Adrian leads the philanthropy and alumni activity in the Office of the Vice Provost (Advancement), with oversight of the fundraising, alumni relations, supporter engagement and strategy and operations teams. He works closely with UCL’s leadership, and across the academic community, to ensure advancement underpins and enables UCL’s strategic aims, and enhances the university’s global reputation and profile.

With 18 years' experience in higher education advancement, he joined UCL in 2011 having worked previously at Imperial College London, and Birkbeck, University of London. 

He helped close UCL’s first Campaign in 2011 and was central in developing UCL’s recent £600m Campaign from its inception, its launch in 2016, and through to it successfully reaching its targets a year ahead of schedule in 2020. He has played a leading role in a number of significant gifts and initiatives over the last decade at UCL, particularly in the medical space, such as the innovative Dementia Retail partnership to support UCL becoming the national hub of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI). 

Outside of UCL he’s prominent in the philanthropy sector. He’s been the Chair of the Spring Institute in Educational Fundraising since 2018, and served for three years as fundraising co-chair at the CASE Europe Annual Conference, as well as helping launch their first ever Middle East Conference in the UAE in 2018. In 2010 he received the inaugural Iain More Award that recognises the outstanding achievements of a development professional, and holds a Crystal Apple award for Teaching Excellence. He represents UCL at the Ross Group of Development Directors and is a respected advancement professional and role model in the sector. 

At UCL Adrian is also an active Board Director of UCLFAA, UCL’s New York based charity, and established and is co-chair of the department’s EDI Committee which is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. 

He has a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading. 

Chicago resident Bob Burdenski is a twenty-year friend of CASE Europe and an internationally-recognized expert, author and consultant in annual and regular giving fundraising strategies. He has worked with more than 200 institutions around the world, and is the author of the best-selling CASE books Innovations in Annual Giving: Ten Departures That Worked, More Innovations in Annual Giving: Ten Global Departures That Worked, and the new CASE e-book, Online Innovations in Annual and Regular Giving: Ten Dozen Departures That Worked.

Burdenski is a ten-time faculty member of the annual CASE Europe Spring Institute in Educational Fundraising at Loughborough University. In this role, he has taught hundreds of CASE Europe fundraisers their introduction to regular giving. He has also presented multiple CASE Regular Giving Masterclasses in the UK over the years, and presented CASE's first-ever regular giving programs in Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Ireland and Singapore. This past month, he served as chair of the CASE Institute for Senior Annual Giving Professionals.

Known for sharing many examples from many institutions in his talks, he is a 2008 recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple for his excellence in educating - and entertaining - his audiences.

Kirsty MacDonald has over twenty-five years of fundraising experience in North America and the UK. Kirsty is currently Deputy Principal (Advancement) at the Royal Academy of Music in London. This new role was created to lead a campaign to celebrate the bicentenary of the Academy in 2022. Kirsty has worked in fundraising leadership roles at the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford. Her previous experience across higher education and the arts includes London Business School, English National Opera, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Glyndebourne. Kirsty has an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and in 2009 was awarded an MA Oxon.

Jennie is Founding Partner at fundraising operations consultancy, Alveo Consulting. She built her experience as Director of Development Strategy and Operations at University College London for over 10 years, where she managed fundraising operations overseeing prospect research, database, gift administration, budgeting, HR and facilities. She also led strategy and planning, particularly for their £600m campaign launched in September 2016.

A firm believer in sharing experience, driving improvement and giving practical support to those in the sector, Jennie is a sought-after speaker, trainer, mentor and coach. She was Interim Executive Director of CASE Europe from March to July 2017. In that assignment, she fulfilled a lead role in advocacy and thought leadership around GDPR and other fundraising regulation issues, meeting regularly with the ICO, DCMS and the Fundraising Regulator. Jennie was chair of the inaugural CASE Development Services conference in 2008 and remains a member of the planning committee 11 years later.

Chris Murphy is Director of Development at the National Theatre where he leads a department of 32 (plus 5 in New York) which raises £14 million per year across individuals, corporates and trusts and foundations.

He returned to the NT after an eight year stint in higher education at Birkbeck, University of London, where he was Director of Development and Alumni. Motivated by Birkbeck’s unique position as an evening university with social mobility at its core, Chris and his department were responsible for growing Birkbeck’s philanthropic ambitions and helping develop a culture of philanthropy within the College.

After studying French and German at the University of Manchester, Chris began his career by spending three years at Richmond Associates where he recruited senior-level development staff to leading organisations in the higher education, arts and charity sectors.

Chris attended the Spring Institute in 2008 and since then has spoken frequently at CASE events including the annual conference and chairing the Major Gifts Asking Workshop.

Lorna Somers is recognized internationally as the foremost teacher/trainer in the field of institutional advancement in higher education and is herself an experienced and accomplished practitioner in her 34th year of practice at McMaster University in Canada. 

Somers has been working in University Advancement at McMaster University since 1988.  During that time, she has been involved in the establishment and growth of the Annual Fund, Gift Planning, Major and Principal Giving, and the Recognition & Stewardship programs. She has been Campaign Director for two university-wide comprehensive campaigns, (Changing Tomorrow Today 2001 and The Campaign for McMaster 2010), in addition to directing a series of targeted campaigns for Athletics, the Museum of Art, 2 campaigns for Scholarships & Bursaries, the McMaster University Student Centre and for the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Centre for Learning & Discovery.  Somers currently focuses her attention on working closely with senior academic leaders and volunteers to secure principal level gifts, (most notable among them, the largest cash gift to a Canadian university), and to leading McMaster’s new Brighter World Research Initiative. 

Along with co-author Dr. Frank Minton, Somers wrote the definitive volume entitled Planned Giving for Canadians and regularly speaks at conferences and on campuses throughout the world with a particular focus on Australia, Africa and Europe.