Radcliffe's Treasurer Will Resign

The expected retirement of Robert H. Gardiner, Radcliffe's treasurer for the past 20 years, has compelled the administration to create a new full-time post to be filled in January.

Both Gardiner and Cambridge Associates, which advises the college on financial matters, recommended that the new vice president of finance and treasurer for the college hold a full-time staff position and sit as an ex-officio member of the Board.

Although Gardiner's post was only part-time, he was both a member of the finance committee of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees and president of the Fiduciary Trust Company, the investment manager of Radcliffe's endowment.

Part of the treasurer's new responsibilities will include a review of the performance of the Fiduciary Trust Company as Radcliffe's investment manager, Gardiner said. He added that he has "no idea what company Radcliffe will employ as investment manager" after he retires.

The college is considering hiring two or three management firms to create competition for higher investment returns, Charlotte McGhee, assistant administrative dean of Radcliffe, said Wednesday. Harvard currently divides part of its endowment in this way, she added.

Mary Cox, acting vice president and director of development and alumnae affairs at Radcliffe, said Wednesday that since the position was posted in August, she has received more than 150 resumes. President Horner is convening a search committee to review the resumes.