Joseph Greene

Joseph J. Greene Jr. is a Rhode Island native and first-generation college graduate whose entire career has been built at Johnson & Wales University (JWU) in Providence. He earned an associate degree from the Community College of Rhode Island, a bachelor's degree in accounting from JWU's Providence campus, and later a master's degree (M.S.) in accounting from JWU. He is a licensed CPA, having passed the exam while working at a local accounting firm early in his career.

Greene's tenure at JWU spans roughly three to four decades, and he has described himself as someone who "keeps coming back." He began in entry-level roles — including mail clerk, accounts-receivable clerk, loan officer, and staff accountant — before returning to the university in 1993 as an accounting manager. He then advanced through a series of senior finance positions: university controller, vice president of accounting services, assistant treasurer and vice president of finance, and, in 2019, vice chancellor of finance and administration, a role in which he also serves as the university's chief financial officer and treasurer.

As vice chancellor, Greene oversees a broad portfolio beyond finance — including campus facilities, operations, information technology, enrollment management, auxiliary services, online college administration, banking relationships, and payroll. He has been credited with work on securing and maintaining the university's Moody's and S&P credit ratings and with stewardship of the institution's endowment and treasury functions. In 2025, JWU named Greene president of its Providence campus (effective for the Fall 2025 semester), a role he holds while retaining his vice chancellor and CFO/treasurer responsibilities.

Beyond the university, Greene was elected in 2022 as a commissioner of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) and has begun a second three-year term. He also serves on the board of directors of The Providence Foundation and has been involved with the Providence Downtown Improvement District.

• Greene's "investment" role is institutional, not venture: as CFO and treasurer he is responsible for JWU's balance sheet, endowment, and treasury — not for writing personal angel checks into startups.
• His financial focus areas center on conservative institutional stewardship: credit-rating maintenance (Moody's, S&P), banking relationships, endowment oversight, and long-horizon university finances.
• The "Angel Investors / Seed Round" tags attached to his name appear to originate from third-party investor-contact databases (e.g., AlphaMaven, ZoomInfo) that catalog institutional finance contacts; no primary source shows a personal early-stage investing thesis, check-size range, or startup portfolio.
• Founders should treat any signal that he is an addressable angel investor with skepticism absent direct outreach confirming interest.