Cornell University's Division of Planning and Budget has filled two critical vacancies -- budget director and assistant vice president -- that have been open for several months. Davina Desnoes will assume the position of budget director, and John Adams has been named assistant vice president for planning and budget. Both will join Cornell in January.

Desnoes and Adams will report to Elmira Mangum, vice president for planning and budget, and provide leadership and support to manage the Division of Planning and Budget's activities related to university priorities. These activities include planning, budget management and development, space and capital budget planning, policy analysis, institutional research and assessment, development of management information for reporting, and coordination of the Administrative Streamlining Program.

"I am pleased that we have been able to recruit Davina and John to Cornell. Their experience in higher education will certainly add strength to our capacity to meet the challenges that lie ahead," Mangum said. "After nearly a year at Cornell with an understaffed unit, I am confident that we will be able to relieve some of the pressure that has been placed on the existing staff in maintaining the division's responsibilities."

Desnoes will fill the vacancy left by Adriane Callinan, who now handles business affairs in the Laboratory of Ornithology. Desnoes will work closely with other senior management in the division, as well as with a variety of financial administrators throughout the university, to ensure that Cornell's resources are effectively managed in support of the academic mission. This includes providing specialized budget services to meet the requirements of New York state and State University of New York (SUNY).

Desnoes will leave SUNY Buffalo, where she has been director of financial allocation and account management in the financial services division. In this role she led all aspects of the budget, including those that pertain to the SUNY system and its resources. Prior to that Desnoes was SUNY Buffalo's associate director and then director of grants and contracts, where she oversaw the financial administration of externally funded sponsored programs and managed accounts receivable. She has also worked in financial management positions at SUNY Buffalo's Office of the Provost and Department of Music.

She earned a B.S. in business administration and a master's degree in education, both from SUNY Buffalo; she has also attended the Cornell Administrative Management Institute.

Adams will replace Paul Streeter, who is now assistant dean for finance and administration at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Adams will support the campus efforts in long-range planning and forecast modeling, and manage selected divisional planning priorities and their effects on the campus community. He will also collaborate with deans, vice presidents and college business officers on strategic, campuswide initiatives.

From 2006 to March 2010, Adams was vice president for finance and administration at North Dakota State University, where he managed assets and an annual budget of more than $290 million and capital programs of nearly $40 million. He was previously director of financial planning and budget at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also directed budget and planning at Central Michigan University and has been a senior financial analyst at Newport News Shipbuilding. He began his career in the U.S. Navy.

Adams has a B.S. and a master's degree, both in biology, from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.