Transition under way

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith and Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development Tamara Elliott Rogers have announced details of a transition that is under way in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and University development offices.

Paul Keenan ’85, who currently manages the FAS Capital Gifts team, will assume the role of senior associate dean and director of development for the FAS. In addition, Dean of Development for FAS Scott A. Abell ’72 has said that he plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

Reporting jointly to Smith and Rogers, Keenan will now manage all FAS fundraising efforts. Bob Cashion ’81, who has been promoted to senior associate vice president for alumni affairs and development, will remain deeply involved in FAS fundraising activities.

“I want to thank Scott for his help in managing our Development Office over the past four years,” said Smith. “I also want to welcome Paul in his new role. As a leader among our development staff for quite some time, he shares our excitement about Harvard’s future.”

Rogers said: “Scott leaves a strong team and FAS fundraising totals that have been among the best in history. We are grateful for all that he has done.” About Keenan’s appointment, she said, “Paul has had a long and distinguished career at Harvard, possesses excellent strategic and managerial skills, and builds lasting relationships with his colleagues and alumni. I am delighted that he has agreed to take on these new responsibilities.”

Before joining the staff of the FAS Development Office, Abell had completed a successful business career while also giving generously of his time to Harvard. His numerous volunteer roles included serving as president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA); president of the Harvard Club of Akron, Ohio; chair of the Schools and Scholarships Committee (for 20 years); and as a member of the Committee on University Resources (COUR). The HAA Nominating Committee selected him to stand for election to the Board of Overseers but he withdrew from consideration on accepting his full-time position in FAS development.

“With a strong and capable management team now in place, I believe that this is the ideal moment for me to step aside and let this new generation take the reins,” Abell said. “We have an absolutely terrific fundraising staff and I know the future is bright for FAS development.”

In his new role as senior associate dean and director of development for the FAS, Keenan will manage FAS development’s activities, including the Harvard College Fund, Parents Fund, Graduate School Fund, Gift Planning, Capital Giving, Donor Relations, Operations, and Academic and Development Planning.

“Our highest fundraising priorities include seeking support for financial aid, graduate fellowships, professorships, and our new facilities: the New College Theatre, the Laboratory for Integrated Science and Engineering, the Northwest Science Building, and the South Building of the Center for Government and International Studies,” Keenan said. “I know my team is up to the task and excited for the opportunity.”

In his current role as associate dean of development for the FAS and associate director for university development, Keenan was responsible for managing the FAS Capital Giving program, in which he and his staff focused on gifts in the six- to eight-figure range. In addition to having spent more than 15 years in university advancement and international fundraising, Keenan previously worked as a management consultant with Monitor Company.

Reporting jointly to Keenan and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Venkatesh Narayanamurti will be Linda Fates, who has assumed the title of associate dean of resource development for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. A member of the alumni affairs and development team since 1993, Fates has previously held the positions of director of the Harvard College Parents Fund and director of FAS Major Gifts. Most recently, she has been director of development for the former Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICE CHANGES

In related news, Rogers announced that four Harvard fundraising veterans will be taking on additional roles in assisting the University’s development efforts at the highest level. “I am delighted that Roger Cheever, Charlie Collier, Joe Donovan, and Shirley Peppers will broaden the scope of their work to benefit all parts of the University, while sustaining their strong commitment to the FAS,” Rogers said.

Reporting directly to Rogers, and working closely with the president, provost, and development deans within the Schools, this team’s mission will be to develop strategies that make the best use of the president’s and provost’s development time and to build and sustain relationships with donors who have the capacity to make transformative gifts to Harvard.

These four individuals have long and impressive track records in forging lasting relationships with Harvard’s donors at the highest levels.

Cheever ’67, M.L.A. ’77, who will become the associate vice president, principal gifts, has most recently been a senior capital gifts officer in the FAS. Coming to Harvard in 1993 after having sold his successful business in commercial horticulture, Cheever was initially a major gifts officer and deputy director of the Harvard College Fund. He has since served in numerous roles, including working closely with the New York Major Gifts Steering Committee, and periods during which he oversaw all of FAS development as senior associate dean.

Collier M.T.S. ’73 is a nationally recognized expert in planned giving and wealth psychology. Author of the widely acclaimed book “Wealth in Families,” he has more than 30 years of fundraising experience, having served at Phillips Academy, Andover; Dartmouth College; Brown University; Princeton University; and, for the past 22 years, Harvard. Collier’s expertise and creativity have been called on in many of Harvard’s largest gifts during that time. His new title will be senior philanthropic adviser, principal gifts.

Donovan ’72, who will have the title of director, principal gifts, has been a Harvard fundraiser since 1977. Currently co-director of capital giving, Donovan works with donors in New York and Boston. He has served in numerous senior development roles at Harvard, including staffing former Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development Fred Glimp, overseeing nonreunion annual fund giving, and later managing leadership giving for the Harvard College Fund. A veteran of two Harvard campaigns, he moved into major gifts work during The University Campaign, managing the Boston major gifts team and staffing the Boston Major Gifts Committee.

Peppers, who established Harvard’s West Coast fundraising operation in 1991, will also have the title of director, principal gifts. Peppers has been a professional fundraiser since 1974, when she became an annual fund officer at Stanford, her alma mater. She was a major gifts officer for the FAS during The Harvard Campaign (1978–84) and then went to work for seven years at University of California, Los Angeles, as director of major and planned gifts, before returning to Harvard. She is a highly sought-after speaker and consultant by other universities, nonprofits, and professional organizations.

Separately, Rogers has named Amy Nostrand as chief operating officer for alumni affairs and development.

Nostrand oversees the development services of the University Development Office (UDO), which include the Recording Secretary’s Office, University Donor Relations, Research, Events, CAADS, Alumni Records, Human Resources, Budget, and Facilities. She joined alumni affairs and development in 2004 as executive director for development services and administration. Before then, she was at Forrester Research, where she was director of business operations and planning as well as director of strategic growth. She had previously worked at Harvard Business School (HBS) in the Executive Education Program and at Harvard University’s Office of Human Resources before that. While at HBS, she completed the Program for Management Development.

Rogers also has promoted Bob Cashion ’81 to senior associate vice president for alumni affairs and development.

Cashion returned to alumni affairs and development in 2004 after taking a few years away from the University. Immediately prior to returning to Harvard, he served as a campaign consultant at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Before that time, he was vice president for development at City Year. Cashion had served in a variety of capacities within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Development Office during the last campaign. He joined Harvard in 1995 as a major gifts officer. He then worked in Gift Planning, before being named director of major gifts, and finally serving as director for FAS development. Previously, Cashion was a senior vice president for the investment banking firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; assistant dean of freshmen in Harvard College; and admissions officer for Harvard-Radcliffe.