Ken Olliff

Senior Vice President, Strategy & Innovation

Ken spearheads major planning efforts and programmatic initiatives, builds external partnerships, and shapes the University’s strategic direction, with the goal of driving transformative change aligned with Boston University’s mission and aspirations.

He previously served as vice president for research & partnerships at Saint Louis University (SLU), where he grew the scale and eminence of the research enterprise, fostering an innovative research culture and building areas of distinctive strength. Under Ken’s leadership, SLU doubled its research expenditures and is on track to be designated Carnegie R1 in 2025.

Prior to Saint Louis University, Ken was associate vice president for program development in the Office of the Vice President for Research and National Labs at University of Chicago. Responsible for managing UChicago’s research enterprise along with Argonne and Fermi National Laboratories, the office managed annual research expenditures of ~$1.4 billion.

Ken received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a Doctor of Ministry from Meadville Lombard Theological School (an affiliate of the University of Chicago). He did advanced graduate work in religion at Harvard University and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.