Mesa Community College

Mr. Jeff Darbut

Mr. Darbut is a senior executive with progressive financial and administrative experience gained at Arizona State University and Fortune 1000 companies. Mr. Darbut joined Mesa Community College as Vice President of Administrative Services in June 2011. His areas of responsibility include Fiscal, Human Resources, Maintenance & Operations, Public Safety, Occupational Health & Safety and Property Control.

Most recently, he held the position of Director of Finance and Operations for the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University; overseeing multiple administrative functions including finance, information technology, facilities management, human resources, security and sponsored projects accounting. He successfully led the development and implementation of operational processes and procedures that promoted organizational efficiency and effectiveness. As a member of the leadership team for the Institute, Mr. Darbut was responsible for developing business plans that furthered the research mission and goals of the Institute. He also held a leadership role in the Institute's newly formed Impact Accelerator Program which translates research into start-up companies with commercial solutions. He acted as a spokesperson and representative of Biodesign to ASU senior management, the business community, and the Institute's strategic partners. Additionally, Mr. Darbut worked to develop and implement internal and external funding programs critical to the growth of the Institute.

Mr. Darbut is a co-founder of Espis Vaccines, LLC, an early stage ASU spin-out company, which provides discovery and licensing of immunotherapy candidates for the treatment of resistant infectious disease to the pharmaceutical industry under milestone and revenue-sharing agreements. He is also on the Board of Directors of OBX Rents, a vacation rental management company.

Mr. Darbut's professional career spans over 30 years of progressive financial leadership roles with Fortune 1000 companies, mid-sized private equity owned businesses and start-up businesses. He was a partner with Tatum LLP, a national financial consulting firm. He has also held positions as chief financial officer, vice president of finance & administration, director and controller in both public and private organizations. He has developed a broad range of experience which includes strategic planning, budgeting & forecasting, financial controls, process re-engineering, restructuring, new business development, and information technology. His assignments also included the implementation of new enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems at four different organizations, creating forward-looking information flows and processes to provide early warning about critical issues and building strong teams that partnered with management. This experience was gained at organizations such as the SPX Corporation, Parker-Hannifin Corporation, and Honeywell International. During his 15 years at Honeywell, he advanced his international skills with a three year assignment in Geneva, Switzerland as Controller of a European strategic business unit.

Mr. Darbut holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Arizona State University, a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh and an Associate of Science (AS) in Accounting from the Allegheny County Community College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Financial Executive Institute (FEI), the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), Finance Leaders Association (FLA) and the ASU Alumni Association. Although he was born and raised in Pittsburgh and having lived in eight different cities, he has spent twenty years living in the Valley of the Sun which he now considers home.