A new leader for alumni affairs at Cornell
A new leader for alumni affairs at Cornell
Less than two years ago, I was a newcomer to Cornell University. I chose to leave Johns Hopkins, a university I loved dearly, for a place that I felt in my heart I would love even more. I was right. I couldn't be happier at Cornell, and in Ithaca. This community has embraced, challenged, and inspired me like no other. I am better for it, and very proud to call myself a part of it.
On June 1, Cornell will welcome another newcomer as Chris Marshall begins his tenure as associate vice president for alumni affairs. In this role, he will set the vision and strategic direction for the University's global alumni programs. Cornell alumni are renowned for being deeply connected to one another and to the University, and I look forward to seeing Chris take these relationships to even greater heights.
Chris comes to us after more than two decades at his alma mater, Lehigh University. A member of the Class of 1988, Chris spent twelve years as Lehigh's highly successful swimming and diving coach. Then, for the next seven years, he was executive director of the alumni association. Under his guidance, the alumni association increased its regional and international presence; improved its reunion program; brought a sharper focus to its affinity group, young alumni, and career development programs; reinvigorated its alumni admissions outreach program; and expanded its Web services and communities. Thanks to his leadership, the Lehigh University Alumni Association received Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards for Alumni Relations Programs on four occasions.
As a recognized leader in the profession, Chris also served as president of the Association of Private College and University Alumni Directors, a group of forty U.S. colleges and universities, from 2003 to 2007. During this time, he led an effort to develop and implement an innovative online benchmarking and assessment tool to measure successful alumni relations programs.
Chris may not be a Cornell alumnus, but it's easy to recognize the essential Cornell spirit in him. He brought to his alma mater a deeply personal loyalty, a strong conviction that things could always become even better, and the contagious energy and entrepreneurial spirit needed to make it happen. These are precisely the traits that I see in the generations of Cornellians who have dedicated themselves to the betterment of this university.
'Chris told his Lehigh family that it would take something very special to make him leave a place where his roots ran so deep. He found it in Cornell.'It takes a certain type of person to be a leader among leaders. Chris has already expressed how impressed he is by the level of commitment, devotion, and enthusiasm displayed by Cornell alumni—an astounding global constituency of more than 250,000. Within these ranks, Chris will find some important partners. He'll have the leaders of more than eighty active classes; the Cornell Alumni Federation, which comprises more than 100 Cornell Clubs and interest groups around the world, including thirty outside the United States; and numerous other alumni associations and special interest programs. All told, he will have 3,800 alumni volunteers on his team, participating in more than 1,200 annual events on campus and in 100-plus cities around the world. It's a broad base, and it will expand further as Cornell seeks to engage more alumni in the life of the University.
Chris told his Lehigh family that it would take something very special to make him leave a place where his roots ran so deep. He found it in Cornell. It's fitting that Chris will arrive in Ithaca just in time for Reunion. I can think of no better way to introduce him to the warm, vibrant, and diverse fellowship that is the Cornell alumni community than by participating in his first Cornell Reunion. Let's make Chris feel at home and wish him all the best as he embarks on what is certain to be a fulfilling and exciting journey.
— Charlie Phlegar
Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development