Concurrent Session Speakers

[ A-D ] [ E-H ] [ I-L ] [ M-O ] [ P-S ] [ T-Z ]

Louis Alexander
Director, Alumni Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Louis Alexander has been with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in a variety of capacities for nearly 30 years. He was instrumental in setting up MIT’s alumni network in Europe and he is widely known in alumni development circles for his work. As the director of alumni education, his main interest has been in finding ways to build alumni networks.

For many years, he has attended Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) conferences, the Minary Conference, is a member of the CASE District I Quarter Century Circle, and has presented at conferences held by the European Association for International Education, the University of St. Gallen and CASE.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University where he concentrated in philosophy and comparative religions. After his first year of graduate studies at Union Theological and Columbia University, he followed an even deeper interest and enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music where he completed a master’s of music degree in musicology and piano. In 2003, he was named an honorary alumnus of MIT.

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Kathy Andrews
Director of Advancement Communications
Trinity College

Kathy Andrews is director of advancement communications at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., a role she has held since 2007. She is responsible for coordinating messaging, publications, media relations, video, photography and Web content related to development, including The Cornerstone Campaign for Trinity, a $350 million fundraising effort publically launched in October 2007.

Her previous positions include: director of communications at the National Center for Boundless Playgrounds; director of marketing and communications at United Way of the Capital Area (Hartford, Conn.); assistant corporate affairs manager at the Hartford Courant; and special sections editor at the Hartford Courant.

She is a graduate of Bennington College.

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Dennis Barden
Senior Vice President and Treasurer
Witt/Kieffer

Dennis Barden is senior vice president and treasurer of the higher education/not-for-profit practice at Witt/Kieffer, an executive search firm serving higher education, healthcare, community service and cultural organizations nationwide.His search practice is focused on colleges, universities, healthcare institutions and major cultural organizations.Barden assists his clients in their searches for CEOs, senior executives and focuses in particular on advancement professionals.

Before joining the firm in 1998, he served as assistant vice president for development and alumni relations and director of principal gifts at the University of Chicago.He served as assistant dean and director of development in the university’s law school for seven years.He began his development career in the annual fund at his alma mater, St. Lawrence University, and has worked at Georgetown University and Northwestern University.

Barden currently serves on the CASE Industry Advisory Council and is immediate past chair of the American Council on Education’s Executive Search Roundtable.In recognition of his service to CASE, he was awarded a Crystal Apple in 2002.

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Dennis Bidwell
Principal
Bidwell Advisors

Dennis Bidwell is the principal of Bidwell Advisors, a Northampton, Massachusetts-based firm providing a range of real estate consulting services to nonprofit organizations and private real estate owners. Specializing in charitable gifts of real estate, the firm helps educational institutions, community foundations, hospitals, conservation organizations and other nonprofits to attract and structure gifts of real estate in various forms. The firm also works with individuals and families interested in charitable and conservation-oriented solutions to their real estate disposition issues.

Prior to forming Bidwell Advisors, he served for eleven years as national real estate director for American Farmland Trust. His previous experience includes: vice president of Leggat McCall Advisors, a Boston-based real estate consulting and appraisal firm; development officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; program officer for Associated Grantmakers of Massachusetts; and director of a Boston community school.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Bidwell earned his master’s degree in business administration from Boston University (through the Public and Nonprofit Management Program), and his master’s degree in education from Harvard University. He writes and speaks frequently on topics pertaining to charitable gifts of real estate and land conservation.

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Richard Boardman
Associate Dean, Development and Alumni Office
Harvard University

Richard Boardman has been in the development field since graduation from Boston University in 1968. He is currently the senior campaign advisor at Harvard’s central development office and is also a consultant with Marts & Lundy, Inc.

Boardman recently served as associate dean for development and alumni relations at the Harvard Law School completing a $400 million capital campaign in June. Prior to completing that assignment, he was chief development officer at the Harvard Business School and directed a $600 million campaign. For most of his career, Boardman was executive director of the Harvard College Fund and associate director of development. 

Before coming to Harvard in 1977, he served as a fundraising consultant for Marts & Lundy, Inc. and also as director of development at the Groton School. Boardman has been active as a volunteer and a consultant to a variety of institutions. He has participated in numerous conferences for CASE and other organizations and has written several articles on staff training and the measurement of results.

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Bob Brock
President
Educational Marketing Group 

Bob Brock has over 30 years of experience in marketing and communications.In 1997, he co-founded Educational Marketing Group based on increasing evidence that colleges and universities can be significantly more effective in achieving institutional goals by using a data-driven integrated marketing approach.Since then, he has been a consultant in strategic planning and marketing for dozens of premier universities and colleges throughout North America.

Early in his career, Brock published hundreds of articles for regional and national publications as a freelance journalist and editor.He worked as the national media relations specialist at Washington University in St. Louis for three years.At Rutgers University, he served as alumni editor and director of periodicals, supervising the award-winning Rutgers Magazine.His experience also includes three years as director of public relations for the University of Denver and another three years as assistant vice president at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

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John Broderick
Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Admissions
Old Dominion University 

John Broderick has served as the vice president for institutional advancement at Old Dominion University since 1996. He was given the additional duties of chief of staff in 2003. His areas of responsibility include: leading the marketing and branding efforts at Old Dominion University; domestic, graduate and international admissions; community relations; governmental relations; media relations; military affairs; publications; photography; special events; licensing, and the university’s Visitor Center.In addition, he serves as editor-in-chief of The Old Dominion University (alumni magazine), The Courier (campus newspaper) and Quest (faculty research magazine).

A journalist and faculty member before becoming an administrator, Broderick leads enrollment and branding efforts at ODU as well as governmental, media and community relations. He has written for the Chronicle of Higher Education and each semester teaches a graduate class in school community relations and politics.

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Susan Brown
Associate Director, Parent Programs and Services
Northeastern University

Susan Brown has seventeen years’ experience as coordinator of Northeastern University’s Office of Parent Programs and Services. She has developed a highly recognized needs-based program involving parents, students and the entire Northeastern community.

During her tenure she created the university’s first Parent Advisory Board and Parents Association. In addition, she developed the national Administrators Promoting Parent Involvement (APPI) Conference. Recently, APPI celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Brown has been a national leader in bringing together varied institutions such as Syracuse, the University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina to share strategies related to parent relations.

She does not believe in the concept “Helicopter Parents”, but rather that institutions need to “partner with parents”.

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Carrie Cadwell Brown
Executive Director, Alumnae Association,
Smith College 

Carrie Cadwell Brown became the executive director of the Alumnae Association of Smith College in June 1996.She directs a staff of 15 and oversees the development of various programs and services, including conferences, educational symposia and the Smith Alumnae Quarterly for over 43,000 alumnae worldwide.

She works closely with Smith College’s vice president for advancement to support an integrated and unified institutional advancement program. She serves on various boards and committees at the college as well as on several alumnae relations associations, including the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Commission on Alumni Relations.She has also served as moderator and speaker at several CASE and other professional conferences.

Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Lawrence University and a master’s degree in education from Smith College.

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Jay Carson
Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Robert Morris University

Jay Carson serves as vice president for institutional advancement at Robert Morris University (RMU).

Previously, he served as vice president for institutional advancement and as chief development officer at Saint Vincent College; as vice president for development and donor relations at the Pittsburgh Foundation; and as vice president for institutional advancement for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.He has held positions at Carnegie Mellon University, Family Resources, United Cerebral Palsy and the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens.

He currently serves as the Development Committee chair of the Oakland Catholic High School. He has served on the Boards of Pittsburgh Cable Television, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania. In addition, he was adjunct faculty for the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Carson earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature and master’s degree in education at the University of Pittsburgh.

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Carol Cheney
President
Cheney & Co. 

Carol Cheney established Cheney & Company in 1983 to work with schools, colleges and not-for-profit institutions on communications initiatives following four years as director of publications and PR at Choate Rosemary Hall. For a quarter century, Cheney has conducted communications audits, and with her team, developed communications plans and produced materials to support fundraising, student recruitment, constituency relations, and brand and position.

She is a frequent speaker for national and regional educational and fundraising associations, including the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). In 1985 she won CASE’s crystal apple teaching award and has served on CASE publications juries and the faculty of several CASE Summer Institutes. She is a chapter contributor to marketing and philanthropy books published by NAIS and CASE and is currently serving on CASE’s Industry Advisory Council.

Cheney served two terms as president of the Alumnae/i Association of Sarah Lawrence College, where she was a trustee for 12 years. She is a permanent member of the Advancement Commission of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools. She is on the board executive committee of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and has served as a director of the Connecticut Chapter of AFP and several local organizations.

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Brad Cheves
Vice President for Development and External Affairs
Southern Methodist University

Brad E. Cheves serves as vice president for development and external affairs (DEA) at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and is responsible for fundraising and public relations for the university. Since June 2004, Cheves has led a reorganization and expansion of DEA to support the university’s new academic strategic plan and to prepare for a funding campaign in conjunction with the centennial celebration of SMU’s founding in 2011.

Previously, he served as SMU’s associate vice president for development. In that capacity he also served as associate director of The Campaign for SMU, helping lead the most successful major gifts campaign in SMU history and the largest for any institution in North Texas. The five-year campaign exceeded its $400 million goal by raising $542 million for scholarships, faculty positions, academic programs, facilities and student life programs. He also served Pepperdine University as vice president for advancement and public affairs, as an assistant professor of public policy, as associate dean at the School of Public Policy and as director of alumni relations at Pepperdine’s School of Law.

Cheves currently serves in several Dallas community leadership roles, including Dallas Assembly, Circle Ten Boy Scouts Advisory Board, and the board of Dallas Summer Musicals, and coaches Little League baseball and basketball.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Abilene Christian University and in 1991 received his juris doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and has worked with the Texas State Legislature.

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Jon Croteau
Assistant Vice President for Campaign Planning & Operations
Carnegie Mellon University 

Jon Croteau is assistant vice president for campaign planning & operations at Carnegie Mellon University. He is responsible for campaign planning, operations, volunteer management, events and effectiveness strategies for the division of university advancement.He is also an adjunct professor at the university in the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.

Previously, Croteau served as assistant vice president for advancement services & director of organizational development and human capital management, also in the Division of University Advancement.He also served as the deputy director of advancement services, helping implement many new best practices and administrative procedures for the division.Croteau originally served the division as director of strategic planning & analysis, where he assisted in the feasibility, fiscal management, assessment of divisional readiness and planning for the billion-dollar campaign effort.

Prior to starting his work in advancement, Croteau earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Northwestern University.This clinical program afforded him hours of clinical training, as well as a teaching assistantship and a research assistantship within the School of Education and Social Policy.Upon graduation, he accepted an organizational development position at Watson Wyatt Worldwide in their Chicago office, where he managed the professional and organizational development of thirty associates and first discovered the theory of human capital investment and its positive effects on individuals and organizations.

Croteau graduated from Emerson College, summa cum laude, in three years. Heearned a doctoral degree from Boston University School of Education in administration, training and policy studies. While earning his doctorate full-time, he worked in university external relations full-time, at Emerson College and at Boston University, gaining a breadth of experience in annual giving, alumni relations, parent fundraising, marketing and media relations, board management, advancement services and major gifts.

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Bryant Cureton
President
Elmhurst College (retiring July 1, 2008)

Bryant L. Cureton has served Elmhurst College as president and professor of political science since 1994. As Elmhurst’s 12th president, he has led the college through a period of significant development resulting in increased academic strength, an enhanced campus and a growing reputation.

Prior to coming to Elmhurst, Cureton taught for 23 years at Hartwick College, where he also served as associate dean, then as vice president and dean of the college, and finally as provost.

His early experience included service in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and work with the International Division of The Irving Trust Company. His special interest in the relationship between religion and political life led to his appointment as visiting scholar at the Divinity School of Harvard University. He has served on boards, councils and committees of numerous professional and community service organizations, and is a frequent speaker on higher education issues.

He earned a bachelor's degree in music from Maryville College, a master's degree in international relations from American University, and a doctorate in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Maryville College.

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Harvey Dale
University Professor of Philanthropy and the Law
Director, National Center on Philanthropy and the Law
New York University School of Law 

In 1986, at the request of then Dean Norman Redlich, Professor Harvey Dale, an expert in international tax law, began examining the viability of creating a program that studied the legal issues affecting nonprofit organizations. After two years of thorough research, Dale determined that such a program was indeed viable and redirected his professional efforts to establish the Program on Philanthropy and the Law at the New York University School of Law. The program is now known as The National Center on Philanthropy and the Law.

Today, the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law explores a broad range of legal issues affecting the nation’s nonprofit sector and serves as an academic forum for an integrated examination of the legal doctrines related to the activities of charitable organizations. The center boasts a library with the most comprehensive collection of resources ever assembled on the subject of nonprofit law. Its annual publication of student articles written on critical issues affecting nonprofit organizations is well-respected throughout the field.

After teaching international and corporate and tax law for almost two decades, Dale is now a recognized expert and leader in the field of nonprofit law, both in this country and abroad. He has advised groups in Australia, China, Mexico, Russia, the United Kingdom and South Africa regarding legal issues affecting nonprofit organizations and the formulation of laws governing these organizations. He has also published several articles concerning, among other subjects, the rationales for tax exemption, international grantmaking and issues surrounding unrelated business income tax.

In addition to his work as the director of the National Center for Philanthropy and the Law, Dale has served as an adviser and consultant for the Internal Revenue Service, the Exempt Organizations Tax Review, Independent Sector and several other nonprofit organizations and government agencies. He is founding president and a director of The Atlantic Philanthropies and was for approximately 20 years (until September 1, 2001) the president and CEO of the Atlantic Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and from 1996 to 2005 was a member of the Cornell University Trustees Investment Committee.

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Jerry Derloshon
Director, Public Relations and News
Pepperdine University

Jerry Derloshon, director of public relations and news at Pepperdine since 2000, is an author, freelance writer, and former news editor and TV reporter.

He has held executive positions in higher education, the agency environment and corporate communications. He has conducted media training sessions and led Pepperdine’s media response during three wild fire incidents in the last seven years.

Derloshon holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree in communication arts from Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles.

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Robert Durkee
Vice President and Secretary
Princeton University

As vice president and secretary of Princeton University, Robert Durkee serves as a senior adviser to the president, provides administrative support for the Board of Trustees and oversees the official convocations of the university such as Commencement. He also serves as the university’s vice president for public affairs, a position he has held since 1978.

Durkee joined the administration in the spring of 1972 as assistant to the president and, after a year on leave to serve as executive assistant to the president of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of American Universities, was appointed vice president for public affairs in 1978. In this capacity, he oversees the offices of the Alumni Council, Communications, Community and State Affairs, Government Affairs and Public Affairs.

In addition to his work at Princeton, Durkee’s board memberships have included the Washington, D.C.-based Fair Labor Association (which he has served as acting chair), the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of New Jersey, the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), McCarter Theatre and the Princeton University Store. He was the founding chair of Princeton University’s Martin Luther King Day committee and of the Public Affairs Committee of the Association of American Universities. He is currently co-chairing a university task force on health and well being.

Durkee received his A.B. degree magna cum laude from Princeton in 1969, where he was editor-in-chief of the daily student newspaper. He taught fifth and sixth grades in the Trenton (N.J.) public schools from 1969 through 1972 and earned a master’s degree in teaching from Montclair State University.

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Debra Engle
Senior Vice President for Development
Oklahoma State University Foundation

Debra Engle serves as the senior vice president for development for the Oklahoma State University Foundation.

Previously, as senior vice president of development for the Iowa State University Foundation, she managed the team of major gift officers focused on securing and stewarding gifts, campaign planning and engaging volunteers.

In her tenure at Iowa State, Engle has provided leadership to the “donor-centered” and “values-based” philosophy that has defined the organizational culture.She served on the team that created the foundation’s first public information policy and gift acceptance policy that have both been adopted by many institutions as best-practice models.Under her guidance, an innovative, yet customized staff recruitment and retention plan was developed to inspire staff to higher performance levels while building of long-term retention of high performing staff. She has more than 20 years of diverse experience in organizational leadership, staff management, campaign planning, fundraising and volunteer management.

Engle has an undergraduate degree from Abilene Christian University in and a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University.In addition, she has completed the Management Development Program at Harvard University.

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Susan Feagin
Executive Vice President for University Development and Alumni Relations
Columbia University

As executive vice president for development and alumni relations at Columbia University, Susan Feagin oversees The Columbia Campaign, a university-wide $4 billion fundraising initiative that runs through 2011, and also directs university alumni relations programs.

Feagin has spent 33 years in university development, including 12 years at Columbia University, 17 years at Harvard University and four years at the University of Michigan. She has had leadership roles in three major university development campaigns. In 1990, she was named the first associate dean for development in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, comprised of Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She was named director of university development in 1996. From 1998 to 2002, she served as vice president for development at the University of Michigan.

She received her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Columbia University’s School of General Studies. As a volunteer she has served her alma mater as a member of the school’s advisory council and as chair of its development committee. In April 1998, she received the General Studies’ Owl Award for distinguished service.

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Brian Flahaven
Director of Government Relations and Institutionally Related Foundations
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

Brian Flahaven is director of government relations and institutionally related foundations for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He directs CASE’s government relations initiatives and tracks federal, state and international legislative and regulatory issues of concern to CASE members. He also oversees CASE services to institutionally related foundations, foundations affiliated with public colleges and universities.

Prior to joining CASE, Flahaven was the manager of government relations and public policy at the Council on Foundations, where he authored the Council’s Legislative Network e-newsletter and organized Foundations on the Hill, an annual Capitol Hill advocacy day sponsored by the Council and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. He also served as the first Public Policy and Philanthropy Fellow at the Council of Michigan Foundations, worked for former Illinois Lieutenant Governor Corinne Wood and interned for former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert.

Flahaven serves as co-chair of the board of the Washington, DC chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPNdc), a professional community that seeks to train, connect and inspire tomorrow’s nonprofit leaders.

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Elizabeth A. Flanagan
Vice President for Development and University Relations
Virginia Tech 

Elizabeth A. (Betsy) Flanagan is vice president for development and university relations at Virginia Tech and executive vice president of the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc. where she has been leading its advancement efforts since 2000.She stands at the helm of the most ambitious comprehensive campaign in the university’s history, publicly launched in October 2007 with a $1B goal.

Before joining Virginia Tech, Flanagan was assistant vice president for development and director of individual major and planned gifts for the University of Virginia during its $1.4B capital campaign.A former vice president at SunTrust Bank in Richmond, she managed its management training and organizational development programs, as well as the high-net worth unit in Personal Trust.

She held continuous appointments as an adjunct faculty member in gerontology and adult education for 25 years including service at the University of Virginia, the University of Richmond, and the Medical College of Virginia. Her experience in business, higher education and gerontology have led her to provide a wide range of consulting and training efforts that include management development, sales training, fundraising, retirement planning and topics related to aging.She is a recipient of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence and has published in the areas of retirement planning and financial exploitation of the elderly.

Flanagan earned her bachelor’s degree, with magna cum laude distinction from Bethany College, her master’s degree in social work/gerontology from West Virginia University, and her doctorate in higher education with minors in law and graduate business from the University of Virginia. She also holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and Advanced Studies certificates in Wealth Management.

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Bruce Flessner
Principal
Bentz Whaley Flessner

Bruce Flessner began his career as the annual fund director at Kalamazoo College (Michigan) before becoming vice president of the University of Minnesota Foundation. Since 1983, he has been a principal at Bentz Whaley Flessner where his clients have included American University in Cairo, Brown University, Children’s Hospital Boston, Children’s Regional Medical Center (Seattle), Indiana University, Mayo Clinic, Mississippi State University, Purdue University, Texas Tech University, University of Illinois, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina System.

Flessner is a recognized expert on new wealth philanthropy and has been quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Star Tribune, Dallas Star, Detroit Free Press and many other major newspapers. He has served on the board of directors of the Council on Foundation’s New Ventures in Philanthropy.

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Linda Franciscovich
National Director of Foundation Advisory Services
Bank of America

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Nayeli Garcia
Associate Director of Client Engagement
Community Analytics, LLC

Nayeli Garcia is the associate director of client engagement for alumni programs based in Community Analytics’ Baltimore office. She has over 11 years’ experience in providing excellent constituent service; four of those years in university development. Garcia’s main responsibility is to focus on the company’s partnerships with educational institutions and nonprofit clients.

Garcia’s experience includes direct communication with clients, major donors & board members, project management, event planning and coordination, volunteer management, fund audit and reconciliation and post-capital campaign management.

Prior to joining Community Analytics, she worked at the University of Maryland School of Law, while finishing her degree in business administration from Towson University. Before this, she was the office manager for Corbin, Inc.

Garcia earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Towson University and studied abroad at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. She is a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the American Marketing Association (AMA), Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honour Society. She is active in both her high school and college alumni associations, leads volunteer groups and serves as the marketing committee member for an annual bike ride event in Baltimore.

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E. Burr Gibson
Executive Chairman
Marts & Lundy Inc.

Burr Gibson joined Marts & Lundy in 1964, but his career as a fundraiser began in the late 1940s when he was a development officer for the March of Dimes.

In educational fundraising, his career has taken him from resident campaign management to strategic development planning at its highest levels. Burr has been an inspiration and mentor to thousands of fundraisers, both professionals and volunteers, and has been cited as deserving much of the credit for transforming the perception of fundraising as holding out a “tin cup” to a profession having high impact and high value.

One of the foremost leaders in philanthropic consulting, he has also served Marts and Lundy as vice president in 1970, executive vice president and treasurer in 1978, president and chief executive officer in 1979, chairman and chief executive officer in 1982, and executive chairman from 1991 to the present. He has served as a fundraising counsel to hundreds of educational institutions worldwide and remains as active in the profession as he was nearly 40 years ago.

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Daniel Guhr
Managing Director
Illuminate Consulting Group

Daniel Guhr serves as Illuminate Consulting Group’s (ICG) managing director and head of the Alumni Networks as well as Talent Acquisition Practice Areas. Prior to founding ICG, he served as a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, and as a director of business development with SAP in Silicon Valley.

He has authored more than twenty-five research papers and studies on educational, organizational and business issues.He frequently speaks at international conferences and comments widely on educational policy-making and competition topics in the press.He served as president of the Oxford University Society’s San Diego branch from 2003 to 2006.In 2006, he was elected to the board of the University of Bonn’s Universitätsgesellschaft. He joined the Council of the University of California at Santa Cruz’s College Eight in 2007.

Guhr holds a doctorate of philosophy degree (D.Phil.) in higher education and a master’s of science degree (M.Sc.) in educational research methodology from the University of Oxford, as well as a master’s degree in political science from Brandeis University.His doctoral dissertation at the University of Oxford on Access to Higher Education in Germany and California was published in the series Studies in Comparative Education by the Peter Lang Verlag.

He was also trained for three years in political science at Bonn and Harvard Universities, served as a research specialist at the Center for Studies of Higher Education at the University of California at Berkeley, and conducted research at the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Studies in Berlin. During his studies, he was awarded a total of 17 scholarships and grants.

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William K. Harris
Chairman & CEO
Harris Connect

William K. Harris succeeded his father, Bernard C. Harris, as president and chief executive officer in 1990 and as chairman in 1997, successfully leading Harris Publishing into a phase of strong growth and technological innovation. His dedication to extending the publishing company’s strengths in database management to the Internet is evident through the introduction of a suite of private-label Internet solutions that facilitates stronger online communications, fundraising and e-commerce capabilities. Other products and services established during his tenure include CD-ROM directories, data research services and database modeling.

Harris also led the re-branding of the Company from Bernard C. Harris Publishing Company, Inc. to Harris Connect, Inc. in 2005. In his formative years at Harris Connect, he gained experience in production management, information technology and sales and marketing.

He received a master's of business administration degree from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's degree in marketing from Villanova University, and is a 2000 graduate of the Owner/Presidents Management Program at the Harvard Business School. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a line officer in the U.S. Navy.

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Terry W. Hartle
Senior Vice President, Government and Public Affairs
American Council on Education

For more than a decade, Terry W. Hartle has directed the American Council on Education’s (ACE) comprehensive effort to engage federal policy makers on a broad range of issues including student aid, scientific research, government regulation, and tax policy. This work not only involves representation before the U.S. Congress, administrative agencies and the federal courts, it increasingly includes work on state and local issues of national impact. Since it is considered ACE’s historic role to coordinate the government relations efforts of some 60 associations in the Washington-based higher education community, Hartle is widely considered American higher education’s chief lobbyist. Founded in 1918, ACE is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 1,800 college and university presidents in the United States.

Hartle brings a wealth of policy experience to ACE. Prior to joining the council in 1993, he served for six years as education staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, then chaired by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Prior to 1987, Hartle was director of social policy studies and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a research scientist at the Educational Testing Service. Hartle is quoted widely in both the national and international media on higher education issues, has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, and national studies, and contributes regular book reviews to The Christian Science Monitor.

He received a doctorate in public policy from The George Washington University in 1982, a masters’ in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in 1974 and a bachelor’s degree in history (summa cum laude) from Hiram College in 1973. He was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by Northeastern University in 1994. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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Peyton (Randy) Helm
President
Muhlenberg College

Peyton Randolph Helm took office as President of Muhlenberg College July 1, 2003.  He holds the faculty rank of professor of history.

Immediately prior to joining the Muhlenberg community, President Helm served as vice president for college relations and professor of classical studies at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. 

President Helm began his career in academic administration at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named coordinator of College House Programs in 1981.  He served as associate director of development and then director of development for Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences. From 1981-1988 he was also an adjunct assistant professor of ancient history and urban studies at Penn.  In 1988, President Helm was named vice president for development and alumni relations at Colby College, where he was promoted to vice president for college relations in 2001.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has awarded President Helm its Steuben Apple, given to advancement professionals who have been rated as a top speaker at ten or more national conferences.  President Helm has delivered addresses and conducted seminars on ethics, stewardship, writing, capital campaigns, market research, and volunteer management at more than 30 conferences across the country and internationally.  His writing has been published in CASE Currents and Successful Fund Raising, as well as various scholarly publications in the field of ancient history.

President Helm earned his bachelor’s degree in archaeology, with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa distinction, from Yale University.  He earned his doctoral degree in ancient history, specializing in ancient Greek and Near Eastern history and literature, from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Stephen Higgins
Senior Vice President
Ketchum 

As a senior vice president with Ketchum, Steve Higgins offers clients a wealth of experience in the areas of development, executive leadership and strategic planning. He is currently leading the service team for Rumson Country Day School in Rumson, N.J.; Palmer Trinity School in Miami, Fla.; Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Penn. and the Hill House Association in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Prior to joining Ketchum, Higgins was the director of community relations at Saint Edward’s School in Vero Beach, Fla. He also spent five years with the Pittsburgh Technology Council where as the senior vice president of membership services & development he was responsible for growing the organization into the nation’s largest regional technology association with over 1,800 corporate members. In addition to his 11 years of nonprofit experience, he also has 10 years of experience in sales and sales management.

In addition to his fundraising and sales background, Higgins began his career as a teacher, coach, dormitory supervisor and assistant director of admission at The Gow School in South Wales, N.Y. He also spent his summers working for a YMCA Camp and Boys & Girls Club over a six year period.

A frequent speaker at various fundraising conferences, he is a member of the Board of Deacons at the Community Church of Vero Beach and the Indian River County’s Association of Fundraising Professionals. He also serves on the Industry Advisory Council for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

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Patty Hill-Callahan
Interim Chief Development Officer
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Serving as the interim chief development officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Patty Hill-Callahan oversees the hospital’s development operation while managing a fiscal goal of $80M. 

Prior to this role, she held positions as the associate chief development officer and senior director of major and planned giving where she and her development colleagues worked extensively with leadership within the hospital’s “centers of excellence” to identify funding opportunities at the core of its current campaign.

Before joining Brigham and Women’s Hill-Callahan spent 10 years raising funds for Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. There, she held a series of positions including overseeing grateful patient annual giving, major gifts, and director of development for the Johns Hopkins Heart Institute from 2000-2004. 

She is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s College in Maryland and has received a Business of Medicine certificate from The Johns Hopkins University. She also teaches courses on development. 

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Lawrence G. Hincker
Associate Vice President of University Relations
Virginia Tech 

As associate vice president of university relations, Larry Hincker is responsible for all communication activities of the university. This includes media relations; college, development, and Web communications; television productions; publications; trademarks and licensing; and the public radio station for central and southwest Virginia, WVTF.

He serves as the university spokesperson and senior communications official responsible for marketing, public relations and institutional positioning, including the university-wide branding effort, Invent the Future.He was the university spokesperson and public face of Virginia Tech as it dealt with the largest media gathering on any university campus after the horrific murders of April 16, 2007.

Before coming to Virginia Tech, Hincker worked for 14 years in various corporate communications positions including manager of public information for a division of Westinghouse, as employee communications manager for a division of Rockwell International and as visual communications manager for a Washington state utility.

Hincker studied architecture and also worked as corporate photographer. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Brooks Institute and a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Tech.

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James Husson
Vice President for University Advancement
Boston College

Jim Husson is the vice president for university advancement at Boston College, overseeing the university’s development and alumni relations functions. He joined the BC development team in 2002 as vice president for development and was promoted to his current position in June, 2004.

Husson has nearly 20 years of experience in educational advancement and has served as vice president for development for Brown University and director of major gifts for Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Early in his career, he worked for two private secondary schools, Northfield Mount Hermon School and Cushing Academy, and for the Harvard Graduate School of Design. 

He is a graduate of the University of Rochester and Northfield Mount Hermon School.

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Jeff Johnson
President
Iowa State University Alumni Association 

Jeff Johnson was named president, CEO, and publisher of the Iowa State University Alumni Association (ISUAA) in September 1999, becoming the seventh individual to serve in this role in the association’s 130-year history. As the chief staff person of the association, he is responsible for facilitating the association’s mission of engaging the talents and resources of alumni, students and friends in the life, work and aspiration of Iowa State University.

Under his leadership, the association, with an annual operating budget of $3.3 million, has grown to be the second largest dues-paying alumni association in the Big 12, with more than 50,000 dues-paying members. The association also boasts the second largest Student Alumni Association membership in the country, with more than 5,000 students enrolled in the program.In June 2008, the association will open the new $10.5 million ISU Alumni Center.

Johnson has 25 years of higher education experience. He oversees all association programs; is secretary to the Stanton Memorial Carillon Foundation; publisher of all association publications; and ex-officio member and officer to the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a member of the President’s Cabinet; a visible ambassador for Iowa State in athletic, student, legislative, campus and community affairs; and the association’s liaison to the university and its affiliate organizations. He currently serves as adviser to Beta Theta Pi fraternity; as director on the Wells Fargo-Ames Bank Board; is a member of the Ames Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and served as a past president of the organization; is a member of the Ames Planning and Zoning Commission; and is immediate past president and current board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Story County Board of Directors.

He came to Iowa State from the University of Illinois Alumni Association at Urbana-Champaign. He previously worked in alumni relations at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg and the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg and his master’s degree from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He also holds an associate’s degree in technology from Jones County Community College.

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Susan Wheallor Johnston
Executive Vice President
Association of Governing Boards 

Susan Whealler Johnston is executive vice president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) in Washington, DC. She joined the AGB staff in 2000 and has directed a number of national projects since that time, including a study of governing boards’ responsibilities for academic affairs. She currently directs a multiyear project on college costs and a national survey on the state of higher education governance.

Prior to joining AGB, Johnston served on the faculty of Rockford College for 18 years teaching courses in 18th-century English literature, American literature, and composition and communications. She also held the positions of chair of the Department of English and dean of academic development. In the latter position, she was responsible for the college’s strategic plan, faculty development and a number of grant-funded activities linking the college and the community in the areas of the arts and sciences, teacher education and service learning. From 1995–1996, she was associate dean at Regent’s College in London, England.

She has 15 years’ experience as a communications consultant in business and industry. She has worked with governmental and nonprofit agencies as well, and has served on several nonprofit boards, including the board of the Association of Consortium Leadership and the Policy Center for the First Year of College. She joined the board of Rockford College in 2004.

Johnston earned a master’s degree, with honors, and doctorate in 18th-century British literature from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in English, summa cum laude, from Rollins College. Her research, publications, and presentations are in the areas of governance, higher education, communication, and Jane Austen. Included among her recent publications is a chapter on governing boards and civic engagement in Higher Education for the Public Good: Emerging Voices from a National Movement.

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William S. "Bill" Johnston
Director of Alumni Relations and Executive Director of the Alumni Association
University of Montana

Bill Johnston has been employed in university advancement for twenty-eight years. He started his career in admissions in 1980 and has been in alumni relations since 1988. He currently serves as director of slumni relations and executive director of the Alumni Association at the University of Montana. He holds a concurrent appointment as the state lobbyist for the university and the Montana University System. This combination of alumni relations and state lobbyist is unique in higher education.

Johnston has served in numerous volunteer positions for CASE. At the district level he has served on the District VIII Board of Directors and as a conference volunteer. At the international llevel, he has served on the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations,and he twice co-chaired the alumni track for the Annual Assembly (now the Summit for Advancement Leaders). He currently serves on the CASE Board of Trustees where he is chair of the Audit Subcommittee, vicechair of the Finance and Audit Committee, and serves on the Distinguished Service Awards subcommittee. He previously served as a judge for theCASE Circle of Excellence program.

He holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Montana.

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Ann E. Kaplan
Director, Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) Survey
Council for Aid to Education

Ann E. Kaplan became the director of the VSE annual survey and the online benchmarking service, Data Miner, in 2001. Since fall 2000, she worked as a consultant to the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), helping to develop the Web-based platform that hosts the VSE annual survey and Data Miner. She also provides media relations services and directs marketing for VSE Data Miner and related publications.

Kaplan served as CAE liaison to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) on its committee to update fundraising campaign reporting standards and is the ongoing CAE liaison to CASE. She also represents CAE on the advisory committee for Giving USA, the annual report on philanthropic giving in America, published by the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy.

Previously, she served as the research director of the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel and the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy. She was principal researcher for and managing editor of Giving USA. She also managed public and media relations for the Trust.

Kaplan served on Independent Sector’s national advisory committee for the Giving and Volunteering surveys and the advisory committee for development of the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) at the Urban Institute. She has evaluated grant proposals for the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund. She served on the committee to select the annual outstanding Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly article, an award conferred by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).

In conjunction with the CASE, Kaplan has served as a judge and coordinator of the annual Grenzebach Awards for outstanding dissertations and published scholarship in the field of higher education fundraising. She was listed in the NonProfit Times Power and Influence Top 50 for three consecutive years (1998–2000) and in the fall of 1999 she consulted to the White House Council on Philanthropy. She is also a research consultant to Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy and to the Foundation Center and the author of What We Know About Women as Donors (published in New Directions for Philanthropic Fund Raising).

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College at the City University of New York. As a graduate student, she was admitted to the Pi Alpha Alpha and Beta Gamma Sigma honor societies.

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David Kilmer
Senior Solutions Engineer
Blackbaud

David Kilmer is the lead solutions engineer for enterprise sales at Blackbaud, Inc. 

He has been at Blackbaud since 2002, during which he served as a customer support analyst, support education trainer and consultant for The Financial Edge(tm).  Since 2004, Kilmer has been assisting and educating Blackbaud clients and other nonprofit organizations on the essentials of creating an anti-fraud environment.

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D. Lance King
Vice President for Advancement, Stony Brook University
President, Stony Brook Foundation 

As vice president for advancement at Stony Brook University and president of the Stony Brook Foundation, D. Lance King leads all development and alumni relations functions for Stony Brook University and the Stony Brook University Medical Center and is an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees. Stony Brook is conducting its first-ever comprehensive capital campaign, with a goal of $300 million.

King joined Stony Brook in June 2006, after serving as senior vice president for development for the University of Colorado Foundation, where he oversaw fundraising efforts for the three-campus CU system. Previously, he served as the executive director for corporate and foundation relations at the University of Texas at Austin and as director of development for the UT College of Pharmacy.

A Texas native and a pharmacist by education, King is a UT graduate and completed a post-graduate executive residency in nonprofit management with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) in Bethesda, Md., where he also worked for five years in federal government relations, student affairs and for the ASHP Research and Education Foundation.

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Celinda Lake
President
Lake Research Partners 

Celinda Lake is one of the Democratic Party’s leading political strategists, serving as tactician and senior advisor to the national party committees, dozens of Democratic incumbents and challengers at all levels of the electoral process. Lake and her firm are known for cutting edge research on issues including the economy, healthcare, the environment and education, and have worked for a number of institutions including the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Governor’s Association (DGA), The White House Project, AFL-CIO, SEIU, CWA, IAFF, Sierra Club, NARAL, Human Rights Campaign, Emily’s List and the Kaiser Foundation. Her work also took her to advise fledgling democratic parties in several post-war Eastern European countries, including Bosnia and South Africa.

Since its formation, Lake Research Partners has become one of the most respected Democratic polling firms in the country, with its Battleground poll widely recognized as one of the leading national issue and election thermometers. Her interviews and statistics have been quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal as well as a variety of magazines. She has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News and NPR, discussing her work and providing expert commentary.

Lake is one of the nation’s foremost experts on electing women candidates and on framing issues to women voters. She is renowned for her groundbreaking research on single women voters in conjunction with Women’s Voices Women Vote and has helped elect numerous female candidates.

In 2006, she served as pollster for Jon Tester, who won an upset primary win and went on to defeat incumbent Senator Conrad Burns. This built on a long record of defeating incumbents. Also in 2006, Lake was the pollster for the largest 527 in the House races that helped Democrats and progressives take back the House. Lake Research Partners has a long history in successful initiative campaigns. In 2006, Lake Research Partners helped with successful minimum wage campaigns in five states and was the pollster on the first successful effort to beat a gay marriage initiative in Arizona. In the 1992 election cycle, she oversaw focus group research for the Clinton/Gore campaign and served as a general consultant throughout the campaign. An experienced moderator, she is also credited with identifying key voter groups, including Reagan seniors, NASCAR dads, waitress moms, the marriage gap and generation D. In 2005 she published with Kellyanne Conway What Women Really Want by Free Press.

Prior to forming Lake Research Partners, Lake was partner and vice president at Greenberg-Lake. Her earlier experience includes serving as political director of the Women’s Campaign Fund and as the research director at the Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., and policy analyst for the Subcommittee on Select Education.

Lake holds a master’s degree in political science and survey research from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and a certificate in political science from the University of Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland. She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors and was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumna Medal by the College.

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Debra LaMorte
Vice President for External Affairs
New York University 

Debra LaMorte has served as senior vice president for university development and alumni relations at New York University (NYU) since 2001.She is responsible for coordinating all fundraising initiatives for the university and for delivering the philanthropic resources required for NYU to meet its academic and programmatic goals for students and faculty. She is also responsible for creating the necessary programs and infrastructure to engage alumni, parents and friends and to keep them connected to NYU as they pursue their lifelong careers.

In 2001, LaMorte, with NYU President John Sexton, launched a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign to support financial aid, recruit new faculty, expand academic programs and develop facilities.The largest fundraising effort in the university’s history, the campaign will conclude on August 31, 2008.

She first joined the university in 1990 when she was named director of development and alumni relations at the NYU School of Law. In 1991, she was promoted to senior director of development. From 1992–2001, she served as associate dean of external affairs. A major accomplishment was the completion of the Law School’s $185 million campaign—at that time, the largest campaign in the history of legal education.

LaMorte received her bachelor’s degree from Antioch College and her J.D. from Salmon P. Chase College of Law.She is an adjunct professor at NYU, and a presenter for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

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Tina Lang-Stuart
Director of Stewardship
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Tina Lang-Stuart joined Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2007 to as director of stewardship. She and her staff are responsible for all stewardship activities and donor recognition, including endowment creation and reporting, acknowledgements, gift agreements, stewardship reports and customized donor communications. She is also charged with developing a stewardship communications plan for principal donors, and overseeing strategic follow-up for cultivation events.

Lang-Stuart, a seasoned communicator, worked in the for-profit sector for more than 15 years where she had a successful career in public relations and marketing communications. Her previous positions include director of global strategies at a high-tech public relations agency and as corporate public relations and marketing communications manager at a leading European IT Consulting company.

She holds a master’s degree in American studies from Munich University.

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Scott Lange
Senior Consultant
Marts & Lundy

Scott Lange joined Marts & Lundy as a senior consultant in 2001 following more than two decades in advancement. He divides his time between the healthcare, higher education and digital solutions groups, with a focus on prospect management, systems and e-philanthropy.

Prior to joining Marts & Lundy, Lange founded Institutional Memory, Inc. and developed GiftedMemory® to help organizations build productive relationships with their constituents. Prior to that, he served as director of development at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and as director of major gifts for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Early in his career, he worked as the director of development for both the University of Missouri-Columbia and Roanoke College.

Lange served as chair and on the faculty of several conferences for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). In recent years he has been an active speaker at CASE/NAIS and HEERA/CASE conferences. He co-authored the chapter “Information Systems, Managing the Database” in the Jossey-Bass Capital Campaigns series of New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising. He co-founded two AFP chapters and served on the AFP National Board of Directors.

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Katina Leodas
Principal
Leodas Search Group 

Katina Leodas cofounded Leodas Solymar, the predecessor firm to Leodas Search Group, in 2000 and has led the evolving company since that time. She is an innovative search consultant and entrepreneur who specializes in finding the best ways to recruit exceptional professionals for advancement jobs in large, national nonprofit organizations, including institutions of higher education, academic medical centers, arts and cultural organizations and advocacy groups.

Prior to establishing Leodas Search Group, she was a senior associate with Isaacson, Miller, the Boston-based national executive search firm.

Before entering the field of recruiting, Leodas spent 10 years mediating lawsuits and public-sector conflicts, with Endispute, Inc., in private practice, and as director of community relations for Boston’s Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project (“the Big Dig”). In private practice, she taught negotiation and consensus building in corporate and academic settings, including the Program On Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the Graduate Program on Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston. Prior to working in mediation, she spent a decade founding and directing grass roots, community organizations and housing improvement groups in low-income communities including Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Providence and Somerville, Mass. She also practiced law with a mid-sized civil litigation firm in Boston.

Leodas earned her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

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David Lotz
Director, Higher Education
Convio, Inc.

David Lotz serves as director, higher education for Convio, Inc. He leads Convio's higher education practice, overseeing product direction, client service, strategy and sales for the company’s higher education clients and partners.

Lotz has more than 16 years of development, alumni relations and technology experience managing external relations for universities. Most recently, he served as assistant dean for resource development at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, where he was responsible for the school's fundraising efforts as well as alumni, donor and corporate relations. Prior to the University of Texas, he served as director of major gifts at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Anderson Graduate School of Management. He also previously served as area director of development for Baylor University and as a senior consultant for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Lotz earned a business degree in marketing and management from Baylor University.

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William Lowery
Vice President for Development & External Relations
Claremont McKenna College

William R. Lowery, is the vice president for development and external relations at Claremont McKenna College.

A former partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the international fundraising consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner, he has guided more than 20 colleges and universities through major campaigns and fundraising strategy development. He is particularly knowledgeable in the areas of advancement planning, annual giving, major gift program development and campaign implementation.

Lowery began his career in 1967 as assistant professor of English at Pomona College, later serving as director of development and director of annual giving at Pomona. He was also dean of admission and associate professor of English at Pitzer College, and subsequently served as vice president for development and public affairs at Lake Forest College, vice president for external relations at Carleton College and dean for college advancement at his alma mater, Wabash College.

He is widely respected throughout the higher education advancement community, having served on many commissions, committees, and task forces of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), as well as a member of its Board of Trustees from 1991-1994. He has taught more than 3,000 advancement professionals through CASE educational seminars and programs, received its Crystal Apple for excellence in teaching, and was founding chair of its Commission on Philanthropy.

He is a graduate of Wabash College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received a doctorate in English from Northwestern University.

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Melanie Magara
Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs
Northern Illinois University

Melanie Magara is assistant vice president for public affairs and chief communications officer at Northern Illinois University.  Since the tragic Valentine’s Day shooting at NIU, Magara has been the public face and voice of that institution, managing communication challenges that touch every area of the advancement profession.  Beyond crisis communications, Magara is responsible for central university marketing, branding and public relations, and recently led NIU through a successful overhaul of the university’s website that has garnered national attention and regular requests for consultation.

Prior to her tenure at NIU, Magara served in a similar position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Her background also includes eight years as director of marketing communications for The Carle Foundation / Carle Clinic Association in Champaign, Illinois.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is working on a master’s degree in communications at Northern Illinois University. 

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Nicole Malec Kenyon
Director of Communications for Resource Development
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nicole Malec Kenyon,  the Director of Communications for Resource Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has more than 15 years experience in communications and higher education. Prior to joining MIT, Malec Kenyon spent 10 years at Boston College in various marketing, communications, and technology positions with a focus on strategic planning and metrics for measuring success. She has also taught web development courses at BC since 1999.

Earlier in her career, Malec Kenyon was a reporter at The Hartford Courant in Connecticut covering community news including education, policy, social trends, and technology. She is currently pursuing a dual degree—PhD in Sociology/MBA—at BC with research interests in both quantitative methods and the effects of electronic communication on social networks in complex organizations. Malec Kenyon graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in American Studies from the University of Connecticut and earned a master's in education from BC.

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Jerry May
Vice President for Development
University of Michigan

Jerry May is the vice president for development at the University of Michigan. As vice president, he is responsible for all fundraising activities at the university, including policy formulation, strategic planning and program implementation. He also manages the university's fundraising programs and works with a staff of 410, including development officers in schools and colleges, regional major gift and planned giving officers, corporate and foundation officers, annual giving staff and development support professionals.

At Michigan he planned and implemented a $2.5 billion campaign, The Michigan Difference, which kicked off its public phase in May 2004. This is the fourth comprehensive campaign in the university's history. The campaign has raised nearly $2 billion.

Before joining U-M, May was the vice president for development at The Ohio State University and president of The Ohio State University Foundation from 1992 to 2003. As president, he guided and advised the 45-member Board of Directors of the foundation, the university's lead fundraising volunteer board and primary gift-receipt organization.

From 1993-95 he planned the second university-wide campaign in Ohio State history, and implemented the campaign from 1995 to 2000 with a goal of $1 billion. The campaign, entitled "Affirm Thy Friendship," was completed June 30, 2000, with more than $1.23 billion in gifts from Ohio State friends and alumni.

Prior to his time at OSU, May was served the University of Michigan as director of the principal gifts program, director of the major gifts program, as well as senior associate director of a successful five-year $160 million campaign that concluded in 1987. He was also director of the Business School's $15 million component of that campaign.

With a colleague, Roy Muir, May has edited a book for CASE entitled, Developing an Effective Major Gift Program: From Managing Staff to Soliciting Gifts. He wrote a chapter in Developing Major Gifts, published by Jossey-Bass, and wrote a paper published by the Association of Governing Boards entitled "Recruiting and Retaining Senior Foundation Executives and Senior Fund Raisers."

He holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Hope College and a master's degree in higher education administration from the University of Vermont. He also did graduate work at the University of Michigan.

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Ada Meloy
General Counsel
American Council on Education

Since her arrival at ACE in 2007, Ada Meloy has focused on many legal issues in higher education. In particular, she has chaired a working group examining ethical and conflict issues faced by institutions and their faulty, staff and administrations. She has been featured as an expert on issues related to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other issues arising from the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. She was an active participant in the efforts to modify chemical security regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security, and also has served as ACE's representative on the Higher Education Coalition for Patent Reform.

Meloy joined ACE after a distinguished 28-year career at New York University’s Office of Legal Counsel. She served as deputy general counsel for over 10 years and as acting general counsel for NYU in 2005-06. Meloy handled a wide range of legal matters during her tenure at the university, including academic disputes, discrimination issues, tenure, grievance and discipline matters, and intellectual property litigations. She litigated on behalf of the institution on numerous occasions, handled the day-to-day management of the Office of Legal Counsel, and supervised the work of outside counsel.

Meloy has also served extensively on committees and spoken at conferences of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. In 2000, she co-founded the Prisoners’ Reading Encouragement Project—which enhances literacy and educational opportunities for inmates—for which she currently serves as a director. She has been a member of the bar Committee on Professional Ethics and the Disciplinary Committee for New York attorneys. She is a member of both the New York and District of Columbia bars as well as the bars of various federal courts.

Prior to joining NYU, she was an associate at the New York law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Meloy is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she was a Wellesley Scholar. She earned her juris doctor from the NYU School of Law in 1973.

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Lisa McClatchy
Assistant Vice President & Campaign Director, Development and Alumni Relations
University of Pennsylvania

Before assuming her current position in 2007, McClatchy was director of the Penn Fund from 2004 to 2007, where she oversaw and led remarkable growth in both participation and dollars raised in this signature program. She credits work with an organization of 1,200 alumni volunteers as well as the Fund's partnership with other areas of the university for its success.

Prior to joining Penn, McClatchy worked with the American Red Cross for 13 years, rising to chief advancement officer for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter. She led two successful capital campaigns and served as a member of the senior management team with oversight for the full range of chapter operations.

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Tom Mendham
Campaign Chair
Muhlenberg College

Tom Mendham, a retired first vice president and national marketing manager with Merrill Lynch, is a 1963 graduate of Muhlenberg College. He was a member of Muhlenberg's Board of Trustees from 1996-2008, having served as vice chairman and chair of the Development Committee. Other volunteer positions include chair of the Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Society from 1993-1995 and the national chair of the Muhlenberg Fund from 1995-1998. In 2002 he was appointed national chairman of the Pride and Progress campaign and is now senior chairman of The Talents Entrusted to our Care: A Campaign for Muhlenberg. Mendham also serves on the Board of Regents for The Mercersburg Academy.

He was a recipient of Muhlenberg's Alumni Achievement Award in 1999 for Service to the Alumni Association

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Tilghman H. Moyer, IV
Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations
Muhlenberg College

Tilghman Moyer has been with Muhlenberg College for 14 years.  He formally served as the director of annual giving, director of development services and the Muhlenberg Fund Associate Vice President for Development and Director of Capital Projects and is currently is the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations.  Prior to Muhlenberg, he served as the associate director of annual giving at Gettysburg College.

Tilghman is responsible for implementation and coordination of all fund raising and alumni relation activity at Muhlenberg and is currently leading the largest comprehensive campaign in the College’s history.

He has presented at numerous NSFRE and CASE conferences.  He is a board member of CASE District II.
 
Tilghman received his B.A from Penn State and has earned a M.A. in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.

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Myra Norton
CEO
Community Analytics, LLC

Myra Norton, chief executive officer of Community Analytics LLC, has been with the firm since its inception in 2004. She is responsible for providing strategic direction for all of Community Analytics’ business units and is leading the firm through its next era of dynamic growth.

Norton has extensive academic experience as an administrator in the College of Science and Technology at Temple University, teaching in the Business School and the College of Science and Technology at Temple University, as well as lecturing on mathematics and statistics at Towson University and providing academic support to midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy.

She is a leading thinker on the application of social networks within business communities, speaking and writing on this subject in a variety of venues. She is advancing the Community Analytics tagline, The Power of Human Networks®—a succinct statement of the company’s vision of authentic customer engagement. This commitment is driving the company’s strategy among many of the Fortune 1000 companies as well as top colleges and universities.

Norton serves as a speaker and facilitator for the Network Roundtable at the University of Virginia and works with researchers from Harvard University, Babson College, University of Virginia and the University of Chicago. Her principal focus is the study of human networks. She leads the National Girls Collaborative Project as part of her work with the Center for Women in Technology, serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the College of Engineering at UMBC and is actively involved in the Greater Baltimore Technology Council.

She graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in math education and received two master’s degrees—one in mathematics and one in statistics—from Temple University.

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James Osterholt
Vice President for Advancement
St. John's College, Santa Fe

Jim Osterholt has been vice president at St. John’s College in Santa Fe since 2005, serving as the principal officer in the college’s $125 million “Campaign for St. John’s College.” This campaign, the most ambitious in the college’s history, exceeded its goal six months before the campaign’s conclusion.

Prior to coming to St. John’s, he served as vice president for external relations at the Jackson Laboratory; vice president for development for the Milken Institute; executive director of development for the RAND Corporation; a number of positions at UCLA over twenty-one years, retiring as associate vice chancellor; and director of development and alumni affairs at Union Theological Seminary.

Osterholt received his bachelor's degree from Stanford, his master's degree from Columbia, and was a Rockefeller Fellow at Union Seminary. From 2001-2004 he was a Trustee for CASE International.

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Paul Pita
CEO, Vrroomedia
Executive Creative Director/Principal
Pita Communications, LLC

As the CEO of Vrroomedia and the executive creative director and principal of Pita Communications, Paul Pita engages groups through creative and thought-provoking discovery workshops. He creates important dialogue, helps build consensus and executes strategic and creative solutions for clients and partners in the higher education, healthcare, tourism and financial services industries.

Recently he has embarked on a crusade to build innovative online solutions that transform the way people give, interact and learn.

Over his 17-year career, Pita has worked on branding and marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 corporations, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, including Trinity College, Springfield College, Columbia University, the Center for Professional Development at University of Hartford and the University of Connecticut Foundation.

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Patrick Rooney
Director of Research
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University

Patrick Rooney is director of research at the Center on Philanthropy. He directs center-wide research activities, including the center’s signature research project, a longitudinal study of philanthropy in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s Panel Study of Income Dynamics. He also oversees the Fundraising and Administrative Costs Study, a collaborative effort with the Urban Institute.

Rooney manages the center’s ongoing research projects, including the research and writing for Giving USA, which is produced by the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy, and the semiannual Philanthropic Giving Index, which gauges and predicts the climate for donor giving and philanthropic activity.

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Peggy Sandgren
Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations
Elmhurst College

Peggy Sandgren serves as vice president for development at Elmhurst College, and has been in fundraising for higher education for 24 years. Specializing in building development and alumni staffs from the “ground up” at private, liberal arts institutions, she has recruited and built strong volunteer networks as part of the core belief in creating a strong and successful advancement operation.

During the early years of her career at DePauw University as annual fund director, she built a class agent system numbering 650 active volunteers and created a multiyear strategic planning process for annual funds. In addition, she started the first annual fund director network within the GLCA institutions in the Midwest.

In later years, she planned and implemented two successful comprehensive fundraising campaigns at the University of Evansville and Marian College in Indianapolis, both of which included a wide core of volunteer leadership and comprehensive programming,

Sandgren served on the CASE District V conference committee and served as conference chair of the District V conference in 2000.

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Carolyn Sanzone
Deputy Vice President, University Development and Alumni Relations
Columbia University 

As deputy vice president in the central development and alumni relations unit of Columbia University, Carolyn Sanzone oversees a new staff development and retention program serving the entire development and alumni relations community across the university.She provides training to managers on goal-setting and performance feedback, designs programs to develop effective teams and provides executive coaching support to development managers.

Sanzone has experience with comprehensive campaigns and managing development programs. At Columbia she managed directors of development for professional schools and key programs, and as the assistant vice chancellor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst she created a new university-corporate relations model and managed corporation and foundation relations staff.She has a life-long commitment to empowering people and has pursued training in organizational design, managing transition and change, and understanding and working with type differences.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in theology, and is a certified coach. She maintains a private executive coaching practice and through her company, Carolyn Sanzone Inc., helps develop leaders and team and support organizational change in universities and nonprofits. She has presented widely on trends in development and has been a long-time conference faculty member for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

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Marjorie Savage
Director of the University Parent Program
University of Minnesota

Marjorie Savage is the director of the University of Minnesota Parent Program, serving as the liaison between the university and the parents of its 28,000 undergraduates.

She has developed nationally acclaimed parent programming centered on communications and technology, and in recent years she has used Web technology to deliver information to parents on critical issues such as college mental health and student drinking. She has done research on parent programs nationally, and she routinely conducts assessments of her own program in order to measure the success of her services and to better understand the concerns of parents of college students.

She frequently presents at national conferences and consults with colleges and universities nationally and internationally on the topic of parent involvement, and she is the author of You’re on Your Own (But I’m Here If You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years); Simon and Schuster Fireside Edition, 2003.

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Michael Schoenfeld
Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations
Duke University

Michael Schoenfeld joined Duke University in July 2008 as the vice president for public affairs and government relations, overseeing communications and advocacy efforts for the university and medical center. From 1997-2008, he served as vice chancellor for public affairs at Vanderbilt University, where he created and led a comprehensive external affairs program that earned multiple honors from CASE and other organizations, as well as five regional Emmy awards earlier this year for television productions.

He currently holds leadership roles with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Public Relations Society of America, the Association of American Universities and Leadership Music, and previously served on the board of the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the CASE Commission on Communications.

Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Schoenfeld was senior vice president for policy and public affairs at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in Washington, D.C.  He previously served as the director of program development at Worldnet, the United States Information Agency’s global satellite television network, and as chief of staff at the Voice of America, where he also held a variety of executive and news reporting positions. 

A 1984 Duke graduate, Schoenfeld earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harriman School at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1986.

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Barry F. Schwartz
Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.
Trustee, Kenyon College

Barry F. Schwartz has been the executive vice chairman and chief administrative officer of MacAndrews & Forbes since October 2007. He joined MacAndrews & Forbes in 1989 and became general counsel in 1993. He also serves as chief executive officer of M & F Worldwide Corp.

He is a director of the following companies: Revlon, Inc., Revlon Consumer Products Corporation, Scientific Games Corporation, Allied Security Holdings LLC, TransTech Pharma Inc., Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. and M&F Worldwide Corp.

Prior to joining MacAndrews & Forbes, Schwartz was a partner at the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of Kenyon College, serving on its Executive Committee, and is chair of its Admissions and Financial Aid Committee. He also serves as a Member of the Board of Visitors of the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Andrew Shaindlin
Executive Director, Caltech Alumni Association
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

An alumni relations professional since 1989, Andy Shaindlin has worked at Brown University (his alma mater) and at the University of Michigan. Since 1999, he has been the executive director of the Caltech Alumni Association at the California Institute of Technology.

Involved regionally and nationally for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) since 1989, he is currently vice chair of the Commission on Alumni Relations. He is also chair of the EDUCAUSE Task Force on Identity Management in higher education.

Professionally, Shaindlin has published periodically in CURRENTS magazine and has written chapters for two CASE books and for an independently published book about online business networking.

He has presented at a number of conferences and has served as a paid consultant. He is a member of the Association of Private College and University Alumni Directors (PCUAD) and is the creator and author of a blog for alumni relations professionals, www.alumnifutures.com.

He is pursuing a master’s degree in education part-time at Claremont Graduate University.

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Brian Sischo
Associate Vice President for Development & Campaign Director
Syracuse University

Brian Sischo is in his 18th year working in higher education advancement. He currently serves as associate vice president for development and campaign director at Syracuse University. His responsibilities include management oversight for the primary fundraising organization of over 100 staff including a central development unit as well as a decentralized team of fundraising staff in each of the university’s eleven schools and colleges. As the campaign director, he serves as the chief architect for Syracuse’s $1 billion capital campaign that was launched publicly in fall 2007, and currently stands at roughly $555 million.

Prior to joining Syracuse in 2001, Sischo served as director of development at Clarkson University, where he was successful in providing strategic direction for a development program that surpassed fundraising goals in two comprehensive capital campaigns over an eleven-year period. Earlier in his career, he worked for Key Bank of New York in regional bank management.

Sischo earned his undergraduate degree in finance and a master’s degree in management systems from Clarkson University. He also has certification from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard.

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Zachary A. Smith
Director of Strategic Talent Management for University Advancement
University of California, Irvine

Zachary A. Smith serves as the director of strategic talent management for university advancement at the University of California, Irvine. He is responsible for building an internal “executive search firm” style recruitment program, as well as developing initiatives for professional development and retention of advancement staff.  His primary focus is with middle- and senior-level development officers. In addition, Smith conducts organizational research for strategic planning purposes.

In December, 2007 UC Irvine’s talent management program was recognized by CASE District VII, winning a Silver Medal award for Outstanding Advancement Services Initiative. Smith recently published the cover article in the March, 2008 edition of CURRENTS magazine, “Branching Out: Recruiting the right people to educational fundraising makes all the difference.” 

Previously, he worked at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as director of development, while completing his doctorate in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education administration.  

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J. Lawrence Snavely
President
Snavely & Associates, Ltd.

With the founding of Snavely Associates about a quarter-century ago, Larry Snavely established a legacy of inviting talented individuals to be part of his staff—people who each make a valuable contribution and share responsibility for the business’ as well as the clients’ success. His breadth of experience provide a firm foundation of knowledge in the strategic communications field, allowing him to effectively serve clients of all kinds—public and private, large and small, religious and secular, major research universities and independent schools.

Snavely Associates has the privilege of working for clients across the country.A dedicated community volunteer for most of his professional life, Snavely has been recognized for his extraordinary volunteerism in support of many nonprofit agencies. He actively participates on several community organization boards including the Centre County United Way, The Second Mile and the State College Area Family YMCA. He is the Campaign Chair for the 2008 Centre County United Way.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Beloit College. He was co-publisher in 1985 ofState College, the magazine, which was sold in 1990 and continues to this day.

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Chris Thompson
Vice President, Research and Data Services
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)  

Chris Thompson is vice president of research and data services at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), where he oversees and leads the work of the research unit and of the information center. An expert in performance improvement through the strategic use of research data, his prime responsibilities include the cost-of-fundraising study and the new CASE Benchmarking Suite.

Previously, Thompson worked at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he conducted research on local public workforce investment systems and education and training policy. Before joining the staff at Johns Hopkins, he was director of research and benchmarking at the American Society for Training and Development and worked for the National Governors’ Association, the Maryland Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, and the Robert M. LaFollette Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A graduate of University College London, he has a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate from St. Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has authored more than 20 articles for academic journals, over 50 professional reports, and books including Training for the Next Economy, The State of E-learning in the States, and Baltimore’s Workforce System at Work.

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Carol Thomson
President
Steege/Thomson Communications 

Carol Thomson is president and co-founder of Steege/Thomson Communications, which has been providing marketing and fundraising communications to h