Ron Cattelino, executive president for administration at the Kansas City Art Institute, will retire in mid-February after 42 years at the college.

Cattelino, 64, joined the art institute shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Pittsburg State University. He has essentially served as the private arts and design college’s chief financial officer.

“The board of trustees wanted to hire a recent college grad with an accounting degree and train that person to take over as CFO because they were aware that the CFO at the time wanted to retire in a few years,” Cattelino said in a news release. “I was most fortunate to walk into a situation where the retiring CFO had been at KCAI for 25 years. I learned much from working with an experienced college CFO.”

Cattelino’s successor has not been named, the college said.

During his career, Cattelino has worked with six presidents of the art institute. He also served as interim president from 1995 to 1996. In addition to overseeing the college’s financial operations, Cattelino is responsible for facilities, safety and security, human resources and the college’s auxiliary enterprises.

The Star