Emina Begovic is an experienced member of higher education leadership teams, where she has successfully led strategic campus-wide initiatives that have addressed capital and financial management, university governance, operational efficiencies, business process improvement, change management and diverse team management. 

Before joining Rice University, Emina was the Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Resource Management at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she supported both the academic and fiscal missions of the university. She provided high-level budgetary, financial and policy support to the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. This included doing analyses and forecasting on an ongoing basis. She was the Office of the Provost/Academic Affairs representative, providing fiscal and programmatic management for all capital construction projects taking place on campus. She strategically prioritized budget and space needs across campus in order to appropriately advise the Office of the Provost on the broader implications for faculty recruitment and capital finance management. 

Prior to this, Emina was the Director of Operations and Finance for the Sustainability, Energy & Environment Community at CU Boulder. She also taught and led an active research program at the University of California, Berkeley, for eight years prior to coming to CU Boulder. 

Emina earned a Ph.D. and a BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.