Catherine Vakhnina

Position title: Chief Financial Officer

Email: catherine.vakhnina@wisc.edu

Phone: 608.262.9511

Address:
264B Bascom Hall

Catherine Vakhnina

Catherine Vakhnina is the International Division Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at UW-Madison. She guides the financial health of the organization and directs its fiscal management and operations by overseeing financial planning & analysis (FP&A), operating budgeting, operational finance, financial and regulatory reporting, management of division funds, business process improvement, and internal audit.

Catherine Vakhnina has over 16 years of financial and project management experience at global organizations, specializing in assisting visionary leaders in executing high-impact, multi-million-dollar funding portfolios across multiple countries. Her expertise lies in developing complex budgets, preparing financial forecasts, and enabling organizations to achieve ambitious science goals, accelerate growth, start ventures, or expand existing businesses.

Catherine joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2010, providing financial oversight and resource management for complex multi-million-dollar federal government-funded programs at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center. In her roles of Financial Program Manager and Project Controls Manager for IceCube Neutrino Observatory, she was engaged in all aspects of international project management and served as the primary budget and financial officer for the IceCube Collaboration consisting of 56 research institutions in 13 countries. In this capacity, she managed a portfolio of federal and foreign funds, oversaw all fiscal activities and grant administration for the organization, managed project controls, earned value management systems (EVMS), and other contractual requirements for the research facility construction projects.

Catherine also held various financial and project management roles at global corporations. From 2016 to 2018, she served as Director Financial Analysis & Forecasting and Director Governance at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Madison/South Central Wisconsin Chapter.

Catherine holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Strategic Management and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

In her leisure time, Catherine enjoys international travel, learning foreign languages, dining out, swimming, playing tennis, and golf.

Catherine also worked at global corporations in various financial and project management roles, and served as Director Financial Analysis & Forecasting and Director Governance at the Project Management Institute (PMI) Madison/South Central Wisconsin Chapter.

Catherine holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Strategic Management and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

In her free time, Catherine enjoys traveling, learning foreign languages, dining out, swimming, playing tennis and golf.