Stephen P. Merz is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He was appointed to this position in Fall 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Merz held the positions of EVP for Finance and Operations from 1991 to 2001 and VP of Finance from 1981 to 1991.

Before joining the Woodruff arts Center, he was with the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche for seven years where he attained the position of Manager before taking a leave of absence to pursue his MBA at Emory University. While at Deloitte and Touche, Mr. Merz was a member of the audit team, specializing in the audit of financial institutions and not-for-profit social organizations. He graduated from Kent State University in 1972 with a BBA and from Emory University in 1981 with an MBA. He is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the national accounting Honor society and Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honor society. Mr. Merz is also a CPA licensed in the state of Ohio.

In his years at the Woodruff Arts center, Mr. Merz has provided leadership in the areas of finance, information systems, endowment management, and real estate acquisition.

Mr. Merz is married to Karen L. Garland and they have two children.