Dr. Tony Atwater, IUP president, has selected Terry R. Carter as vice president for University Relations and executive director for the Foundation for IUP.
Carter has more than thirty-four years of experience in the fundraising, development, and advancement field. He will begin work at IUP on January 1, 2010.
“I am very pleased that Terry Carter will be joining IUP's executive team as the university's chief fundraising officer,” Atwater said. “He brings significant professional experience in the field of university development and has generated a track record of approximately $4 billion in external funding over his career. I am confident that he will be able to advance the university's marketing, development, and alumni-relations efforts.”
This position has responsibility for providing leadership and direction for the university relations program; training and stewardship for the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors, which oversees the operation of the foundation; and serving on the president's senior administrative cabinet. The University Relations Division is organized primarily to position and market the university, to direct and coordinate private resource acquisition, and to strengthen relationships and goodwill among alumni and other constituents.
“IUP exudes excellence in higher education, and I am very excited about joining such a progressive institution,” Carter said. “There are so many outstanding qualities that ignited my keen interest in becoming a part of the university family—President Atwater's keen leadership and steadfast commitment to furthering the mission and vision of IUP; the prominent display of IUP's dedication to its students; the credibility of the President's Cabinet; the entrepreneurial spirit of the Council of Trustees, IUP Foundation board, and Alumni Association Board; the collegiality of the deans, administrators, faculty, staff, and students who prominently display a willingness to strengthen the university; the dedication of the University Relations team; and the support that is readily evident from the many alumni, donors, friends, businesses, and others. I consider it to be a true honor to become an integral part of a great university and a wonderful community.”
Carter comes to IUP after serving as vice president for development/alumni relations, for the division of medicine at Drexel University, Philadelphia. In that role, he achieved record fundraising totals, increasing private gifts by 34 percent and doubling the giving rate of alumni. He developed a comprehensive fundraising plan for the university's $200-million campaign and collaborated across the university to market and strengthen the institution's brand on a national level.
From 2005 to 2008, he was executive director of development and alumni relations for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he played a strategic and management role in a $1.75-billion comprehensive campaign with a goal of $800 million for the medical center. During his tenure, his leadership contributed to increasing total giving to $120 million annually.
Before working at Vanderbilt University, he served as vice president of development for the Indiana University School of Medicine's Riley Foundation, where he increased private giving by 600 percent within the first six months and by 850 percent in his second year in that post. He also successfully planned and managed a $250-million comprehensive campaign and significantly decreased fundraising costs per dollar raised.
From 1996 to 2003, he served as vice president for development and alumni affairs and president of the Medical Foundation at the University of North Carolina System-Chapel Hill/East Carolina University. In this role, he increased private gifts by 500 percent within two years, secured the largest gift in the history of the university, and increased the endowment by 500 percent in four years.
He also worked as director of external affairs and development at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) and as director of development at the University Health Care Systems/University Hospitals, Medical College of Georgia Affiliate, in Augusta.
He began his professional career as director of health services and assistant field director with the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C.
He is a member of many professional organizations, serves as a mentor for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and received the twenty-year volunteer achievement award from the American Red Cross.
He received a bachelor's degree in political science/public administration from Augusta State University. He has completed coursework in the MBA program at Augusta State University and in institutional advancement at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Carter and his wife, Lawana, are the parents of Jason and Julie. “We look forward to being active members of the IUP family and the Indiana community,” Carter said.
Lynn Iams Barger, IUP associate vice president for Development, has served since May in the role of acting vice president for University Relations and acting executive director of the Foundation for IUP. She replaced Dr. Robert O. Davies, who left IUP to serve as president of Eastern Oregon University.