Chief Development Officer

Southern Methodist University (SMU) seeks three accomplished, strategic, and collaborative advancement leaders to serve as the inaugural Chief Development Officers (CDOs) for the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Cox School of Business, and the Dedman School of Law. These newly created positions represent a significant investment in the future of philanthropy at SMU and underscore the university’s commitment to building a best-in-class advancement enterprise capable of supporting its ambitious academic and institutional aspirations.

Southern Methodist University is experiencing a period of exceptional momentum. Under the leadership of President Jay Hartzell and Senior Vice President for Development and External Affairs Shontel Grumhaus, the university is reimagining its advancement model and investing in the people, processes, and infrastructure needed to elevate fundraising performance across the institution. The creation of these three executive-level positions marks the first phase of that transformation and reflects a commitment to building a more sophisticated, collaborative, and donor-centered culture of philanthropy.

Reporting to the Vice President for Schools and Unit Development, Paula Voyles Jewell, and serving as a senior strategic partner to their respective dean, each CDO will lead the development strategy for a major academic unit while helping shape the future of advancement at SMU. These leaders will have the opportunity to establish new standards for donor engagement, stewardship, prospect strategy, and team development while working alongside deans who are deeply committed to philanthropy and eager to expand their external engagement efforts.

The opportunities across these three academic units are substantial. The Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, the university’s largest and most academically diverse academic unit, presents extensive opportunities to deepen donor engagement across its 16 departments and nine interdisciplinary institutes and centers. Following an extensive renovation and expansion project, the Cox School of Business is building on strong donor engagement and recent fundraising success to support ambitious priorities in faculty excellence, entrepreneurship, technology, experiential learning, and business innovation. Similarly, the Dedman School of Law is advancing a transformative capital initiative for a new law school facility on the university’s growing East Campus while cultivating a highly accomplished alumni base with significant philanthropic capacity.

As inaugural leaders in these roles, the CDOs will inherit exceptional philanthropic potential. SMU boasts visionary institutional and advancement leadership, a deeply loyal alumni community, influential volunteer leaders, and access to one of the country’s most dynamic metropolitan regions. University leadership believes the institution possesses extraordinary untapped fundraising opportunity and is thereby making a deliberate investment to realize that potential.

The successful candidates will be accomplished fundraisers and collaborative leaders who bring strategic vision, intellectual curiosity, and a record of building strong partnerships across complex organizations. They will be energized by the opportunity to help shape a growing advancement enterprise, serve as trusted advisors to academic leadership, and play defining roles in the next chapter of philanthropic success at Southern Methodist University.

Jack Gorman is leading this search with Grace Zakim, Max Bartley, Hodge Stillwell, and Ryan Cheung.

Southern Methodist University will not discriminate in any employment practice, education program, education activity, or admissions on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status. SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.