HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) announced today that Uri Monson has been named as its next executive director. PSERS’ Board of Trustees is expected to finalize the move at its Dec. 12 meeting.
The board selected Monson after a nationwide search that spanned several months. He will lead a staff of 350 employees and will report directly to the board. Monson succeeds Terrill Sanchez, who led PSERS with distinction until her retirement in June. Chief Investment Officer Ben Cotton has very capably served as interim executive director since that date.
“We chose Uri Monson as our next executive director because of his extensive public sector financial experience, which is well-suited to guide PSERS in the years ahead,” said Board Chair Richard Vague.
Vice Chair Sue Lemmo added, “In Uri, we see a leader who understands both the financial demands of a pension system and the responsibility we have to those who count on us for retirement security.”
Monson currently serves as secretary of the Pennsylvania Office of the Budget, a position he was appointed to by Gov. Josh Shapiro in January 2023. Before joining the Shapiro administration, Monson spent nearly 30 years in senior roles across federal, state and local government.
He previously served as deputy superintendent of operations and chief financial officer for the School District of Philadelphia, where he helped the district improve its fiscal outlook, allowing a return to local city control and achieving an investment level credit rating for the first time since 1977.
Additionally, Monson served as chief financial officer of Montgomery County, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority and assistant budget director for the city of Philadelphia. While in Washington, D.C., he worked as a congressional liaison for the U.S. Department of Education, and as a policy analyst and program manager for the Office of Postsecondary Education.
Monson began his public service career through the Presidential Management Internship (PMI) Program, serving as a program analyst at the U.S. Department of Education and completing assignments in the Office of the Vice President of the United States and the New York City Office of the Superintendent for Alternative High School Programs.
“I am honored by the board’s trust and committed to leading PSERS with a clear focus on the long-term interests of its members,” Monson said. “I have spent my career managing public finances with care and accountability, and I look forward to working with the board, staff and stakeholders to ensure the system continues to deliver on its promise of retirement security for Pennsylvania’s public school employees.”
Monson earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University, as well as a bachelor's degree in midrash from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
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About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new benefit options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of Dec. 31, 2024, PSERS had a total net position of about $79.5 billion and a membership of about 256,000 active, 254,000 annuitants and beneficiaries, and 27,000 vested inactive members.
About the Board of Trustees
The 15-member Board of Trustees is an independent administrative board of the Commonwealth. The Board stands in a fiduciary relationship to PSERS’ members regarding investments and disbursements of the system’s funds. The Board’s other functions outlined in the Public School Employees’ Retirement Code include certifying contribution rates, authorizing the system’s actuarial valuation and independent audit, publishing an annual financial statement, and overseeing the operational activities performed by the system’s executive director and chief investment officer.