Kottich Appointed to Leadership Role at Millikin

Dr. Sarah Kottich has been appointed to serve as Millikin University’s Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Kottich served as a consultant to Millikin since November 2022, working on recruitment strategies.

Kottich has a long history of executive-level strategic planning and leadership, last serving as Executive Vice President at the College of Saint Mary, an all-female college in Omaha, Neb. 

"I'm grateful that Sarah has joined our campus community,” Millikin President Jim Reynolds said. “She comes to Millikin with a wealth of experience at institutions like ours and she will provide significant leadership in the areas of strategic planning, enrollment management and help us to look for operational efficiencies which will set Millikin up for future success.”

In her 15 years at Saint Mary, Kottich had an increasingly larger role, including serving as Provost where she oversaw strategic planning and guided several restructurings, before becoming Executive Vice President. Before going to Saint Mary in 2007, she worked as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Midland University in Fremont, Neb. 

Kottich first visited Millikin two years ago when her daughter, Carlie Kottich ’25, took a campus visit. Carlie decided to Make It Millikin and is now a sophomore theatre design and production major.

“When they came here and saw the theatre building and met the faculty, Carlie thought, this is where we’re supposed to be,” Sarah Kottich said.

Kottich holds a Doctor of Education degree in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University and has more than 20 years of experience as a Certified Public Accountant in Nebraska. She has shown expertise in multi-year budgeting and strategy-building in strengthening the business side of smaller universities.