Richard Cate

Richard Cate is the senior advisor to the president for operations at the University of Arizona. His responsibilities include overseeing Facilities and Planning, Human Resources, and University Information Technology Services; he also acts in a consultative role as needed to President Garimella and other senior leaders at the U of A. 

Before coming to U of A, Cate served for seventeen years as the Vice President for Finance and Administration at the University of Vermont (UVM). He also served, for fifteen years, as a lecturer for UVM in the Master of Public Administration program, teaching classes on budgeting and finance, human resource management, and government administration.

Cate also has extensive experience in Pre-K-12 education and civil service. He served as Vermont’s Commissioner of Education from 2003 to 2008. Prior to that, he spent seven years with the New York State Education Department, first as Chief Financial Officer and then as Executive Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, managing a budget of more than $19 billion and a staff of over 3,100 employees. Before that, he served for seven years as Executive Director of the Vermont Superintendents Association and for five years as City Manager of the City of Barre, Vermont. Prior to becoming city manager, he served on the Barre City Council for three years.

A native of Vermont and U.S. Army veteran, Cate graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He later earned a Master of Public Administration and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Planning and Policy Analysis (Public Finance concentration) from Rockefeller College at the University of Albany, as well as a Master of Accountancy from the University of Vermont.