VSU Names John Crawford as Vice President for Advancement

VALDOSTA - President Ronald M. Zaccari recently named John Crawford as the university’s new vice president for Advancement effective May 1, 2008. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, Crawford is directly responsible for supervising all units within University Advancement including development, alumni relations, annual giving, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, advancement/foundation accounting, scholarships, database management, publication and design services, and marketing.

“VSU is extremely fortunate to recruit John Crawford, who is a well regarded and respected professional within higher education,” Zaccari said. “His enthusiasm for VSU and its mission, knowledge in the area of advancement, community and governmental relations and capital campaign experience will prove to be a tremendous asset to this university and community for many years.”

Crawford received a bachelor of science in history from the University of West Alabama (UWA). He is currently associate vice president for Institutional Advancement and Development at UWA, which is located in Livingston, Alabama. His responsibilities include management of the university’s first comprehensive campaign, maintaining a development portfolio of 150 major gift prospects, governmental relations, and a variety of community and economic development projects.

“I am very honored to be named vice president for University Advancement at Valdosta State University. I have always had a great deal of respect for the university’s unwavering commitment to academic excellence as well as its remarkable athletic success,” Crawford said. “VSU is clearly on the move and this is exciting from an advancement professional’s perspective.”

Crawford and his wife, Mary, along with their three children look forward to becoming part of the community. “I plan to meet with as many VSU alumni and friends as possible and look forward to working with all members of the university community to identify opportunities for collaboration and advancement,” Crawford said.

Parker Executive Search firm of Atlanta was retained to assist in marketing and identifying qualified candidates for the vice president for Advancement position. More than 20 applications were received and six candidates were interviewed off-campus on Nov. 30 and Dec.1, 2007. The search committee identified three highly qualified candidates for on-campus interviews on Jan. 17, 24 and 31.

The vice president for Advancement search committee included Dr. Louis Levy, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Kurt Keppler, Vice President for Student Affairs; Mr. James Black, Vice President for Finance and Administration; Mr. Herb Reinhard, Director of Athletics; Dr. Christine James, Secretary of Faculty Senate; and Ms. Terri Lupo, Mr. Tyson McLane, and Mr. Wayne Edwards, members of the VSU Foundation, Inc.

For more information, please contact Thressea H. Boyd, assistant to the President for Communications, at 229-333-5952 or thboyd@valdosta.edu.