President Rebecca Chopp announced on Dec. 20 the appointment of former Colgate University colleague Karl Clauss to the position of Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, effective on Mar. 1, 2012. Clauss’s appointment will fill the vacancy left after the Oct. 1 departure of the former Vice President of Development Stephen Bayer, who had accepted the position of associate vice president for university development at Duke University.
In her Dec. 20 e-mail to the student body in which she announced his appointment, President Chopp described Clauss as “an accomplished and articulate person of substance with a track record of success.”
At Colgate, Clauss exhibited an exemplary performance as the associate vice president for institutional advancement and director of capital and annual support, where he played a prominent role in facilitating the success of two major capital campaigns.
In her Dec. 20 email to the student body, President Chopp listed the numerous accolades Clauss has recieved from both staff and donors for his work in fundraising and strategic planning at Colgate.
Donors have praised Clauss’s intellectual depth, trustworthiness and creativity. Fellow staff members have cited his success in fostering college growth, his effective leadership, his experience in management, and his strategic thinking capabilities.
The Development and Alumni Relations staff expressed positive sentiments about the prospect of working with Clauss. “I was impressed by the combination of his thoughtfulness, his strong communication skills, his demonstrated success in fundraising and his strong emphasis on collaboration and community,” Lisa Lee, alumni relations director, said.
Clauss will serve as the principal leader of Swarthmore’s upcoming capital campaign, an intensive fundraising effort that will solicit financial donations from the college’s vast population of alumni over the next several years. The campaign’s success will be integral to maintaining the college’s renowned financial aid system in addition to the other invaluable forms of monetary assistance and contributions to community life that it provides.
While the campaign’s definitive goals have not been made public, Gil Kemp ’72, a member of both the College Board of Managers and the search committee that appointed Clauss, stated that it would be the most ambitious campaign that the school has ever embarked upon.
After his graduation from Colgate in 1990, where he majored in political science, Clauss began his employment there as the assistant director of the annual fund.
He subsequently worked in capital support, regional development and as the director of major gifts prior to his appointment to his current position of associate vice president for institutional advancement and director of capital giving.
Clauss will be living at West House on 550 Elm Avenue in Swarthmore along with his wife Anne and their two children, Gretchen and Walter.
