New VP for alumni affairs and development

Brian K. Lee has been appointed Harvard University’s vice president for alumni affairs and development, President Larry Bacow announced today.

An accomplished leader with a long history in educational and nonprofit advancement, Lee will join Harvard from the California Institute of Technology, where he is vice president for development and institute relations, overseeing alumni affairs and helping to orchestrate and implement Caltech’s $2 billion Breakthrough Campaign, currently underway.

“Brian has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to bring together people in support of higher education, and he brings to his new role an especially strong record of supporting and advancing institutional goals with a combination of creativity, insight, and thoughtfulness. I look forward to working closely with him again,” said Bacow. “I would like to thank the search committee, chaired by Senior Vice President and general counsel Bob Iuliano, whose rigorous work led to a great outcome.”

“I am thrilled at the prospect of working with Harvard’s remarkable community of alumni, donors, and volunteers,” said Lee. “This is an exciting time to build on the strong engagement and momentum of a campaign with far-reaching impact. I look forward to working with President Bacow and to serving the University, its alumni, and this community’s outstanding commitment to education, progress, and innovation.”

Prior to joining Caltech in 2012, Lee worked at Tufts University for 26 years in various positions, rising to become senior vice president for university advancement. While at Tufts, Lee led a robust, university-wide program in alumni relations and engagement, working closely with the alumni association. He was involved in three major institutional campaigns, including Beyond Boundaries, which launched in 2003 and raised a record $1.2 billion for Tufts by its conclusion in 2011.

Lee has been a leader and collaborator in the field of alumni affairs and institutional advancement. He has been chairman of the board of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and a board member of CASE Europe.

At Harvard, Lee will step into an organization that recently announced the successful completion of The Harvard Campaign, which included contributions from 153,000 households worldwide, totaling more than 633,000 gifts. He will be responsible for the three major reporting units of the Alumni Affairs and Development Office: the University Development Office, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Development, and the Harvard Alumni Association.

His appointment marks the culmination of a national search for a successor to Tamara Elliott Rogers, who became vice president for alumni affairs and development in 2007 and announced in January that she would step down this year. Lee will take office on Nov. 19.

Lee graduated from Assumption College with a bachelor of arts in English and completed the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Institute for Educational Management program. He and wife, Christa, have two children, Kathryn McLaughlin, Ed.M. ’14, and Gregory Lee.