Iona University has announced that Gary B. Grant, an industry leader with over 35 years of success in philanthropy and management, is serving as senior vice president of advancement and external affairs.
Previously Grant served as senior vice president for advancement at Florida Institute of Technology since May 2017. Among other accomplishments he helped grow the endowment over 60% and won numerous awards for innovations in fundraising from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the global nonprofit association dedicated to educational advancement professionals.
“We are excited to welcome Gary to support Iona’s growth and help bring our ambitious goals to fruition as we continue to elevate all aspects of the Iona experience,” said Iona President Seamus Carey, Ph.D. “From engaging Iona’s 50,000 alumni around the world to supporting student scholarships, academic programs, campus infrastructure, mentorship opportunities and more, it all comes back to strengthening the Iona mission and serving our students. Gary understands this and has a proven track record of success.”
Grant received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Chicago in 1987. As a student, he would call alumni for gifts, and by his sophomore year, he had raised over $1 million in pledges. That success led to working full time in advancement until he would go on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law.
After earning his law degree, however, Grant immediately returned to the University of Chicago to serve as associate dean of the graduate school of social work from 1994-98. There, he led the school’s first successful capital campaign as part of the university’s $500 million effort. He went on to serve as senior development officer and then director of major gifts for the University of Chicago Medical Center from 1998-2003.
Grant’s experience in education and health care comes as a benefit to Iona especially as the university continues to develop its NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences and its new 28-acre campus in Bronxville. In addition to the new academic degrees and the state-of-the-art Kelly Center for Health Sciences, the campus is also expanding opportunities for students in the performing arts, Division I Athletics, club sports and more.
