Gary B. Grant, a fundraising professional with more than 25 years of experience in higher education and medical non-profits will soon join Washington College as its new Vice President for College Advancement. Grant will come to Chestertown from Fort Worth, Tex., where he has served more than five years as V.P. for Institutional Advancement for the University of North Texas Health Science Center and Executive Director of its Foundation.
Grant began his career in advancement work at the University of Chicago, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history. While still an undergraduate working as Head Supervisor of the University’s Telefund, he raised $1 million over two years.
After graduation, Grant raised major gifts and built relationships with alumni and parents for the University of Chicago and, later, for its School of Social Service Administration and Medical Center. He then spent five years as Director of Major Gifts for the National Alzheimer’s Association, raising some $35 million in his first three years and helping reorganize the overall fundraising process of the organization. At the University of North Texas Health Science Center, which he joined in early 2008, he has nearly tripled the level of giving and raised $25 million in pledges toward a proposed new medical school.
Washington College president Mitchell B. Reiss says the applicant pool for the position was a strong one but that Grant rose to the top for his thorough understanding of both higher education and effective advancement strategies, and for his personal traits and character. “It was clear that Gary will be a collegial, respected team leader who will enhance the work of our fundraising and alumni-relations teams. The College is poised to launch a new strategic plan and a major comprehensive campaign, and I can’t imagine a better person to take us where we need to go. We look forward to welcoming Gary and his family to our campus and our community.”
In addition to his advancement expertise, Grant holds a law degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was named to the Law Review, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1996.
Grant, his wife, Kerry, and their three daughters, ages 17, 14, and 12, plan to move to Chestertown before the start of the school year. “I am very excited to be coming to Chestertown, a community that is so rich in history and tradition and, from all that I’ve experienced, tremendously warm and welcoming,” says Grant. “I am energized by Dr. Reiss’s vision and the dedication of the faculty and staff. I’m also drawn to the College’s mission of preparing students to be outstanding leaders and citizens. I couldn’t be happier or prouder to be joining this school and this community.”
Nick Stoer says
Perhaps in their spare time the development staff, and the business school department, at WC can lend a hand to the downtown merchants and city fathers. They could help coalesce and advance the initiative that Robert Ortiz brought up the other night and which was reported and commented on here in the Spy.
Nick Stoer
Pete Buxtun says
I think to most of the people you are referring, “spare time” is a foreign concept.