Dear Campus Community,
I am thrilled to announce that Wendy Kobler will be joining the Ithaca College community on September 1 as our new Vice President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA). Wendy will be coming to Ithaca College from Kentucky State University, where she currently serves as VPIA.
Prior to her time at Kentucky, Wendy led development and constituent relations at Wittenberg University, Purdue University Fort Wayne, and Alabama A&M University, positions that built on her strong base of experience in the private sector. As a result of her leadership, both Wittenberg and Alabama A&M experienced record-setting philanthropy, accomplishments that required a tremendous ability to keenly understand institutional cultures and priorities and to make a compelling case that connected donors in a very personal way.
In addition to excelling in top positions at a wide spectrum of institutions, Wendy demonstrated her personal commitment to academics by pursuing her Ph.D. She is a proud 2018 graduate of Indiana Institute of Technology, and holds her doctorate in global leadership.
Throughout her career, Wendy has demonstrated truly great results by using her creativity and savvy to navigate challenging cultures and drive success within lean-resource environments. I was strongly drawn to her for this important leadership role at IC not only because of her impressive accomplishments, but also because of her ability to build high-performing teams through thoughtful hiring practices, mentoring, and coaching, and her knack for revitalizing or helping to construct a thriving culture of philanthropy.
Wendy sees the promise of IC so clearly, particularly our commitment to the liberal arts fueled by the power of practice and performance. She also has a deep love for athletics, and understands the impact of athletics both on building a culture of philanthropy and on modeling how to mobilize collaboration through teamwork.
The members of our Division of Institutional Advancement are experienced and dedicated professionals who are critical to the success of this institution and, specifically, to our strategic plan. Wendy is an amazing leader for this hard-working team, and I look forward to seeing the great things she and this division will accomplish together, as they build on their successes and draw upon their talents to forge an exciting path forward.
This was a key search for our institution, and I am incredibly grateful to the many members of our IC family who thoughtfully contributed their time, feedback, and expertise to all aspects of this process—from the development of the leadership profile, to vetting candidates, to interviewing finalists. Specifically, I am appreciative for the critical contributions of the institutional advancement staff throughout this search, and so thankful to the members of our faculty, staff, senior leadership team, deans, and trustees, who also participated in this process and provided rich feedback as I made my decision. This was truly a collaborative effort that involved more than 100 of our community members.
I hope you will join me in welcoming Wendy to our IC family in the fall, and I encourage you to read more about her in our news story. This upcoming academic year represents a critical crossroads for our college as we get ready to start the implementation of our strategic plan, Ithaca Forever. I am very excited to begin our transformative work, and I trust completely in the talents of our faculty, staff, and students, and in the leadership of my team as we all continue our collaborative, student-centered work to position Ithaca College for bold, sustainable, and trailblazing success for many years to come.
All my best,
Shirley M. Collado
President