As the chief development officer, Ivan Adames is responsible for the fundraising and advancement services units at DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the US.

He was previously the Executive Director of Schools & Programs at Northwestern University where he oversaw multiple schools & program development teams. Ivan also served as the director of development for international programs at Johns Hopkins University. A former Fulbright Scholar (Germany) and CASE Fellow, he has held professional positions at varied education institutions including the Ohio State University, Imperial College London, and the University of Massachusetts Foundation. Adames is a past board member and current advisor of the Science of Philanthropy Initiative at the University of Chicago. He has been an active volunteer for the Council for the Advancement & Support of Education (CASE), having served on the CASE Commission on Philanthropy, district leadership boards, and on multiple conference faculty. Ivan was a recent contributor and chapter author for the book Advancing Higher Education: New Strategies for Fundraising, Philanthropy, and Engagement (2019)