Vice Chancellor for Development & Alumni Engagement University of California, Riverside | Riverside, California The University of California, Riverside is pleased to announce the appointment of Travis Smith as vice chancellor for development and alumni engagement, effective July 6, 2026. Smith currently serves as senior vice president for central development for the University of Minnesota (UMN) Foundation, where he has played a key leadership role in advancing philanthropic strategy and results. At UMN, Smith was an integral part of the university-wide Driven campaign, which concluded in 2021 with $4.4 billion raised. Recently, he led fundraising for a $40 million renovation of the Carlson School of Management’s flagship headquarters building, fully supported by philanthropy. In Fiscal Year 2025, UMN raised a record $464 million in philanthropic giving.Smith has held progressively senior advancement roles across leading public research universities. His development career began at the Oregon State University Foundation, following which he served as senior director of regional advancement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Smith joined the University of Minnesota in 2015 as assistant dean for institutional advancement at the Carlson School, advancing to associate vice president (2019–2024) and, most recently, senior vice president, in which role he oversees a number of central and collegiate-based development programs.A native of the Central Valley of California, Smith received his BA in business administration from the University of Oregon and his MBA from the Carlson School of Management at UMN.Read the official announcement here.Rachel Ellenport led this search with Christina Garrison, Caroline Corry, and Megan Gorman.
