New Vice President of Advancement

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students, 

I am pleased to announce that Jed Schwendiman will join the University as our new Vice President of Advancement. His first day on campus will be May 1.

As Vice President of Advancement, Jed will serve as the University’s chief development officer responsible for developing a comprehensive and integrated fundraising and alumni engagement program. He will also serve as a key partner as we embark on our collaborative University strategic plan, Forward Together, engaging our alumni and securing philanthropic support for our University into the future. 

Jed joins Redlands from the University of California, Riverside, where he served as the Assistant Dean and Senior Director of Development of the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering. In this role, his collaboration with leadership, faculty, and students resulted in completing a $55 million fundraising goal for the college as part of UCR’s $300 million Living the Promise campaign. While at UCR, Jed also established new endowed chairs, increased philanthropic support by over 380% annually, and the donor base by 360%.

Jed’s broad experience in higher education has allowed him to develop various innovative fundraising programs that have significantly increased donor pipelines and drastically improved philanthropic support for institutions. As a fundraiser, his regional portfolios included New York, Washington D.C., California, Texas, and New England. He has also worked internationally throughout China and Taiwan.

Before UCR, his significant higher education experience included serving as the Interim Director and Assistant Director of Development at Dedman College within Southern Methodist University and Associate Director of Leadership Annual Giving for the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Jed has an M.A. in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire, Durham. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla Washington.

I want to thank the search committee members, especially Jan Berckefeldt ‘67, University Trustee, and Chair of the Advancement Committee of the Board of Trustees, who served as the co-chair. I also thank the campus community for your work, time, and commitment to the search process.

I would also like to thank our Interim Vice President of Advancement, Bill Torrey, who has done a fantastic job leading the incredible Advancement team for the last several months. Bill’s last day with us will be April 30.

Please join me in extending Jed a warm Bulldog welcome!