Executive Brief

Senior Director of Development, College of Computing
Georgia Tech Institute for Technology

The Organization: Georgia Tech

The Georgia Institute for Technology (Georgia Tech)

Georgia Tech is a top-ranked public research university situated in the heart of Atlanta, a diverse and vibrant city with numerous economic and cultural strengths. The Institute serves more than 45,000 students through top-ranked undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in engineering, computing, science, business, design, and liberal arts. Georgia Tech's faculty attracted more than $1.4 billion in research awards this past year in fields ranging from biomedical technology to artificial intelligence, energy, sustainability, semiconductors, neuroscience, and national security. Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top 20 universities for research and development spending and No. 1 among institutions without a medical school.

Georgia Tech - At a Glance:

Mission & Values:

Georgia Tech's mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute has nine key values that are foundational to everything they do:

  1. Students are our top priority.
  2. We strive for excellence.
  3. We thrive on diversity.
  4. We celebrate collaboration.
  5. We champion innovation.
  6. We safeguard freedom of inquiry and expression.
  7. We nurture the wellbeing of our community.
  8. We act ethically.
  9. We are responsible stewards.

Over the next decade, Georgia Tech will become an example of inclusive innovation, a leading technological research university of unmatched scale, relentlessly committed to serving the public good; breaking new ground in addressing the biggest local, national, and global challenges and opportunities of our time; making technology broadly accessible; and developing exceptional, principled leaders from all backgrounds ready to produce novel ideas and create solutions with real human impact.

Academic Excellence:
  • Georgia Tech is ranked #3 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs. All of Georgia Tech's graduate engineering programs rank in the top 10 (Source: U.S. News & World Report).

  • Scheller College of Business ranks #21 among all Undergraduate Business Programs and #17 for their Part-Time MBA (Source: U.S. News & World Report). 

  • Computer Science ranks #6 by U.S. News & World Report's Undergraduate Program Rankings#7 by U.S. News & World Report's Graduate School Rankings, #17 by Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and #28 in The Guardian's QS World University Rankings.

  • In the category of Statistics and Operational Research, Georgia Tech ranks #9 in The Guardian's QS World University Rankings. Georgia Tech's graduate urban planning program is ranked #6 in the U.S. and #2 in Big City Programs by Planetizen.

Diversity:
  • The Institute is consistently rated among the top universities in the nation for graduation of underrepresented minorities in engineering, physical sciences, and architecture and planning.
     
  • With more than 60 chartered student organizations exploring religious, racial, sexual, and ethnic identity (but open to all), Georgia Tech's students find a way to celebrate, strengthen, and share their part of the robust cultural melting pot that thrives in the university's community.

Georgia Tech Office of Development (DEV)

The Office of Development is committed to securing the philanthropic resources that are transforming Georgia Tech. We engage alumni, friends, families, corporations, and foundations in the life of the Institute and encourage financial investment in Tech's future.

The fundraising team at Georgia Tech currently consists of 100+ professionals who are focused on securing transformative philanthropy (major and principal gifts) to support the strategic priorities of the Institute and its colleges, schools, and programs including Athletics.

Learn about the groups that make up the Office of Development:
College & School Representatives
College & School Representatives

From endowed chairs and professorships to undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and facilities, donors can support the college, school, or academic program of their choice.

Corporate Engagement
Corporate Engagement

Building partnerships with the corporate community is a top priority for Georgia Tech. Working together, the group grows philanthropy and helps companies connect to Tech through research, recruitment, and diversity initiatives.

Foundation Relations
Foundation Relations

Support from foundations provides vital resources for Georgia Tech strategic initiatives, making it possible for the Institute to advance knowledge across all disciplines.

Gift Planning
Gift Planning

Gift planning begins with a donor's desire to make a gift. Whether the choice is a bequest provision in a will or revocable trust, or a life-income gift, the gift planning team assists with all gifts.

Intercollegiate Athletics
Intercollegiate Athletics

Athletic excellence has long been a source of pride and passion at Georgia Tech. The university wants to become one of the elite athletics programs in the nation with the best combination of athletics and academics.

International Development
International Development

Georgia Tech's vision of leadership in the 21st century is a global one. Moving international efforts to the next level cannot happen without private philanthropy.

Parent Giving
Parent Giving

Parents play a vital role in the life of Georgia Tech. Through advocacy, volunteering, and philanthropy, they have a unique opportunity to become stakeholders in every Yellow Jacket's future.

Regional Development
Regional Development

Regional development representatives travel extensively, connecting with alumni and friends and sharing opportunities for supporting Georgia Tech through private philanthropy.

Reunion Giving
Reunion Giving

Each year, milestone reunion classes celebrate through combined philanthropic giving that advances Georgia Tech and enhances opportunities for students – today and for generations to come. 

For fiscal year 2022, the DEV team’s efforts resulted in over $211 million in new gifts and commitments, which helped to publicly launch Georgia Tech’s largest comprehensive campaign in the Institute’s history Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech which is intended to bring over $2 billion in new commitments and gifts from individuals, foundations, corporations, and other organizations. One of the most significant priorities within Transforming Tomorrow is ensuring access of the brightest undergraduate, graduate and professional students to Georgia Tech, regardless of their socioeconomic background. To learn more about Transforming Tomorrow and the other thematic priorities of the campaign, click here.

Georgia Tech Office of Development (DEV) - Leadership Spotlight:

Brad L. Hastings, CFRE - Assistant Vice President of Development

Brad L. Hastings, CFRE
Assistant Vice President of Development


Brad Hastings is a seasoned senior executive with over two decades of exemplary experience in strategic leadership and fundraising. Currently serving as the Assistant Vice President of Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Brad oversees fundraising efforts for multiple colleges and units, guiding his teams towards impactful philanthropic endeavors. His role involves not only securing major gifts but also providing strategic and operational leadership and fostering collaboration among academic and administrative leaders to maximize philanthropic impact.

Brad's dedication and expertise have yielded substantial results, with his teams securing over $130.3 million in philanthropic support during his tenure as Executive Director of Development for the College of Engineering. Since coming to Georgia Tech in 2017, Brad has led successful solicitations totaling more than $43 million, including gifts such as an $11.2 million contribution to establish a software engineering center.

Brad holds a Bachelor of Science in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Certified in Fundraising Management and a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), Brad is committed to professional excellence in the field of development.

Brad and his wife, Jessica, have three children and live in northwest Atlanta.   

Georgia Tech, College of Computing

The College of Computing is a global leader in real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress. The College's undergraduate program is ranked #6 and their graduate program #7 in the country by US News and World Report. With the College of Computing's unconventional approach to education along with cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary research, they are expanding the boundaries of computing.

To read more about the College of Computing's recent rankings, click here.

College of Computing - Leadership Spotlight:

Vivek Sarkar - Dean, College of Computing

Vivek Sarkar
Dean, College of Computing


Vivek Sarkar is the John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech. He joined Georgia Tech in 2017 as the chair of the School of Computer Science and the Stephen Fleming Chair for Telecommunications in the College of Computing.

Before joining Georgia Tech, Sarkar was a Professor of Computer Science at Rice University and the E.D. Butcher Chair in Engineering.  From 2007 to 2017, Sarkar led Rice's Habanero Extreme Scale Software Research Laboratory, which focused on unifying parallelism and concurrency elements of high-end computing, multicore, and embedded software stacks. He also served as chair of Rice's Computer Science Department from 2013 to 2016.  

Before joining Rice in 2007, Sarkar was Senior Manager of Programming Technologies at IBM Research.  His research projects at IBM included:

  • The X10 programming language.
  • The Jikes Research Virtual Machine for the Java language.
  • The ASTI optimizer in IBM's XL Fortran product compilers.
  • The PTRAN automatic parallelization system.

Sarkar became a member of the IBM Academy of Technology in 1995 and was inducted as an ACM Fellow in 2008. He has been serving as a member of the US Department of Energy's Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC) since 2009 and on CRA's Board of Directors since 2015.

The Opportunity: Senior Director of Development, College of Computing

Georgia Tech - Senior Director of Development, College of Computing - Job Description (PDF Download)

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Development for the College of Computing will plan and implement a coordinated program of fundraising activities. The Senior Director will establish goals and oversee staff activities including identification, evaluation, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of prospective major and principal gift donors. This position will oversee the quality and quantity of major gift activity in the region or unit and take action to increase both. The Senior Director will establish and effectively manage relationships with the most critical, highest profile prospects. The role will be to manage special events to involve and cultivate prospects, collaborate with deans and faculty, and coordinate with other development and alumni relations staff. The Senior Director will have to identify stewardship opportunities for major donors and may service the most complex fundraising market or regions. Typically, this position solicits gifts in the range of $250k to $10mil and manages a portfolio size (average annual fundraising accountability) of $4mil+. The prospect pool managed is up to 100 prospects. This role will oversee a team or unit portfolio size of $5mil to $7.5mil. This position will interact on a regular basis with major and principal donors, and prospective donors. This position typically will advise and counsel: deans, school chairs faculty, academic unit and program leadership, unit volunteer leadership, and other development officers. This position may supervise development officers and administrative support staff.

The Role and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:
  • Design, lead and oversee the implementation of strategic fundraising plan for assigned college, school, region or constituency in collaboration with other development officers and staff.
     
  • Use expert professional relationship building skills to develop and implement plans and strategies for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major and principal gift donors and prospective donors. Close major gifts commitments, personally and consistently, with a typical gift solicitation range of $250,000 to $10 million. Establish and effectively manage relationships with most critical, highest profile prospects, and provide exceptional donor stewardship to encourage future giving.
     
  • Oversee a professional staff of major gift officers and related support staff where applicable. Establish goals and oversee staff activities which include identification, evaluation, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of prospective major and principal gift donors. Maintain oversight on the quality and quantity of major gift activity in the region or unit and take action to increase both as appropriate.
     
  • Engage the President and Executive Leadership Team, Deans, and School Chairs in the prospect/ donor relationship as appropriate. Coordinate the efforts of staff where applicable.
     
  • Submit timely contact reports, prospect plans, and solicitations into tracking system.
     
  • Manage special events and/ or advisory board meetings to involve and cultivate prospects.
     
  • Prepare written development materials including case statements, proposals, and fundraising initiative/ campaign related literature for assigned college, school, and/or programs(s).
     
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills and Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
  • Highly experienced and successful fundraiser.
     
  • Uses expert relationship building skills to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward major and principal gifts from individual, corporate and institutional/foundation prospects.
     
  • Depending on time spent on management versus fundraising, fundraising goals are significantly higher and/or broader.
     
  • This position requires expert knowledge of fundraising approaches and the highest levels of interpersonal skills, ethical standards, and good judgement.
     
  • This position requires excellent skills in building long-term relationships, and persuasive written and verbal communications skills.
     
  • This position also requires skills in prioritizing, negotiating, influencing, strategic planning, project management, program administration and organization.
     
  •  Ability to be self-motivated, ability to work independently and as team member, and capacity for multi-tasking.
     
  • Use of office-related computer applications is required.
Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
     
  • Six to eight years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising and/or relevant experience in sales and marketing, or other related.
     
  • Travel is an essential part of the position as is participation in evening and weekend activities.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Minimum ten years of proven experience and results in soliciting and closing five, six and seven figure major gifts in a higher education setting and a campaign environment.

Applications & Nominations

The Georgia Institute for Technology has partnered with Boyden Executive Search. For more information about this opportunity or to submit a cover letter and resume, please email:

Lisa Vuona
Managing Partner, Boston
lvuona@boyden.com
LinkedIn

Lisa Vuona has decades of experience in executive search and human resource management, primarily in the non-profit, healthcare and education sectors. She is distinguished by her track record and network, and by her approach, which combines the strategic power of data with a finely tuned ability to understand the client’s organization and identify high-caliber leaders who fit the culture.

Leslie Smith
Executive Search Consultant, Boston
leslie.smith@boyden.com
LinkedIn

Leslie Smith has helped numerous individuals and organizations achieve their goals. She works with non-profits and educational institutions, helping to define leadership needs and connecting them with the right talent. Along with extensive knowledge of the non-profit sector, she has a passion for strengthening mission-driven organizations and advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Don’t check off all the boxes or meet every single requirement? We have learned that potential candidates hesitate when applying for a job unless they meet every single requirement. Boyden Boston is dedicated to inclusivity and valuing diversity and equity in the workplace. If this opportunity excites you, but your background may not be a perfect match, we still encourage you to apply.

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