Gilman’s New CFO: Duncan Booth

This month, The News interviewed newly hired Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Duncan Booth. 

Growing up in Baltimore, Mr. Booth attended Loyola Blakefield in his high school years. Then, he continued his education at James Madison University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, and later he obtained a Master of Science degree at Johns Hopkins University. 

Before his work in numerous independent schools, Mr. Booth also spent time in Strategic Planning at Verizon, but he felt the need to move away from the corporate world. In 2004, Mr. Booth began working as the Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations at Roland Park Country School and served as the Chief Operating Officer at The Saint Paul's Schools for the past five years. At these schools, Mr. Booth helped coach lacrosse and stressed the importance of “getting involved with the life of the school.” In terms of his new job as the CFO at Gilman, he noted, “When this opportunity came up here at Gilman, it just made a lot of sense.”

Working in finance is not an easy undertaking, but Mr. Booth said that he has “always been a numbers guy,” and remarked, “I love the tension between things we want to do and what it costs to get there.” His primary goal as the newly hired CFO is to ensure that the student and faculty experience is “the best it can be.” In that, he emphasized the importance of the ways in which the school utilizes the budget to maximize the experience for everyone involved here at Gilman. 

While it is an extremely important role, Mr. Booth acknowledged that there are some misconceptions about what a CFO actually does on a daily basis. In simple terms, Mr. Booth described it as the “customer service side of school.” As independent schools are becoming more and more complex, he has a lot more on his plate than just sitting at a desk counting money, making the point, “you really have to be versatile in a lot of different things.” He described his work in finance as “making sure the trains run on time.”

As the new CFO, he plans to identify the most pressing issues within the school and its financial state, answering questions such as where money should be allocated and how to ensure the entire team around him is supported. Furthermore, he and this team at Gilman have big plans as they look ahead to “not only this year, but the plans for the 2026-27 school year.” 

Currently, Mr. Booth believes that Gilman “has been in a great spot [financially] for a long, long time.” Additionally, he strongly believes that Gilman has a substantial amount of resources that will contribute to its future success. According to Mr. Booth, the “greatest capital in schools is the faculty, and he believes that constant work to provide great faculty for the students is also imperative.”

At the end of our interview, Mr. Booth shared some wisdom in regards to students who may be interested in a career in finance, saying, “I would suggest that even if you are interested in finance, try to be involved in lots of different things.” He compared this sentiment to his career, having earned a degree in Marketing in college but never finding himself in that field. 

In his final remarks, he concluded, “Being open to lots of different things… will make you a better employee.” Please join The News in welcoming Mr. Booth to campus!