Johnnie Ray, vice president for resource development at the University
of Texas (UT) at Austin, will join Emory on July 1 as senior vice
president for Institutional Advancement, President Jim Wagner announced
May 11. The appointment is pending approval by the University's
Board of Trustees.
Ray,
52, will be charged with leading Emory's upcoming comprehensive
campaign, and he is well suited for the job, having led UT's $1.5
billion, "We're Texas" campaign since 1997. The Texas campaign
originally set a goal of $1 billion, but that mark was reached
five years into the seven-year effort.
"Johnnie
brings to Emory demonstrated leadership in development along with
a deep sense of what is at the heart of higher education," Ray
said. "He is eager to learn more of Emory and to use his office
aggressively to help the components of our University advance toward
their goals."
"In
my view, Emory is one of America's indispensable universities with
a powerful story to tell," Ray said. "In my 28 years in higher
education, I have never felt quite so moved by the combination
of quality and values expressed there. I saw a rich, textured undergraduate
experience overlaid with professional graduate programs of the
first order. Then, when you fold in the enormous medical research
and health care enterprise, there is no question of Emory's value
proposition. In many ways, it is a prestigious private institution
with a very public mission--a compelling combination, to say the
least. I am honored beyond words to have been chosen for this position.
"I
just saw a great opportunity," he continued. "Sometimes you feel
it in your heart, in your gut, when you know it's the right thing
to do. This was it, no doubt about it."
Ray
has been at Austin since 1996, starting as associate vice president
for development before being promoted to his current post in October
1997. Previously he served for more than six years as director
of development for the sciences at Pennsylvania State University,
raising some $30 million and annually exceeding unit fund raising
goals over that period.
As
he prepares to lead Emory's comprehensive campaign, Ray said the
first task is to establish a strong case and craft a unifying message.
He said Emory's "public orientation," supplied by the Woodruff
Health Sciences Center, along with direction provided by the University's
vision statement, will help form the campaign's message.
"A
campaign is two parts: It's the fund raising side, but it's also
creating an atmosphere where philanthropy can occur naturally.The
ability to present the university as being of great value to society
is a winning proposition," Ray said. "So you start with a great
product, you build a strong and outwardly focused case, you demonstrate
the overall value proposition, and you get to work."
Though
he will be moving from a public university at Texas of 50,000 students
and 350,000 alumni to a private institution of 12,000 students
and 80,000 alumni, Ray said he will carry over many of the same
development principles.
"Though
private universities are generally more nimble, the message is
really not that different," he said. "A great research university,
whether it's public or private, has a big impact on the society
it serves, so the message can be shaped in somewhat similar fashion.
If you look across the country at universities that have conducted
successful campaigns, public and private, the one ingredient that
is present in every case is the presence of a great research faculty--people
who are really driving the new knowledge in their disciplines.
Emory has that in abundance."
Ray's
soon-to-be former colleagues at Texas said Emory is getting an
individual highly qualified to run its campaign. "We couldn't have
asked for a more capable and visionary leader to direct the university's
development efforts," UT President Larry Faulkner said. "Johnnie
Ray's creativity and tireless dedication will be greatly missed.
I am pleased that he has the chance to pursue such a prestigious
opportunity."
Ray
earned his bachelor's in political science and did graduate work
at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He worked for 13 years at
McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, leaving in 1989 as associate
vice president for development and university relations. Ray also
has worked in television production and spent a year as owner and
publisher of a weekly newspaper in Abilene. He has a son, Kevin,
age 22 and a recent graduate of UT in linguistics.
Ray
said he will try to visit campus a few times before July 1 to get
to know his colleagues in Institutional Advancement, and he is
relishing the opportunity to work on Emory's campaign.
"The
whole campus community will play a role in shaping the case, but
I do have some ideas that are beginning to take form," he said. "It's
a lot of work, but it's enjoyable work, and I think everyone associated
with Emory will get behind this thing and be part of it the way
they need to be. We'll speak with one voice, and we'll be very
successful, no question about it."
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