SPRING 2005
VOL. 6 NO. 2

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As chief financial officer, Hoffberger ensures the Aquarium’s sound financial health, but he also manages its information technology, human resources, administrative affairs, and contracts. It’s a challenging job, but Hoffberger is deeply committed to the Aquarium and its mission of encouraging stewardship and conservation of the world’s waters and their aquatic life.

“Most people think of a CFO as just the person in charge of budgeting and accounting, but sooner or later everything comes back to the numbers,” Hoffberger says. Complex technology helps keep everything running smoothly. A sophisticated system of timed-entry passes allows the organization to maximize the number of visitors it can receive on any given day. An even more sophisticated software system, created by the Aquarium in cooperation with the Denver Zoo, tracks each of the more than 15,000 animals in order to monitor their health and well-being.

Managing the Aquarium’s liquid assets can be a challenge. When Hurricane Isabel hit the region in September 2003, the Aquarium took on three feet of water and lost power. No power meant no heating systems for the Aquarium’s tanks, and worse, no filtration and oxygenation systems to keep the water in the tanks ‘breathable’ for their inhabitants. In order to keep the fish and animals alive, Aquarium staff brought in oxygen tanks on kayaks and canoes and carried them throughout the building, sometimes up five flights of stairs, to where they were needed. Every animal survived the storm.

While the hurricane provided an institution-wide challenge, Hoffberger has also had some unusual tasks in his role as CFO. Many of those involve the complications that come when dealing with living creatures. A few years ago, construction on a new exhibit was begun, and the Aquarium’s outdoor seal exhibit had to be closed, and the seals relocated to other facilities throughout North America. The last four animals were placed in a zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hoffberger found himself chartering a private plane to transport the seals, their handlers and a team of vets across the country. “Here I was, chartering a jet for four seals,” Hoffberger marvels. “It was terrifically expensive, but it was successful. Moving any of the animals in and out of the Aquarium is not an easy task.”

Hoffberger originally came to the non-profit sector as a volunteer. After earning his B.S. in accounting he went on to the University of Miami for an MBA, and then to his first job at Ernst & Young. His boss there encouraged him to volunteer time as a board member for area organizations, and Hoffberger enjoyed the experience so much that he actively pursued other means of volunteer opportunities. It was the beginning of a lifetime commitment to philanthropy, especially in and around Baltimore, his lifelong home.

This year Hoffberger will chair a $30 million annual fund-raising campaign for the Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. “It is a major undertaking for my wife and me,” he admits. “The Aquarium is very supportive of this undertaking. Being involved gives me a sense of personal satisfaction, a feeling that I am doing good things for people in need.”

Hoffberger recently began limiting his volunteer commitments in order to spend more time with his family, but he still agreed to host a Smith School Alumni Networking Reception at the Aquarium in May. “If it weren’t for the business school I wouldn’t be where I am today. Most of my best educational memories are there,” says Hoffberger.

And it is not only the campus that has changed. “The business school didn’t have the large number of quality professors then that it does today,” Hoffberger says. “I give the administration a lot of credit for constantly raising the standards. It is amazing to see the school’s rankings now. I’m proud of all the accomplishments of the Smith School and the College Park campus.”

Hoffberger will be speaking at the May 11 Alumni Networking Reception to be held at the Aquarium. He lives in Baltimore with his wife Caren, and has two children, Corie and Bret, and a handful of rescued cats.