Pam Russell
Director of Communications
CASE
+1-202-478-5680
russell@case.org

For Immediate Release
June 17, 2008

CASE Announces Recipients of 2008 Research Awards

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is presenting its 2008 Research Awards to six authors for their work on current trends and issues in higher education alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing. The authors will be recognized during the CASE Summit for Advancement Leaders, July 13-15, in New York.

This year's winning works focus on individual online giving, the affects of presidential leadership on capital campaigns, alumni appeals and giving patterns, crisis communications plans and online and offline integrated marketing communications techniques in higher education.

The annual awards recognize published books, master's theses and doctoral dissertations in alumni relations, communications and marketing, and fundraising. The 2008 CASE Research Award winners are:

Kimberly Nehls, adjunct professor of educational leadership, University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Nehls is the recipient of the John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation for "Presidential Transitions During Capital Campaigns: Perspectives of Chief Development Officers," completed at UNLV. Nehls' research examines how chief development officers navigate changes in presidential leadership while overseeing ongoing capital campaigns. The research identifies how personal traits and the level of support received from groups and individuals on campus influence how presidential transitions affect campaigns.

Patrick Rooney, principal investigator and director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, with Melissa S. Brown, associate director for research, and Reema T. Bhakta, Heidi K. Frederick, Cynthia Hyatte and Shaun Miller. The team received the John Grenzebach Research Award for Outstanding Published Scholarship for its "American Express Charitable Gift Survey," published by the Center on Philanthropy. The center's groundbreaking, comprehensive analysis of individual gift giving reveals why only one in 10 donors chooses to give online.

Dawn Edmiston, an assistant professor of management and marketing at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. Edmiston is the recipient of the Alice L. Beeman Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation for "An Examination of Integrated Marketing Communication in U.S. Public Institutions of Higher Education," completed at the University of Maryland University College. Her research examines how colleges and universities are using online and offline integrated marketing communications techniques to build and reinforce brand identity in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Christopher Simpson, late partner and CEO of SimpsonScarborough. Simpson is the recipient of the Alice L. Beeman Award for Outstanding Published Scholarship for "Weathering the Storm: Protecting Your Brand in the Worst of Times," published by CASE. His book explains how higher education institutions can take a step-by-step approach to creating strong crisis communications plans.

Wendy Levine, director of development of First Graduate, a San Francisco nonprofit. Levine is the recipient of the H.S. Warwick Research Award for Outstanding Master's Thesis for "Communications and Alumni Relations: What is the Correlation Between an Institution's Communications Vehicles and Alumni Annual Giving?", completed at the University of San Francisco. Her research examines the correlation between types of communication vehicles and alumni annual giving behavior.

Michael A. Gottfried and Erica L. Johnson, doctoral students at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Gottfried and Johnson are the recipients of the H.S. Warwick Research Award for Outstanding Published Scholarship for "Solicitation and Donation: An Econometric Evaluation of Alumni Generosity in Higher Education," published in the International Journal of Educational Advancement. The research on 12 years of data covering nearly 3,000 U.S. colleges and universities examines how a variety of integrated communications strategies have influenced alumni donations.

About CASE

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a professional association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas.

CASE was founded in 1974 and maintains headquarters in Washington, D.C., with offices in London (CASE Europe, 1994), Singapore (CASE Asia-Pacific, 2007) and Mexico City (CASE América Latina, 2011).

Today, CASE’s membership includes more than 3,600 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools, and nonprofit organizations in 76 countries around the globe. This makes CASE one of the world’s largest nonprofit educational associations in terms of institutional membership. CASE serves more than 70,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of its member institutions and has more than 17,000 professional members on its roster.

To fulfill their missions and to meet both individual and societal needs, colleges, universities and independent schools rely on—and therefore must foster—the good will, active involvement, informed advocacy and enduring support of alumni, donors, prospective students, parents, government officials, community leaders, corporate executives, foundation officers and other external constituencies.

CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with all of these constituencies by providing relevant research, supporting growth in the profession and fostering support of education. CASE also offers a variety of advancement products and services, provides standards and an ethical framework for the profession and works with other organizations to respond to public issues of concern while promoting the importance of education worldwide.

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