College Dean Meredith Woo on Friday announced the appointment of Eugene R. Schutt, Jr. as the College's new associate dean for development.
Schutt will help lead the College's fundraising efforts and alumni relation activities. The school's development office is currently working to raise $500 million specifically for the College as part of the University's $3 billion capital campaign. As of September, the University's capital campaign had reached the $2 billion mark.
Schutt has a background in global banking and financial services, most recently serving as the president and CEO of Citicorp Trust Bank. Schutt described the job of associate dean as "a big, complex and strategic challenge, and my career has been spent on taking on challenges such as this."
Though his career experience is not from the higher education sector, Schutt - a 1975 University alumnus with an economics degree - said he believes the skillsets he has are relevant and transferable. Woo agreed that Schutt has the necessary skills for the job.
"He has experience and expertise in leadership, honed through decades of work in the financial sector," she said. "He is a great manager and a great leader."
Schutt described the development office's role as one aimed toward attracting private financial support for the College. Commonwealth funding for the school - and the University as a whole - has been on the decline, he said, and so officials have become increasingly reliant on outside sources of support.
"It is a time in which the University needs [not only] the support of its large alumni base, but also the help of those who want to do everything possible to help it cope with some of the financial stresses," he said.
To mediate declines in state funding and a sagging economy, Schutt will seek to raise resources for the College through various philanthropies. The money raised by the campaign, Schutt said, is allocated according to donors' specifications and supports endowments for scholarships, professorships and academic programs.
Though this week is still Schutt's first in the position, he has immediately begun to fulfill his duties, noting that he has already participated in a series of "high-level" strategy sessions. One of the school's top fundraising priorities is bolstering the size and quality of its faculty.
"We are intending to do everything possible to finance those needs through private support," Schutt said, adding that he feels "absolutely positive" the University will reap significant gains.
Woo expressed a similar sentiment about the future of the College.
"Higher education is at a crossroads and we need a creative way to figure out how to sustain great institutions," Woo said. "I think that Gene is a great fit"
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