Thomas Hiles Named MU Vice Chancellor For Development and Alumni Relations
March 28th, 2012
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Thomas Hiles has been named vice chancellor for development and alumni relations at the University of Missouri. His appointment will begin in early July. Hiles replaces David Housh who retired after more than ten years in this position during which he led a record-breaking $1 billion comprehensive campaign for the university. Chancellor Emeritus Richard Wallace has held the position on an interim basis since March 1.
Hiles most recently served as vice president for institutional advancement/president of the foundation at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, since 2010. Prior to that, he was vice president for university advancement at Western Kentucky University and executive director of the WKU Foundation from 1998 to 2010. He began his career in development in 1985 at DePaul University and held a variety of fundraising positions at University of Maryland and served as Director of Campaigns at Rice University. Prior to his fundraising career, Hiles taught high school in Kansas City, Mo.
“My wife, Sara, and I are very excited to join the Mizzou family,” Hiles said. In many ways, it feels like coming home. Sara graduated from MU’s journalism program, and my late father graduated from the business school on the G.I. Bill in 1949. I also am excited because we are coming to a university with a rich tradition of support from its alumni and friends. I look forward to working with Chancellor Deaton, the development and alumni team and the university community to build on the previous successful campaign.”
As vice chancellor, Hiles will lead MU’s fundraising/alumni program, which is in the planning stages of its third major fundraising initiative. With 165 staff and a budget of $14.5 million, the program is resourced to build upon the success of the previous For All We Call Mizzou campaign.
MU has approximately a quarter of a million living alumni across the world. The Mizzou Alumni Association has more than 100 chapters worldwide and logs 1,000-plus activities annually, including Homecoming and Tiger Walk. Members recruit students, serve as ambassadors, support campus programs, raise funds and help all alumni stay connected with MU.
“I am very pleased that Tom Hiles has accepted the leadership role for MU’s development and alumni affairs program,” Chancellor Brady Deaton said. “He brings decades of experience to an already fully developed fundraising program, which has operated under stable, well respected leadership for the past decade. We look forward to building on the momentum of our last $1 billion campaign, and I believe Tom is the leader who can take us to the next level.”