Lindauer Seeks VP Development for University of Washington
November 15, 2021 – Boston-based Lindauer has been retained by the University of Washington to lead its search for a vice president for development, university advancement. Jill Lasman, senior executive vice president, and Tensie J. Taylor, consultant, are spearheading the assignment. “The University of Washington is seeking an inclusive, strategic and collaborative leader to serve as the next vice president for development,” said Lindauer. “This is an extraordinary opportunity to lead university advancement, globally recognized for its best-in-class integrated advancement program. The next vice president for development will grow and sustain an impactful and inclusive development program and employee culture that fully realizes advancement’s and the university’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Reporting to the University of Washington’s senior vice president for university advancement, the vice president for development is the linchpin in the school’s constituency-based structure, overseeing the development functions of units (campuses, schools, colleges, programs) and central advancement, said the search firm.
The university’s advancement team includes about 600 full-time employees, more than 350 of whom report through the vice president for development. One of the most powerful achievements as a team was the university’s most recent comprehensive campaign in which more than half a million donors gave a combined $6.3 billion, said Lindauer. University advancement serves to advance the mission and highest ideals of the University of Washington by enhancing and protecting the university’s reputation, facilitating, and growing resources, and equitably supporting and serving communities.
Key Requirements
The University of Washington’s next vice president for development will be expected to bring a full appreciation of working in and advancing a fully integrated advancement model and possess strong leadership and management experience with proven success in equitably managing individuals and teams in complex organizational structures.
The individual must have demonstrated ability to improve organizational effectiveness and results by providing strategic position, direction, and leadership, said Lindauer.
Founded in 1861, the University of Washington, located in Seattle, is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the West Coast and is one of the preeminent research universities in the world. The university is ranked No. 7 among all global universities for 2022 by U.S. News & World Report and first among all public universities in the nation in federal research dollars received. In addition to its Seattle campus, the university has campuses in Tacoma and Bothell and a robust professional and continuing education program.
Serving Non-Profits
Lindauer serves higher and secondary education, hospitals, and academic research centers, think tanks, research facilities and foundations, as well as advocacy, public service, social justice, and other mission-driven non-profits. It has led searches for the Boston YMCA, Center for Applied Special Technology, Healthy Minds Innovations/Center for Healthy Minds, the University of Texas at Austin and the Cockrell School of Engineering, among others.
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Among the most senior members of the firm, Ms. Lasman has placed senior leaders and their teams in many major education, healthcare and science, arts and culture, advocacy, and mission-driven institutions since joining the firm in 1998. She has conducted advancement leadership searches for such clients as Princeton University, University of Texas at Austin, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Chicago Law School and Emory University.
Ms. Lasman has also been instrumental in placing multiple high-level candidates in Ivy League and elite colleges, including Cornell University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the College of William & Mary, to name a few. In addition, Ms. Lasman has placed individuals for such diverse organizations as American Technion Society, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Based in Southern California, Ms. Taylor brings a range of non-profit, regional, and lived experience to Lindauer clients. This includes public and private universities, undergraduate and graduate education, and alumni and external relations.
Before coming to Lindauer, Ms. Taylor served in successive leadership roles for the Black Alumni Association at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She also served in roles in recruiting and admissions for the Rossier School of Education and in the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs for USC. Prior to USC, Ms. Taylor worked on a range of programs for both the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity for North Carolina State University and for former President Erskine Bowles at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media