Scott Russell Douglass, who held several administrative roles at Penn and in the Wharton School, including as Penn’s vice president of finance and treasurer and, most recently, as chief financial and operating officer of the Wharton School, died on April 26. He was 76. 

Mr. Douglass graduated from Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois, then earned bachelor’s (1973) and master’s (1976) degrees in political science from the University of Delaware and completed doctoral coursework at Syracuse University. 

Early in his career, he served as the budget director for the city of Wilmington, Delaware, and later became the state of Delaware’s secretary of finance under Governor Mike Castle, overseeing a $1.7 billion operating budget and 260 employees. 

Mr. Douglass racked up a cumulative 21 years at Penn over the course of two separate tenures. He first came to Penn in 1992 as associate dean for finance and administration in the Wharton School, a role he held until 1997, when he became the senior associate dean. During his first stint in the Wharton School, Mr. Douglass led the programming, design and construction of Jon M. Huntsman Hall, the launch and commercialization of Wharton Research Data Services, and the development of the business case for Wharton San Francisco, all included within a $250 million budget.

In 2004, Mr. Douglass was named Penn’s vice president for finance and treasurer—Penn’s chief financial officer (Almanac December 14, 2004). Even after being promoted to a University-wide role, Mr. Douglass served as a member of the Penn Medicine board. In 2007, he left Penn to become the executive vice president at his alma mater, the University of Delaware. He later served as a vice chancellor at North Carolina State University before returning to Wharton as its chief financial and operating officer in 2018 (Almanac December 11, 2018). He retired from Wharton and Penn in 2024. After retiring, Mr. Douglass served as interim vice president of finance and administration at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

“When I arrived at Wharton in 2020, during a pandemic that was forcing us to make tough decisions, Scott became my first and trusted friend,” said Wharton School Dean Erika James. “He quickly educated me on the operations, finances, and culture of Wharton, and then unequivocally supported me in those crucial early months. Our friendship only grew from there. I’m proud to have known and worked with Scott. His positive, outsized influence on Wharton is legendary, and it lives on in the school he helped build, and in the friends and colleagues—here and around our nation—whom he impacted.” Mr. Douglass was a respected member of the Penn and Wharton communities; many fond reminiscences of his time at Penn can be read here. 

Mr. Douglass is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his children, Evan, Meghan, Ryan, Caitlin; and grandchildren.

Donations in his honor can be made to WakeMed, where he received initial care, at https://www.wakemed.org/giving/make-a-gift, or to Duke University HomeCare & Hospice, which provided his final care, at https://www.givetodukeathome.org or to 4321 Medical Park Drive, Suite 100, Durham, NC, 27704.