of my role is to build relationships and maintain an ongoing dialogue with all of the stakeholders to ensure our goals for the short-term and the long-term are aligned. This is a consensus-driven endeavor.”
 
“Treasury is essentially a risk management position,” she says, “requiring active management of liquidity risk and debt-related risk. I am inspired by MIT’s approach to this task because when we talk about building a framework and developing our long-term operational protocols and policies, MIT’s senior leaders take the time to think through the big picture and take the long view. At MIT, long-term stewardship is truly the North Star, and for me, the most inspiring part of the job.”
 
A native Chinese speaker and a long-distance runner (mostly running half-marathon races), Zheming holds a BA in British and American Literature from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and multiple finance certifications including Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).
 
Zheming and her husband, Lizhong Zheng, who is a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT, are adjusting to working remotely while raising their two children. Joining MIT during the pandemic was not as difficult as Zheming expected. “The connectedness of the MIT community and the collaborative spirit here has made this transition quite easy,” she says. “Post-pandemic, I am looking forward to being on campus and meeting everyone in person.”