Shannon N. Smith joined Yale in 2019 as the university controller and chief accounting officer. Shannon leads a team of professionals who are responsible for university-wide accounting functions. These include general accounting, gift accounting, investment accounting, capital accounting, chart of accounts, external and internal financial reporting, costing, tax compliance and reporting, payroll, treasury, student billing, loans and collections, PCI compliance, financial compliance, policies and procedures, and post-award grant accounting.
Prior to working at Yale, Shannon spent 26 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a managing director in the higher education and not-for-profit industries. She led PwC’s higher education practice in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. She also served as the engagement managing director on financial statement audits and federal compliance audits in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
Shannon was also involved in PwC’s National Higher Education practice, co-authoring the Firm’s publication on emerging issues for Not-for-profit organizations and the Firm’s publication of Perspectives in Higher Education, and was a contributor to the Wiley publication of Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-for-Profit Organizations.
Shannon has a Bachelor of Science in accounting and human resources from Drexel University. She is a member of the AICPA, CSCPA, and NACUBO and a certified and licensed public accountant. Shannon serves as the American Association of University Women in Connecticut’s treasurer and sits on its Board of Directors. She is also the President of the Boy Scouts Connecticut Rivers Council and a Gold Award mentor for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut.