Prolo, ISU financial vice president, to retire June 30

A second career at Idaho State University lasted longer than planned and exceeded expectations for Ken Prolo, ISU vice president for financial services and assistant professor of management, who has announced that he will retire June 30.

“When I retired from private industry, I looked forward to working in higher education,” Prolo said. “My experience at Idaho State has exceeded my expectations. I had a lot of interesting and fulfilling experiences here that encouraged me to remain on longer than I originally anticipated.”

    Prolo came to ISU in 1994, after working 27 years in various human resources positions for IBM Corp. in San Jose, Calif. At ISU, he started out as director of human resources and was promoted to the vice president in 1999. He is the chief financial officer for the university, manages financial services, purchasing, human resources, facilities services, mail center and related areas.

    “I’ve had the good fortune to work with a very talented and dedicated staff throughout Financial Services,” Prolo said. “They’ve been great to work with. I’ve especially enjoyed working with the students, strong administrators and faculty.”

    Among his retirement plans are, with his wife, Carol, visiting their six children and 13 grandchildren, and traveling.

    A native of San Jose,  Prolo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management and a Master of Science degree in business administration, finance at San Jose State University.  He has been an active, part-time college instructor since 1984, and has taught at four California institutions of higher education, as well as at ISU.

    Prolo has had an active civic life in San Jose and Pocatello, and his affiliations include those with Pocatello Rotary Club and Idaho State Civic Symphony.

    A national search will be undertaken to fill Prolo’s position.

    Prolo predicts ISU will continue to prosper.

    “I admire President Arthur C. Vailas’s leadership, and feel strongly the University is in good hands to achieve its goals and continued growth,” Prolo said.