UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 39, Page 1
August 15, 1996
Marion B. Peavey named development & alumni v.p.

     A national search has resulted in the appointment of the man who
has led highly successful capital campaigns at the University of
Alabama and the University of Virginia as the new vice president for
development and alumni relations at the University of Delaware,
President David P. Roselle announced Aug. 7.
     Marion B. Peavey, vice president for development and alumni
affairs at the University of Alabama since 1990, will assume his
duties at Delaware in early fall, Roselle said. He replaces Charles M.
Forbes, who is retiring. Forbes will become special assistant to the
president, collaborating on several donor initiatives now in progress.
     The vice president for development and alumni relations reports
to the president and is responsible for planning, coordinating and
directing the fundraising and alumni programs for the University.
     "I'm looking forward to working with Marion Peavey when he joins
the University of Delaware team this fall," Roselle said. "A dynamic
and low-key leader, he has a proven record in fund raising. Mr. Peavey
administered a successful campaign at the University of Virginia, and
his current campaign to raise $165 million at the University of
Alabama exceeded its goal a year before its scheduled conclusion. I'm
confident he will be a great asset to our efforts here," he said.
     "David Roselle, president of the University of Delaware, is a
friend from my Virginia days, and he contacted me last fall," Peavey
said. "I expressed to him at that time that there were still unmet
goals here that I wanted to achieve. Now that the Alabama campaign has
exceeded the initial goal, Dr. Roselle provided further encouragement
for me to join the University of Delaware. I look forward to the new
challenges and, hopefully, to the excitement of another campaign."
     Peavey, 53, has won accolades from the university presidents
under whom he has served. University of Alabama President Andrew
Sorensen said, "Our very great loss is the University of Delaware's
gain. Marion's substantial accomplishments in spearheading the
University of Alabama's successful capital campaign are well known
among higher education leaders throughout the country. I sincerely
regret that I will not have the opportunity to work with him more
closely over the next few years, but I fully understand his enthusiasm
for building the framework for Delaware's first major capital
campaign."
     Roger Sayers, who retired June 30 as president of the University
of Alabama, said, "Marion has done an excellent job for the University
of Alabama. His leadership of our capital campaign has been truly
exceptional."
     Frank Hereford, president of the University of Virginia during
Peavey's tenure there, said, "Marion Peavey did a very fine job in
organizing and directing the UVA campaign that brought in about $150
million. I was very disappointed when he left the University of
Virginia, but he has my best wishes for continued success at the
University of Delaware."
     At the University of Alabama, Peavey has led the largest capital
campaign in that institution's history. With more than one year left
in the campaign, gifts and pledges have exceeded the $165-million goal
by more than $3 million. The campaign was designed to touch every
academic program on the campus, and so far it has provided more than
40 new professorships and chairs; more than 500 new endowed
scholarships; numerous buildings and laboratories; and computers,
books, laboratory equipment and other hardware used in teaching and
learning.
     In addition to the capital campaign, overall annual giving to the
University of Alabama has continued to set records under Peavey's
guidance, currently standing at more than $30 million per year. The
university's national alumni association has reached record active
membership levels of 34,000 and set new records for academic
scholarship support.
     In 1993, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) recognized the University of Alabama as one of its Grand Award
winners for capital campaign planning and implementation.
     Peavey served as vice president for development and university
relations at the University of Virginia from 1981-90. From 1981-84, he
organized and implemented the university's first comprehensive capital
campaign, which met its $90 million goal in less than two years,
ultimately reaching $147 million at the end of three years and making
it the largest campaign for a public university in the nation at that
time. In the five years after the campaign, the development program
raised approximately $300 million in cash and pledges.
     During Peavey's tenure, private annual gift support to the
University of Virginia increased from $12 million to $51.6 million,
and alumni giving increased from 9 percent in 1980 to 37 percent in
1990.
     In 1985, the University of Virginia development program was named
The Most Improved Financial Support Program among all public and
private colleges and universities in the United States by the CASE and
the Ford Motor Co.
     Peavey served on the advancement team at Duke University from
1974-81, first as associate director of development and director of
area campaigns, then as director of development and finally as
director of institutional advancement. While he was at Duke, private
gift support increased each year and cash flow achieved a record $33
million in 1980. At Duke, he was responsible for a $135-million
campaign and numerous mini-campaigns.
     From 1967-74, he was affiliated with Wofford College, serving
first as director of information services and later as associate
director of development and director of alumni affairs. Responsible
for all fundraising and alumni/parents programs there, he directed
major gifts and all annual giving programs and directed a $10 million
capital campaign, the largest in the college's history.
     Peavey received his bachelor's degree in English and history at
Wofford College in 1965 and his master's degree in journalism and
communications at the University of South Carolina in 1967. He also
has taken advanced courses in trusts and estates, corporate law and
estate planning at Duke University Law School.
     A member of the National Association of College and University
Business Officers and CASE, he currently serves as chairman of CASE's
District III. He also serves on the boards of Boys' Harbor School in
New York City, John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, N.C.,
Jeffersonian Restoration Board in Charlottesville, Va., and the
Tuscaloosa, Ala., Academy, as well as the National Alumni Board of
Wofford College.
     Peavey has been a development and management consultant to
universities, hospitals, medical centers, foundations, environmental
groups and arts organizations. He also has served as a faculty leader
in numerous conferences and workshops for nonprofit institutions.
     The author of numerous papers on fundraising, development and
nonprofit management, he is contributing author to the Handbook for
Educational Fundraising and Public Support for Higher Education and
author of Long-Range Financial Planning for Nonprofits.
     Forbes, who came to Delaware in 1992, has been involved in UD
capital campaigns totaling $35.6 million, including fundraising
efforts on behalf of Gore Hall, the new classroom building under
construction on the Mall; the new Trabant University Center, which
opened this spring; the expansion and renovation of Colburn
Laboratory, home of the Department of Chemical Engineering; and MBNA
America Hall, new home of the College of Business and Economics, and
renovation of Purnell Hall, both now under way.