Terri Cerveny has been appointed vice president for College Relations, President Stephen C. Ainlay has announced.
Cerveny succeeds Stephen Dare, who left after five years to become senior associate vice president for advancement at the University of Rochester.
At Union, Cerveny will be responsible for managing alumni relations, development and communications and marketing, along with foundation, corporate and government relations.
Cerveny has more than two dozen years of experience in the area of institutional advancement. Most recently, she served as senior vice president and chief development officer for Albany Medical Center and the Albany Medical College (which is part of Union University).
Before joining Albany Med, Cerveny served as senior director of institutional advancement and special assistant to the president at the EastWest Institute in New York City. She also was a senior consultant to John Brown, Ltd., a consulting firm specializing in planned giving, where she managed the National Geographic account, among other responsibilities.
Cerveny also spent 20 years at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she held a number of roles. She was acting vice president for institute advancement and assistant vice president for development and alumni relations. She also served as campaign director for the $1 Billion Campaign for Rensselaer.
Cerveny joins Union at a time when the College recently topped its goal of $250 million in the largest and most comprehensive fundraising campaign in its history, raising more than $258 million. The You are Union campaign, publicly launched in 2004 and expanded by $50 million in 2008, has been transformative for the College, bolstering student scholarships and financial aid, faculty support, research programs and campus facilities.
This year, Union unveiled a new strategic plan to help educate the next generation of students in a rapidly changing world. The ambitious plan provides a blueprint that strengthens and enhances Union's position as a highly selective national liberal arts college that "produces graduates who make important contributions to humanity."
“I am excited to work with Ms. Cerveny at this critical time in our history,” Ainlay said in an email to the campus community announcing Cerveny’s hiring. “With the successful completion of our campaign and a revised strategic plan in hand, we are positioned to lift Union to new heights.”
Cerveny is a 1982 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
She begins her new job Jan. 1.