Last Wednesday, September 17, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced that Robert Schlesinger had accepted an appointment as Rensselaer’s vice president for institute advancement. Schlesinger will begin his new role next Wednesday, October 1.
The vice president for institute advancement is responsible for “fundraising and relationship building programs.” Tuition only covers the basic costs of running a university and it is through private gifts that Rensselaer is able to fund aspects such as scholarships, fellowships, campus renovations, and new facilities.
Though new to RPI, Schlesinger is not new to the role of institutional advancement. He began his career while still an undergraduate at Harvard University. As a member of a community development organization, he ran into a familiar problem: To be able to do good deeds, he “needed funds,” according to Schlesinger. At the time, older universities had well-established advancement programs, and most universities were beginning to build relationships with their alumni, but the job was not the respected and sought-after career path it is today. Schlesinger was on the forefront of this change.
After receiving his law degree from the University of Berkley, he worked in the field of advancement, including jobs with both of his alma maters and the position of director of development and membership at the Zoological Society of San Diego. Most recently, he was the chief endowment officer and director of advancement and alumni at Singapore Management University. There, he was part of building a new advancement program in a country in which the culture of philanthropy itself is only beginning to blossom.
Schlesinger was attracted to the drive that RPI has to improve upon what is already a respected Institute. With The Rensselaer Plan and the $1.4 billion Renaissance at Rensselaer campaign, he sees great potential and hopes to fulfill it.
