Faculty
Meet Your Co-Chairs
Shaun B. Keister
Shaun B. Keister, Ph.D., is a veteran fundraiser with experience in higher education, arts and conservation philanthropy. He has served as UC Davis’ first vice chancellor for development and alumni relations since 2011.
Keister functions as the university’s chief fundraising officer, leading a team of over 300, and president of the UC Davis Foundation. In his role as vice chancellor, he also serves on the Chancellor’s Leadership Council. Keister led UC Davis in completing its first comprehensive campaign, “The Campaign for UC Davis,” raising more than $1.1 billion from 110,000 donors. Under his leadership, UC Davis rose to the top 2% of fundraising programs in the U.S., according to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Keister guided the vision and record-breaking success of the university’s second comprehensive campaign, “Expect Greater: From UC Davis. For the World,” which raised more than $2.25 billion from 2016-2024. Donors surpassed the campaign’s $2 billion goal by more than 10%, with 133,961 people giving toward student support, human and veterinary medicine, sustainability, innovation, and the arts.
Previously, Keister served in leadership development roles at Penn State, Florida State, and Iowa State.
He is a nationally renowned fundraising expert who is often quoted in local and national media outlets including CNN Money, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, CASE Currents magazine, The Sacramento Bee, and Fox 40 News. Additionally, Keister has over 30 years as an independent fundraising consultant serving clients including the San Francisco opera, Steppenwolf Theatre, World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and more than 60 public and private universities.
Keister is an active member of and volunteer for CASE, having both chaired and participated in many district, national, and international conferences. He is a recipient of the 2005 CASE Crystal Apple award in recognition of his outstanding performance at CASE international educational programs. Keister has served on the CASE Philanthropy Commission.
Keister has a bachelor's degree in political science from Penn State and master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from Iowa State.
Dale Wright
Dale Wright is the Interim Vice Chancellor for Advancement and Interim Senior Vice President of the University of Illinois Foundation Designate, developing, overseeing, and managing a comprehensive development and advancement program for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Illinois).
With 25+ years of extensive experience and a proven record success in constituent and alumni engagement, program development and execution, strategic planning, management, building and coaching high-performing teams, and securing and stewarding major and principal gifts, across three (3) $1B+ multi-year comprehensive campaigns. During his tenure at Illinois, he has held additional leadership roles as Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement and Associate Dean for Advancement for The Grainger College of Engineering.
Wright is actively involved with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), serving as a faculty member and speaker at conferences, co-chaired two major CASE events and contributing to the advancement field as a member of the CASE Commission on Philanthropy and a CASE Laureate, as well as past District leader (V & VI). His excellence as a teacher and mentor was recognized with CASE’s Crystal Apple Award for teaching. He is also the recipient of the Frank L. Ashmore Distinguished Service Award (2025 for the U.S. and Canada). Additionally, he is a member of organizations such as the African American Development Officers Network and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, including as a past member of the board.
Outside of his professional endeavors, Wright is committed to community service, serving on the board of the United Way of Champaign County, and the American Legion Boys State of Missouri (Missouri Boys State) Board of Directors. In recognition of his service to Missouri Boys State and the field of education, he received the Mel Carnahan Public Service Award in Education in 2023 from the Carnahan Policy Institute. He holds degrees from the University of Missouri (Mizzou).
Faculty
Catherine Ingrassia
Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D., brings to this position nearly 30 years of experience at VCU, including seven years (2005-11) in the CHS Dean’s Office where she served as associate dean for academic affairs and executive associate dean for research and graduate affairs. She began her career at VCU in 1992 as assistant professor of English, and rose through the ranks of promotion and tenure to become associate professor in 1998 and full professor in 2005. She was appointed chair of the Department of English in 2019.
Ingrassia is an active scholar, having published seven books in the field of eighteenth-century British literature, with a particular focus on women writers. Her most recent publication, “Domestic Captivity and the British Subject, 1660-1750,” explores how captivity informed identity, actions and human relationships for white British subjects as represented in fictional texts by British authors from the period.
She has provided extensive service to CHS, VCU and professional organizations. She currently serves as a member of the MLA program committee and the editorial board of Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature.
She received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at Austin.
Magnus H. Johnsson
Magnus Johnsson is senior associate vice president of presidential and university philanthropy. In this role, Magnus oversees DAR's efforts in principal giving, presidential engagement, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, leadership annual giving, and regional major gifts.
Johnsson brings 30 years of fundraising experience and has served in volunteer leadership roles as past president of the Virginia Association of Fundraising Executives and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Central Virginia Chapter. First joining VCU in 2007 as executive director of external relations and development in the School of Education his previous work experience includes senior leadership roles at UMFS and the United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg. He received his credential in 2004 as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). Magnus is also a member of the 2015 class of Leadership Metro Richmond.
Magnus holds an M.P.A. with a focus in nonprofit management from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.S. in public administration from James Madison University.
Maureen MacDonald
Maureen J. MacDonald, PhD, is McMaster University’s Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and a professor in the Department of Kinesiology. She brings more than two decades of academic leadership, research impact, and student mentorship to the role.
Dr. MacDonald has previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Science, where she advanced academic programs, expanded student supports and led major research and infrastructure investments. She is also the Director of McMaster’s Vascular Dynamics Laboratory and a leading researcher in cardiovascular physiology and exercise science. Her work focuses on how physical activity, high-intensity interval training, and heat therapy affect the heart and blood vessels, particularly in individuals with coronary artery disease, and emphasizes the inclusion of women in these areas of research.
Dr. MacDonald has published extensively in her field, secured continuous funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada since 2001, and holds additional research support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Her dedication to student mentorship was recognized in 2018 with the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology’s Mentorship Award; she has supervised more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students during her time at McMaster.
She is a member of several international professional societies, including the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Physiological Society, and the European College of Sport Science. She has held international research positions, including visiting professorships at Stanford University and Loughborough University, and currently holds a Global Chair appointment at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport.
Dr. MacDonald earned her Honours BSc in Chemistry from Acadia University and her MSc and PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo. She joined McMaster in 2000 and as Provost, she continues to advance research, education, and academic excellence, as well as promote sound financial stewardship across the university.
Fardin Sanai
Fardin Sanai was appointed UAlbany’s vice president for university advancement and executive director of The University at Albany Foundation in 2007, with responsibility for all fundraising and alumni relations functions. As executive director of the Foundation, Sanai serves as liaison to its board of directors and oversees Foundation operations including investments, real estate, and governance. In addition, Sanai oversaw UAlbany’s division of communications and marketing 2017-2021.
Since 2011 Sanai has served as chair of the executive committee of chief advancement officers for the State University of New York, working closely with his colleagues and the SUNY chancellor to guide the system’s 64 campuses in their fundraising efforts. He has chaired multiple national CASE conferences on Development for Deans and Academic Leaders, and as a faculty member for the SUNY SAIL Institute, has provided executive coaching for new presidents, provosts, and deans.
Under Sanai’s direction, UAlbany’s advancement program has routinely been recognized for industry best practices, receiving ten CASE Circle of Excellence Awards – including a Grand Gold for best online magazine – and seventeen CASE District II Awards.
Sanai is a board member of 15-Love, a non-profit offering free educational programs for inner city youth, the University at Albany Biosciences Development Corporation, and the University Auxiliary Services.
Prior to joining UAlbany, Sanai served as senior vice president for development and foundation operations at Albany Medical Center, and as vice president of institutional advancement and executive director of the Foundation at SUNY Cobleskill. He began his fundraising career at Albany Law School and spent two years as a fundraising consultant for Morin & Anderson, Inc. Sanai holds a bachelor’s degree from Marist College.