Fry began his professional career at the university level after retiring from active duty in 1991, where he served assignments in Kentucky, Colorado, Indiana, and Germany, first starting as an enlisted soldier, a warrant officer, and later receiving his direct commission.

Serving at Purdue University as Vice President of advancement, and being involved in a $482 million campaign just for the College of Engineering will be a useful experience in Rensselaer’s billion dollar campaign. The Office of Institute Advancement, under the leadership of Fry, is continuing previous duties as well as preparing for new ones—“currently my office is heading all fundraising campaigns, reaching out to alumni, corporation, and foundation opportunities to reach the goals of the capital campaigns.” At Colorado State, Fry had a position similar to his current one. As Vice President for Development and Advancement, he was successful in engaging alumni in giving back to the university. One of Donald Fry’s goals is that he wants “to engage the current students to communicate with alumni at a higher level.” Originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, he received an undergraduate degree in management from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University. He and his wife, Becky, have three adult children and five grandsons.

At Rensselaer, the Vice President for Institute Advancement is responsible for bringing the Institute’s $1 billion campaign to a successful conclusion; preparing the vision, mission and tactics for post-campaign fund raising; and engaging and working closely with the next generation of Institute volunteer leadership.