Concurrent Session Speakers

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Susan Anderson
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
California State University, Chico 

Susan Anderson is the director of alumni and parent relations at California State University, Chico. She also oversees the university’s annual undergraduate commencement exercises and has served as the vice president for finance and development, vice president for programs and alumni director’s representative for the CSU Alumni Council. She has presented several times at CASE VII conferences.   

Previously, she spent more than 15 years in sales and marketing, primarily in the cable television industry. In addition to serving as the executive director of the Chico State Alumni Association she has served on numerous nonprofit boards.   

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Cynthia Beach
Director of Campaign Special Projects
Yale University

Cynthia Beach is the director of campaign special projects in the Office of Development at Yale University. She entered the development office as an event planner in March 2000 and transitioned to her current position in October 2006. As director of campaign special projects, she is responsible for conceiving, creating and managing high-level events that identify and cultivate prospective donors for existing and newly recognized areas within the Yale Campaign Priorities. She is also responsible for identifying and providing support for special interest groups—those most likely to offer the greatest potential for cultivation of new prospects.

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Bob Brock
President
Educational Marketing Group, Inc.

Bob Brock is one of the nation’s most respected executive consultants and has more than 35 years’ experience in higher education and brand marketing. He is a member of the CASE Industry Advisory Council and is a frequent speaker on new media, branding and related topics for CASE, NCMPR, AMA and other professional organizations. He has served in communications, marketing and management positions at Washington University in St. Louis, Rutgers University, the University of Denver and Metropolitan State College of Denver. 

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, Brock has been a consultant in strategic planning and marketing for dozens of premier universities and colleges and is recognized for his work as the primary architect of high-impact brands for institutions of higher education throughout North America.

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Adrienne Capps
Senior Director of Development, Graduate School of Management
University of California, Davis

Adrienne Capps is the senior director of development for the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis. She has worked in the nonprofit sector as a fundraiser and marketer for her entire career. Over the past ten years, she has raised nearly $19 million for a variety of causes, including at-risk youth, mental health and higher education in Virginia, New York and California. Previously, she served as the head of fundraising for Dyson College of Arts & Sciences at Pace University in New York City.

A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) since 2004, Capps has published several articles in Advancing Philanthropy. The most recent of which is “Gastronomy and Giving” from the March/April 2008 issue.

She has been an active participant of the fundraising community as a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) for the past eight years. She served on the Board of Directors of the Greater New York Chapter of AFP where she also worked on the National Philanthropy Day Committee for five consecutive years. She has also maintained membership in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and served on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Fundraising Executives.

Capps also enjoys an involved community life volunteering for a variety of causes she feels passionate about, including serving on the Board of Directors and as treasurer of S.W.i.S.H, a New York City-based gay-straight alliance; and the Boys & Girls Clubs.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with honors, and a bachelor’s degree in leadership studies from the University of Richmond; a Certificate in Fundraising Administration from New York University; and a master’s of business administration degree in financial management, with honors, from Pace University in New York City.

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Christy Cates
Senior Executive Director of Strategic Organizational and Talent Management
University of California, Irvine

Christy Cates is the executive director of strategic organizational and talent management, and part of University Advancement’s senior leadership team, at the University of California, Irvine. She has been in this position for over eight years and has 14 years of experience as a human resources professional in both the public and private sectors.

In her current role, Cates provides leadership for the human resources function for University Advancement. In addition, she serves as an adviser and consultant to middle and senior management on organizational and strategic planning issues as they pertain to staffing management. 

An industry leader, Cates is responsible for developing and implementing one of the first talent management programs in the higher education advancement area. Prior to joining the University Advancement team, she worked for multisite corporations that employed between 800–4,000 employees in various western states.

She earned a degree in political science from San Diego State University and is a member of SHRM and CASE.

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Julie Chiron
Web Manager for Campaign and Online Giving Activities
University of California, Berkeley

Julie Chiron is the Web manager for campaign and online giving activities at UC Berkeley, which is ranked 6th by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in online fundraising among universities nationwide.

Prior to her seven years in advancement marketing at Berkeley, Chiron owned a Web services company that developed social media tools for online retailers such as Sony and Cooking.com. She began her career in interactive media as the founder of WIRED magazine's online division, HotWired, and has worked at several interactive design agencies in the Bay Area.

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Patti Crane
Founder and President
Crane MetaMarketing

Patti Crane has served as marketing consultant to more than 150 colleges, universities and independent schools for over 30 years and brings a leading-edge, action-oriented perspective to the many seminars she teaches annually. Crane is a trailblazer in the study of institutional culture and self-presentation, having pioneered unique methodologies for qualitative research, quantitative analysis, strategic positioning and branding.

She has garnered numerous awards for her work and has contributed articles to many publications. The company she founded, Crane MetaMarketing, delivers transformative branding and communications programs—research-driven, values-based—to a diverse national and international clientele.

She has earned international recognition as the creator of admission strategies that increase enrollments, enhance class quality and improve net revenue.

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Jon Derek Croteau
Senior Consultant
Witt/Kieffer

Jon Derek Croteau’s experience in higher education and not-for-profit organizations encompasses assessment, communication, fundraising, administration and human capital management. Based in Boston, he is a senior consultant with Witt/Kieffer’s education and not-for-profit practice. He conducts executive searches and completes organizational assessments for universities, colleges, healthcare organizations, foundations and other not-for-profit groups.

Croteau has worked with universities around the country, performing a wide range of duties from recruitment to fundraising to succession planning. Most recently, he served as assistant vice president for campaign planning and operations for Carnegie Mellon University.. Prior to that, he served as assistant vice president for advancement services/director of organizational development and human capital management. In the division, he oversaw expansive growth and recruited several key executives and staff.

Throughout his career, Croteau has helped define and create human capital management programs and designed and delivered new on-boarding and training practices for staff. He has directed gift cultivation and solicitation strategies, worked closely with volunteers and trustees, and developed key relationships with senior executives to promote the vision and mission of institutions.

He was an adjunct professor at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon. He has published and presented on educational advancement and human capital management topics. He is the author of The People First Approach, A Guide for Recruiting, Development and Retaining the Right People and is on the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Educational Advancement. 

He serves as vice chairman of the Emerson College Alumni Association Executive Board of Directors, is on the Board of Ambassadors for The Home for Little Wanderers, and is a mentor for the Point Foundation.

He received his bachelor’s degree in writing, literature and publishing, summa cum laude, from Emerson College, his master’s degree in counseling psychology from Northwestern University and his doctorate of education in administration, training and policy studies from Boston University. He also holds a Certificate in Language and Culture from Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

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Mark Davis
Director of Technical Solutions
Blackbaud

Mark Davis is a director of technology solutions for Blackbaud’s Internet Solutions Division. Over his eight years with Blackbaud, he has worked directly with many of the largest nonprofits in the industry, such as American Heart Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Notre Dame University and Arthritis Foundation, helping to deploy online fundraising solutions.

As one of the original architects of the Friends Asking Friends® technology, he has actively participated in the development of Blackbaud’s Internet product suite. Currently, he maintains a role in business development in interacting with Blackbaud’s largest Internet customers providing strategic guidance around technology and online fundraising trends.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Duke University and a master’s degree in engineering from Stanford University.

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Nicki Dugan
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Yahoo! Inc.

Nicki Dugan, senior director of corporate communications at Yahoo!, oversees strategy and execution for Yahoo!’s corporate social media assets — from blog posts and tweets to photos and videos. She is the founding editor of the company's official blog, Yodel Anecdotal <http://yodel.yahoo.com/> , which she launched in August 2006 as "Yet another self-serving corporate blog. Anecdotal was awarded a 2007 Platinum PR Award honorable mention.  

Dugan also oversees the company’s Twitter account <http://twitter.com/yahoo>, Facebook page <http://bit.ly/13Qlhh>, Yahoo! Video channel <http://video.yahoo.com/people/17209>, and Flickr photostream <http://flickr.com/photos/yodelanecdotal>.
 
Prior to joining Yahoo! in 2000, Dugan represented consumer internet brands such as Yahoo!, Mapquest and Reel.com at Niehaus Ryan Wong, the tech PR agency that presided over the halcyon days of the Internet boom. She also served as editorial director at Sheila Donnelly & Associates of Honolulu and as senior editor at Travel Holiday magazine in New York. She was named among PR Week’s “Forty Under 40” in 2007 and has presented at conferences such as Blog World Expo, Bulldog Reporter, BlogHer Business, and the Blog Business Summit.

Dugan received a bachelor's degree in English from Franklin & Marshall College.

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Ilona Emmerth
Director for Major Cities
Association of Yale Alumni  

As a director for major cities at the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA), Ilona Emmerth interacts primarily with alumni in Chicago, New Haven and Washington, DC, enabling them to be effective contributors and ambassadors for Yale. As part of the AYA’s new strategic initiatives, Emmerth is also working with alumni in these cities to develop innovative programming that will engage them not just with each other and the university, but also with their local communities.    

Prior to joining the AYA staff, Emmerth was a dedicated Yale alumna volunteer leader in Cleveland, Ohio. Among her many roles and achievements was the 2003 launch of Bulldogs on the Cuyahoga, a multifaceted summer internship program designed to attract current Yale students and recent graduates to the city. The program’s early success led to collaboration with other local alumni groups, and the expanded Summer on the Cuyahoga program now hosts 80 students from eight universities each summer. While in Cleveland, she pursued opportunities in supply chain consulting and was most recently a principal in her family’s business, a supplier to the fast food industry. Because of her business experience and community engagement, Crain’s Cleveland Business named her one of “Forty Under 40” rising business leaders in 2006.   

Emmerth received her bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University.

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Bonnie Feinberg
Associate Director of Development
The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration
Medicine and Stem Cell Research
University of California, San Francisco

Bonnie Feinberg is a development officer with the UCSF Foundation. She is currently engaged in a $123 million dollar capital campaign to build a state of the art stem cell research facility which will house The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.

She formerly served as the LGBT Alliance Director for the SF-based Jewish Community Federation (JCF) focusing on annual gift cultivation, community outreach and external relations. Prior to this Bonnie was the assistant director of Law Career Services for Golden Gate University School of Law, forging partnerships between the legal and business communities and the law school to create professional opportunities for students and alumni.

Her professional experiences include educational administration, community and corporate outreach, fundraising and work force development.

Bonnie holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from Baruch College of the City University of New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in social science from Stonybrook University, of the State University of New York. 

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Peter Hayashida
Assistant Vice Chancellor, External Affairs
University of California, Los Angeles

Peter A. Hayashida was appointed assistant vice chancellor of UCLA External Affairs in 2000. He serves concurrently as executive director of The UCLA Foundation, a volunteer-governed, 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation that promotes charitable support of the university and manages more than $1.6 billion in assets. Hayashida oversees the campus-wide Special Events & Protocol unit and Donor Relations & Development Services, encompassing stewardship, prospect management, donor research, development events and stewardship. He is also responsible for advancement-wide strategic and resource planning, budget, organizational development, human resources and administrative services.

He started his career in the private sector, where he conducted real estate investment due diligence, wrote corporate expansion business plans, performed financial and feasibility analyses and supported the management of operations for a variety of business ventures. He returned to his alma mater as a student affairs officer in UCLA’s College of Letters & Science, providing academic advising to undergraduate students.

Prior to his current position, Hayashida spent seven years at The UCLA Alumni Association, where he served as associate executive director for finance and administration and, prior to that, as director of the association’s volunteer-driven scholarship program that provided merit- and need-based awards to UCLA students.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from UCLA and a master’s degree in business administration from California State University, Northridge. He currently serves on the board of directors of a $51 million social service agency in Los Angeles.

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Ian Hsu
Director of Internet Media Outreach
Stanford University

Ian Hsu is director of internet media outreach in Stanford University’s Office of Public Affairs, where he leads the university’s new media communications strategy.

Before returning to his alma mater, Hsu managed the enterprise business practice at the online slideshow company FilmLoop, where he crafted social media programs for Toyota, Purina and NASCAR.com. He has also held positions in online marketing, product marketing, and consulting at Spansion, AMD and Sapient.

Hsu holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in management science & engineering from Stanford University.

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Ken Kaplan
Broadcast and Social Media Strategist/Producer, Consumer and Social Media
Intel

Ken Kaplan is a broadcast and social media strategist/producer/participant on the Consumer and Social Media team inside Intel's Global Communications Group. He helps the Global Communication Group tell stories by producing videos, photos and other online communication.

He helped launch and directs Channelintel, Intel's main YouTube channel www.youtube.com/channelintel, and contributes to Intel's Flickr accounts http://www.flickr.com/photos/intelphotos/, co-lead the @intel Twitter www.twitter.com/intel account and advise Intel's PR team worldwide how to use new media.

Much of his work can be seen on the Intel Pressroom at www.intel.com/pressroom.

For Intel, he blogs on Technology@Intel http://blogs.intel.com/technology and Inside Scoop http://scoop.intel.com.  In his personal blog. Movin' Ahead http://kenekaplan.wordpress.com, Twitter www.twitter.com/kenekaplan and on Facebook,  he shares his perspective on working with traditional and new media, technology and family experiences in Italy.

More about his approach to public relations in this interview http://tinyurl.com/azvr3b.

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Jill Lasman
Vice President
Lois L. Lindauer Searches

Joining LLLS in 1998, Jill Lasman has played a key role in the firm’s growth and rising stature in development executive search. She has filled over 100 positions, including over 30 searches for Carnegie Mellon University, 28 searches at the University of Rochester and the University of Rochester Medical Center, and the recent completion of searches for the associate dean of alumni and development at the University of Chicago’s School of Business and the vice president for university advancement at the University of New Haven.

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Lois L. Lindauer
CEO
Lois L. Lindauer Searches

Lois L. Lindauer is the CEO of Lois L. Lindauer Searches, a retained executive search firm focusing exclusively on positions in the nonprofit sector, particularly in education, healthcare, social service and arts. Associated activities include founding and running Sisters in Development, a networking group that offers women of color, working in development, the opportunity to meet for support, inspiration and career advancement and co-founding and leading The Forum for Women Leaders of Nonprofit Organizations, a year-long peer advisory group for executive directors. 

A serial entrepreneur, Lindauer was the founder and director of The Diet Workshop and was the first woman in the United States to grow a service business through the franchise system of distribution

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Bruce McClintock
Chair
Marts & Lundy

Bruce McClintock joined Marts & Lundy in 1980. Since then, he has served more than 100 clients whose philanthropic initiatives exceed $12 billion.

McClintock has served the firm as vice president from 1984-1988, executive vice president from 1988-1991, president and treasurer from 1991-1994, chair and CEO from 1994-1999, and was reelected chair in 2006.

He is a former member of the Advisory Board for The Kresge Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative and has served as a trustee and alumni association president of Northfield Mount Hermon School, as well as a trustee of the Watkinson School.

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Thomas Minar
Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations
American University

Thomas J. Minar is vice president of development and alumni relations at American University. At American he oversees all the university’s alumni relations programs and fundraising efforts, including the $200 million AnewAU campaign. He works closely with university leadership, schools and colleges, alumni and board of trustees to support AU’s strategic priorities, attract new funding and build lifelong relationships between AU and its 100,000 alumni. He oversees a staff of 40, comprising AU’s school and college development staff, alumni programs, annual giving, development communications, information services, planned giving, university-wide initiatives, and research and stewardship divisions.

Minar spent five years at Roosevelt University in Chicago as vice president for institutional advancement and special assistant to the president. At Roosevelt he restructured and managed development and alumni relations efforts and secured significant gifts, grants and pledges for the university.

He went to Roosevelt in 2003 after five years as vice president for development and external affairs and professor of religion and political science at Chicago Theological Seminary, an ecumenical graduate school of religion affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

Minar’s previous advancement roles include associate dean for external affairs and chief development officer for the College of Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; director of development for the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations; and assistant dean and director of alumni relations for Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also served as faculty in the department of management and strategy and the department of political science at Northwestern, in addition to two years in the Office of the Provost at Northwestern managing the university’s faculty governance structure.

Minar has spoken extensively in conference and private settings on higher education careers, political advocacy and congressional relations in nonprofit organizations, fundraising and institutional advancement, and the role of gays and lesbians in contemporary religion. He earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Pomona College and he holds a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a doctorate in political science, also from Northwestern.

He is president of the Pomona College Alumni Association, a member of the Board of Directors of Three Crowns Park Foundation, a holding foundation for a retirement community in Evanston, Ill., and executive campaign chair for First Congregational Church of Wilmette.

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Adam Nash
Senior Director, Product & User Experience
LinkedIn

Adam Nash is a seasoned technology executive and general manager with experience across engineering, product management, product strategy and venture capital. His focus is on identifying business opportunities around emerging technologies and leading teams to design great products to address them. Nash has a strong passion for innovation and entrepreneurship with an affinity for public speaking and product evangelism.

In his role as senior director for product and user experience at LinkedIN, Nash leads teams in product strategy, design and flow for the site and is responsible for the vast majority of all page views. Prior to this, Nash was an associate partner at Altas Venture, software engineer at Apple, and director at eBay Express North America.

Nash holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University, as well a MBA from Harvard University.

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Peter K. Ryan
Partner and Senior Creative Director
Edwards & Co.

Peter Ryan creates work that moves and excites audiences. His approach to honing in on an institution's culture and core values seeks to celebrate and strengthen the emotional connections that make a community vital.

He is a partner and senior creative director for Mark Edwards & Company, with long experience developing creative strategy, videos, publications, and small- and large-scale events for educational institutions.

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Robert Shoss
Founder and President
Performance Enhancement Group, Ltd

Robert Shoss is a founding member (1992) of Performance Enhancement Group, Ltd. (PEG), an organizational development consulting firm specializing in helping companies measure things that are often considered unmeasurable such as customer/alumni satisfaction, market perceptions and alumni/employees’ perceptions of organizational support.

In 2001 PEG worked with leading alumni and development executives from universities across the country to develop the first Alumni Attitude Study© (AAS). The Alumni Attitude Study© defines key drivers of alumni loyalty and provides the right information to successfully manage communication, programs and participation issues. Over 100 colleges and universities across the United States have participated in the study during the past six years, giving the Alumni Attitude Study the unique ability to compare each participant’s results against a group of peer universities. 

Over the last five years Shoss has published several articles on national alumni trends for CASE Currents and presented survey results at CASE conferences on how schools are developing programs and communication strategies that are targeted to meet the needs of their alumni. 

Shoss received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Tulane University and a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Christine Keller Smith
Alumni Director
Australian National University

Christine Keller Smith has nearly twenty years experience as alumni director at The University of Auckland in New Zealand and The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. 

Previously, she worked in London at Heathrow Airport teaching English to Iberia Airline pilots. Setting up Community Education Programs from scratch in two remote areas of New Zealand was the next step as well as teaching adults within those programs in bread-making, publishing two books in the process.

She pioneered alumni relations at The University of Auckland for 14 years before moving across the Tasman to ANU in 2004. The Global Alumni Leadership Exchange opportunity between Yale and ANU has been a career highlight, as is her membership of the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations. 

Smith has a MA Hons in English and a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies from Massy and Canterbury Universities in New Zealand.  

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Peter Smits
Vice President for University Advancement
California State University, Fresno

Peter Smits serves as vice president for University Advancement at California State University, Fresno. As a member of the president’s cabinet, he is responsible for Fresno State’s programs in alumni relations, development and fundraising, university communications, and endowment management.

Prior to his appointment at Fresno State, he served as vice president for advancement at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as executive assistant to the Chancellor at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, vice president for college relations and development at the State University of New York at Brockport and dean of students at The College of White Plains in New York.

Smits earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State University of New York at Albany, and his doctorate from the University of Buffalo. 

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Jim Thompson
 Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer
University of Rochester

Jim Thompson joined the University of Rochester as senior vice president and chief advancement officer in 2005. He leads the university’s comprehensive advancement efforts and is working with academic and administrative partners and volunteer leaders to plan the largest campaign in the university’s history.

At the University of Rochester, Thompson is strengthening the advancement culture and engaging vital constituencies in envisioning the future of the university. He is dramatically expanding the university’s advancement program, incorporating donor centric and market informed business practices throughout operations. He is a highly regarded national expert on donor centric organizational structures and has special expertise in capital campaigns and major gift programs.

Prior to Rochester, he served at Washington University in St. Louis for 14 years. In 1997, he was appointed associate vice chancellor and was the lead staff member for The Campaign for Washington University, reporting directly to the executive vice chancellor.  Thompson's areas of responsibilities included major gifts, capital projects, regional programs, and corporate and foundation relations.  He played a key leadership role in that highly successful $1.55 billion campaign. At the time of its completion in 2004, it was the sixth largest campaign in the history of higher education.

Thompson has also served as a senior director of university development at Syracuse University and as executive director of institutional development and college relations at Lindenwood College, his alma mater.

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Chuck Williams
President
Williams & Associates

Chuck Williams is the president of Williams & Associates. Until 1985, he worked as a senior executive for Sperry Corporation, where he held several positions, including vice president for strategic and business planning and vice president and general manager for Worldwide Operations. Most recently, he has taught business courses in policy and strategy and consults in this area.

Williams is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the UCLA Foundation and a member of its philanthropy committee. He is also a member of the Gill Foundation's OutGiving Advisory Committee. In addition, he sits on numerous domestic and international boards.

He has been recognized by various LGBT organizations and publications. In 2002, the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association honored him with their Co-President's Award, and OUT magazine named him one of their "Out 100" in the December issue. In October 2003, the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center presented Williams with its Board of Directors Award. In 2006, he was honored as the Grand Marshall of Long Beach Pride.

Williams' 2001 donation of $2.5 million to create the Williams Institute is the largest donation ever given to any academic institution in support of a gay and lesbian academic program in any discipline. To date, he has contributed in excess of $10 million toward the endowment of the Williams Institute. 

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Kurt Worrell
Senior Vice President of Consumer Sales & Marketing
Harris Connect

Kurt Worrell joined Harris Connect in 1990. He has held management positions in virtually all areas of the company’s operations; has worked as a technical consultant teaming with many colleges and universities on projects ranging from data integration to profiling and target marketing; and, in 2004, was a driving force in implementing the launch of the Data Services product line.

His current responsibilities include overseeing the consumer-facing areas of the operation-Consumer Sales and Marketing and Business Development. 

In 2007, Worrell partnered with Acuity Mobile to create and launch a mobile platform to serve the higher education market. 

He received his bachelor’s degree in business communications from Bentley University.

Karen Y. Zamarripa
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advocacy and Institutional Affairs
California State University (CSU)

Karen Y. Zamarripa is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advocacy and Institutional Affairs at the California State University (CSU).  In this role, Ms. Zamarripa leads the CSU office in Sacramento in advocacy for system legislative and budget issues in the State Capitol.  In addition she is charged with the management of the system wide Alumni Council as well as community relations initiatives, strategies and programs.

Ms. Zamarripa has devoted 18 years of her professional career advocating for public higher education and six years advocating for K-12 education in the state of California.  Prior to her legislative and advocacy work, she served on the staffs of two members of the California State Senate and was selected as a Senate Fellow.  This experience combined with her academic credentials gives her a 360-degree view of the legislative process and make her a trusted and familiar expert to all who work on behalf of public higher education in State Capitol.

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Darrow Zeidenstein
Vice President for Resource Development
Rice University

As vice president for resource development at Rice University, Darrow Zeidenstein oversees all aspects of university fundraising, alumni affairs and development services. Prior to his promotion to vice president in July 2007, he served as associate vice president, heading up all individual fundraising programs and overseeing capital campaign strategy and analysis.

Before coming to Rice University, Zeidenstein was a managing director with Marts & Lundy, Inc., where he served both as a campaign consultant and head of the firm’s Digital Solutions practice. Under his leadership, Digital Solutions provided highly customized services to clients needing assistance in evaluating or developing high-impact fundraising strategies using advanced analytic methods and digital technologies. He was also involved in the firm’s planned giving practice group. Before joining Marts & Lundy, Zeidenstein was executive director for strategic planning and marketing strategy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he facilitated the design and implementation of the university’s advanced development strategies and played a key role in planning their successful $1B comprehensive campaign.  Zeidenstein also served as the university’s chief gift planner and head of its central major gifts team.   

Before coming to the University of Texas at Austin, he was director of planned giving and director of research and systems at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

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