Remember that piggy bank that you had as a youngster to keep your allowance safe until there was enough for a couple packs of jellybeans or a model airplane? Here at TRIUMF, we have the same idea. We receive funding from the government (and others) and we invest our money into developing different projects. However, our financial transactions are just so heavy that together they would overwork even 100 piggies! That’s the time when we seek help from trained, seasoned experts.
After two months of working closely with outgoing Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Shirley Reeve, Henry Chen has officially became our new CFO and began his leadership of the TRIUMF business team on April 1st, overseeing the financial affairs of TRIUMF. Shirley has transitioned to a new role as the CFI Grant Accountant; we acknowledge her for her steadfast leadership of TRIUMF’s financial affairs. Henry is now in the driver’s seat, cruising with the Accounting department, Grant Accounting department, TRIUMF House, and Supply Chain Management, as well as Procurement and Logistics. He is accountable for ensuring our expenditures are appropriate and relevant to what we said we would do. And like landing a plane, every time we close the books, we want a soft landing from the positive side.
Henry is an alumnus of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Commerce, and holds the Certified Management Accountant designation. To TRIUMF, he brings his experience of financial management in a Provincial Government operated business enterprise, the hotel industry, and most recently, the management of UBC’s Student Society financial and business affairs. In comparing his work at TRIUMF with his previous employment, Henry found that “the financial principles are similar but culturally, there is no parallel.” That said, Henry has been working hard for the last couple of months on “understanding what we do and learning our language” and his foot is now steady on the gas!
Henry is also bringing experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to TRIUMF, a welcome expertise as TRIUMF works through implementing this new system for the lab. In return, TRIUMF is sharing its expertise with him, with lectures about Neutrinos or How-to-light-a-fire-under-the-water.
Welcome to your new home, Henry! We are delighted and thrilled to have you on the team.
-- Written by Angus Ng, Outreach Assistant