Jack Gochenaur retires from MU
Jack Gochenaur, named nonprofit CFO of the Year by Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, is retiring at the end of April.
Vice president and chief business officer at Manchester University, he received the award in September. The Indianapolis Business Journal also selected Gochenaur as a 2012 CFO of the Year honoree for his excellent financial stewardship at Manchester.
“His visionary leadership, collaborative style and impeccable integrity have earned Jack the respect of the University community and his peers across Indiana,” said MU President Dave McFadden.
In more than a dozen years at Manchester, Gochenaur strengthened the institution’s finances, helped increase enrollment, oversaw the $9.1 million renovation and expansion of the Academic Center and mapped the finances for Manchester’s $19 million Fort Wayne campus.
Gochenaur graduated from Manchester in 1970 and then served in the Fort Wayne office of what is now Ernst & Young. In 1975, he went to work for Mutual Security Life Insurance Co. in Fort Wayne, where he reorganized and expanded the accounting, audit and financial services department – eventually serving as chief executive officer.
In 1990, Gochenaur accepted a position with national health insurance provider Fortis Health in Milwaukee, Wisc. As senior vice president of client services, he led more than 600 employees and saved the company $13.5 million a year. During his final three years at Fortis he led a $70 million project acquiring and implementing vendor software to replace existing systems.
In 2003, Gochenaur returned to his alma mater, where he led a team that encompasses physical, fiscal and human resources operations.
In addition to budgeting, investing and recordkeeping, student financial aid, conference services, the campus store and campus food service are all under that umbrella. All information technology, construction and maintenance on both the North Manchester and Fort Wayne campuses united under his leadership.
His successor has not yet been named.
Outside MU, Gochenaur has long been a leader with Youth for Christ. He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, served as a consultant for Junior Achievement’s Junior Project Business and served on the financial committee of Northwest Allen County Schools. He was active in the Fort Wayne Rotary Club and was treasurer of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission. He coached a children’s soccer team and is a record blood donor for the American Red Cross.
Wherever Gochenaur has lived, he has always been active in his church as a Sunday school teacher, treasurer and elder.
Jack and his wife, Dianna, have three grown children and live in Columbia City.
Jack has said that this is a sad and happy time. Sad, that he will leaving an institution that prepared him very well to graduate with ability and conviction and then have the opportunity to return to serve in an area that he trained for while here as a student. Happy, that it is a “full circle that has had many rewards including wonderful people to work with.”
“I will truly miss this place but look forward to spending more time with my wonderful wife of 47 years, my children, their spouses and, of course, our six wonderful grandchildren ranging in age 16 to 4. I am a fortunate fellow.”
Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, is one of six colleges across the nation grounded in the values and traditions of the Church of the Brethren. The University offers more than 60 areas of academic study to 1,500 students in undergraduate programs, a Master of Science in Pharmacogenomics, Master of Athletic Training and a four-year professional Doctor of Pharmacy. Learn more about the private, northern Indiana school at www.manchester.edu.
April 2016