Matthew Frist was recently named Duquesne’s next Vice President of Management and Business.
By Brandon Addeo | Asst. News Editor
If you ask incoming Duquesne Vice President of Management and Business Matthew Frist where he is from, he will likely reply, “nowhere.”
That’s because Frist, Duquesne’s current associate vice president for finance and business, moved all around the country with his family as a child. His father’s military career took Frist’s family to Oklahoma, Hawaii, North Carolina and even Germany.
Duquesne announced Frist as the successor to current VP David Beaupre on Jan. 22. He will begin the new role on Feb. 13, and is confident in his ability to meet the challenges of managing the finances of a major university.
“I’m thrilled,” he said. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity. Professionally I’ve been preparing myself for this opportunity my entire career. I’m very excited.”
His predecessor Beaupre is leaving Duquesne to accept a similar position at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Duquesne president-elect Ken Gormley praised Frist’s promotion.
“I think it’s a fabulous appointment,” Gormley said. “Given [Frist’s] extensive experience here and level of expertise, if we went out and did a national search the best we could hope to do was find someone like Matt Frist.”
Gormley added that Frist, who has worked at Duquesne for 18 years, is a “perfect fit” for the job.
“He loves this place,” Gormley said. “He’s had a lot of opportunities at other universities but [Duquesne] is his first choice where he wants to stay, and that to me is worth its weight in gold.”
Frist said the Vice President for Management and Business is responsible for providing financial and bureaucratic “guidance and leadership” to many non-academic departments on campus, such as facilities management, computing and technical services and public safety.
Born in Oklahoma and currently a resident of Wexford, Frist looked back on his childhood and the many moves it entailed as a defining aspect of his life.
“Moving every three or four years as a child, you learn how to quickly make friends,” Frist said.
He believes that quality will assist in his new role.
“I think it helps to have an outgoing personality,” he said. “In a position like mine, you need to be able to work well with all levels of employees throughout the organization … a lot of that comes back to being able to connect with people.”
Frist earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Gannon University, where he also met his wife, Courtney. He earned a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pittsburgh.
Frist said that while he expects the new role to be more demanding, he hopes he will be able guide university services to operate “in a more economical and efficient way” as well as to improve students’ experiences during their time at Duquesne.
Frist said he enjoys running and doing remodeling work in his house — though pursuing these hobbies is difficult as he has four children, ages one through 13.
“I don’t have a lot of free time,” he said with a laugh.
