Three earrings; hair he could tuck in his pants; a Fu Manchu mustache. It's a far-off memory for the man who will soon oversee UF's financial operations in a time of budgetary crisis.
These days, Matt Fajack, 48, is clean-shaven. He's got a wife and two kids. He's got a $200,000 salary and, recently, got a whole lot more responsibility.
Fajack was named UF's first chief financial officer Jan. 1. On July 1, he will take over budget administration currently overseen by UF's Office of the Provost and the University Controller's Office.
Financial management for the Health Science Center and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will also be moved to his office.
Fajack may have taken office nearly three months ago, but he won't fill his third-floor office in Tigert Hall until May.
Fajack's current office, located in the Human Resources building several blocks from campus, is only temporary. The office is nearly void of classic finishes, such as posters, bookcases and artificial greenery adorning settled-in spaces of his new colleagues.
But an image of his unsold, snowed-in Ohio house on his computer's screen saver reminds him how much his life has changed.
More than two decades before Fajack assumed the reigns of UF's budget operations, he said he was a University of Minnesota freshman with intentions of becoming the country's "first respected social economist," but after graduating with an accounting degree in 1984, he became a "born again capitalist."
He spent 24 years in the business world - with a haircut that followed suit - in Dallas, where he met his wife of 15 years, Regina, nicknamed "Reggie." Fajack said debating education issues with his wife, a former professor and principal, inspired him to leave the wheeling-and-dealing world to try to improve higher education with his business skills.
During his three-year stay at Kent State University in Ohio, he served as executive director of financial affairs, a position similar to his UF position. But at the start of last fall, Fajack received a phone call from the search firm hired by UF to fill a chief financial officer position. At first, he tried to decline, he said.
"I wasn't out looking for a job," he said.
In late October, after interviews with search committees, deans and top UF officials, Fajack accepted. Kyle Cavanaugh, senior vice president for administration and Fajack's supervisor, said Fajack got the job because of his "unique" blend of experience, collaborative style and interpersonal skills.
Fajack hopes to make the system more efficient through uniting UF's financial operations.
He said it would be almost impossible to know details of every college's activity, but a big part of his plan would involve communicating with deans, department chairs and faculty in the coming months. For a man who has tasted big-city life in New York, Cleveland and Dallas, Fajack said the move to Gainesville has been a smooth transition for everyone in his family, including his two sons, Luke, 9, and Ryan, 7.
"You can't beat working in a town like this," Fajack said. "I would just as soon stay here for the rest of my career."
