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

For Immediate Release
March 17, 2009

CASE, Commonfund Announce 2009 IRF Award Recipients

Foundation Leaders at Wichita State University, Southern Illinois University Named

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Two widely respected educational foundation leaders have been named the 2009 recipients of the CASE Commonfund Institutionally Related Foundation award for their extraordinary contributions and long-time support of their foundations and the overall profession.

Institutionally related foundations are private, nonprofit corporations that cultivate and manage private resources to support the missions of the colleges, universities and university systems with which they are affiliated.

The award recipients are Elizabeth King, president and chief executive officer of Wichita State University Foundation, and Rickey McCurry, vice-chancellor, institutional advancement and chief executive officer of Southern Illinois University Foundation. King and McCurry will be honored March 25 during ceremonies at the 17th Annual Conference for Institutionally Related Foundations in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

King has overseen a number of successes at Wichita State University Foundation during her 18-year tenure with the foundation. These include an overall growth in assets from $59 million to $196 million, an endowment that has more than tripled in size since 1993, and an increase from $7 million to $22 million in the average amount raised annually. In addition to overseeing a number of successful campaigns, King is a regular contributor within the IRF sector, offering her expertise at various training seminars and conferences. Prior to joining Wichita State University, King served as vice president for university advancement at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and as associate vice president of institutional advancement at Collin County Community College District in Plano, Texas. King has more than 30 years of advancement experience at the community college and university level.

McCurry has been with Southern Illinois University Foundation since 2000. Under his leadership, the university has grown its endowment from $42 million to $85 million and completed its first comprehensive campaign, beating its $100 million goal by $6 million. McCurry is credited with building a strong relationship between Southern Illinois University and the foundation, which has created stronger teamwork between departments and a broader understanding of fundraising. He has also worked closely with the university's board and encouraged members to interact with foundation directors to identify best practices. Prior to joining Southern Illinois University, McCurry served as associate vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs, and campaign director at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He has been in the advancement profession for 25 years.

The awards are underwritten by Commonfund, a nonprofit corporation with more than 1,800 members and more than $40 billion in assets under management. Commonfund provides fund management services and investment advice to educational institutions, hospitals, foundations and other nonprofits.

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.

###