Georgetown University Medical Center Vice President of Advancement

Leadership Profile

This Leadership Profile is intended to provide information about Georgetown University and the position of the Georgetown University Medical Center Vice President of Advancement. It is designed to assist qualified individuals in assessing their interest in the opening.

To download the job profile click here.

The Opportunity

Georgetown University, the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit University, seeks a Vice
President of Medical Advancement.

Georgetown University, located in the heart of Washington, DC, is a leading research University
steeped in the tradition of liberal education with a mission dedicated to Catholic,
Jesuit principles including public service (“women and men in service to others”) and Cura
Personalis (“care of the whole person”). Locally and globally, it cares for the most vulnerable
among us. With a dedication to mission and consistent, impressive leadership, it is ranked among
the country’s top twenty-five universities.

The Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic health
center with a four-part mission of research, teaching, patient care (provided through clinical
partnerships), and service. As the nation’s largest, most prominent Catholic academic health
center, GUMC is home to the School of Medicine, which includes the clinical and basic
science departments, the School of Nursing, the School of Health, the Lombardi
Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Biomedical Sciences. GUMC also plays a key role in the University- wide Georgetown Global Health Institute and has a distinct focus on ending health disparities in Washington, DC and beyond.

Twenty years ago, Georgetown joined in a partnership with MedStar Health, now the
dominant healthcare provider in the Baltimore-Washington and southern Maryland region with ten
nationally respected hospitals and 280 specialty, urgent, and primary care locations. The
partnership aims to foster health and advance health equity through innovative research and
education, compassionate care, and community collaboration.

MedStar and Georgetown add service through the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC), the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the
Washington area, a designation it has held since 1970. It is a state-of-the-art cancer center
housing more than 124,000 square feet of clinical and research space.

MedStar offers GUMC excellent opportunities for its faculty to serve patients, for clinical
placements for its students, and for clinical trials and translational research, often in
conjunction with MedStar’s Research Institute. The University renewed its partnership with MedStar
in 2017, with a fifty-year agreement. As MedStar grows, GUMC will grow its faculty and partnership
opportunities for shared research, new student enrollment, clinical placements, and philanthropy.
The agreement creates a shared endeavor around philanthropy and a committed financial flow to GUMC that can also increase with the growth of the system.

GUMC is home to the University’s most robust research enterprise which is essential to the
University’s status as a top and very active research (R-1) University. GUMC’s faculty attract
almost $160 million in external research funding annually. GUMC’s research facilities
include 306,000 square feet of research space. Research expenditures regularly grow,
and the University intends to accelerate that pace in order to increase and enhance activity.
GUMC is one of the few medical centers in the country to hold both a Clinical and Translational
Science Award for the National Institutes of Health (renewed in 2020) and a Cancer Center Support
grant from the National Cancer Institute (renewal expected in 2024).

The School of Medicine is the University’s second oldest school. The school has succeeded in
maintaining its selectivity and its record in educating of highly successful students, as
reflected in their residency matching results. The school’s commitment to Cura Personalis,
mission for social justice, DC location, and dedicated faculty, paired with the advantages
of our MedStar partnership have made it an enrollment magnet among medical schools. GUMC
attracts approximately 30% of all U.S. medical school applicants each year.

With the unwavering support of the University’s Board and President, GUMC is now
positioned to take advantage of its partnership opportunities, research excellence, and its
educational marketplace to build in every dimension, in care, research, teaching, and philanthropy.
It seeks a success-oriented and proven advancement professional who can identify and secure
increased contributed income, thus helping to advance a leading healthcare center in the
heart of the nation’s capital.

The Role:

The Vice President of Advancement (VP) for the Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is a
newly- created role which will provide leadership and strategic vision to maximize the
philanthropic potential of GUMC’s development program operation. The VP will lead a team that
currently comprises 15 dedicated personnel and raises an average of $35 million annually,
representing approximately 10% of the annual philanthropy revenue funds raised by Georgetown
University.
The VP will focus on initiatives including finishing Georgetown’s Called to Be campaign (completion
by end 2026), preparing for the next university-wide campaign, and developing and implementing a
comprehensive strategy to increase annual fundraising revenue to $100M and increase the endowment to $500M+.
In addition, the VP will:

Develop innovative strategies for personally cultivating and soliciting new prospects,
Strengthen relationships with existing donors and leverage volunteer leaders
Establish strong and effective working relationships with the EVP, GUMC deans and faculty,
with the University’s central Office of Advancement, and with colleagues across the university and
with partner institutions— including MedStar Health – the Medical Center’s clinical partner

Principal Responsibilities
Strategy and Goals

Design, implement, and lead a comprehensive, multi-year fundraising strategic plan,
encompassing goals to secure annual, major, capital, and testamentary endowment support
Partner with leaders at MedStar to ensure a unified fundraising strategy, shared funding
priorities, and top-down alignment between advancement officers at both organizations
Develop a scale-level grateful patient program to encourage support from patients and their
families
Implement and scale the internal systems needed to facilitate partnership between frontline
fundraisers, physicians, researchers, and faculty.
Work with the EVP and GUMC faculty leaders to develop a unifying vision and a suite of
compelling donor messaging that articulates funding priorities
Collaborate with the University’s central Office of Advancement

Fundraising

Oversee, mentor, and partner with frontline fundraisers to expand, deepen, and extend
relationships with medical, nursing, health and graduate medical education alumni, friends, and
volunteers
Build a philanthropic board of volunteer leaders to champion the work at the Medical Center
Assume primary responsibility for managing a portfolio of top donors and prospects, including
Board members, liaising with EVP for Health Sciences and GU President, staff, and volunteers as
necessary

Qualifications and Characteristics

The desired qualifications and experience of the new Vice President for GUMC Advancement include:

A bachelor’s degree and ten years of related work experience in an academic institution are
required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Strategic leadership that innovates fundraising processes, as well as envision new
revenue-generating opportunities.
Substantial experience with cross-functional team collaboration, and adept management of
competing priorities.
Experience and confidence leading organizational change with diverse constituencies and
capacity- building at all levels of the organization.
Seasoned management skills, a proven record of change-agency, and the ability to develop and
implement the metrics and accountability required to support and advance the missions of the
Medical Center, especially as related to the financial health of GUMC.
A proven track record of achieving or surpassing goals and developing fundraising strategy
rooted in best practices in a complex organizational environment with a diverse revenue stream.
Robust experience across all donor types, including high-net-worth individuals.
Data-driven with experience leveraging technology and information to creatively identify
prospects, retain and upgrade donors, steward gifts, and inform future investments in program
growth.
A commitment to and understanding of the Catholic identity of the University, Jesuit
principles and an understanding of and appreciation for the academic, research and clinical
missions of this world- renowned University.

Nominations and Inquiries

Georgetown University has retained the national executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to
assist in this search. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and applications should be sent in
confidence to GUMCAdvancement@Heidrick.com

GUMC Vice President of Advancement Search Committee

R. Bartley Moore (Chair)
Vice president for Advancement
Georgetown University
Matthew G. Biel, MD, MSc
Professor, Vice Chair, Chief of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Georgetown University Medical Center
Katherine Birrow
Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President
Georgetown University

Alexandra DuPont
Washington, DC

Brandi Durkac
Senior Director of Development
Georgetown University
Patrick Forcelli, Ph.D.
Tenure Line – Professor | Department Chair, Pharmacology and Physiology,
Director, Ph.D. Program in Pharmacology & Physiology
Georgetown University
Laurie Lapeyre, B’83, P’15, P’17
Former Board Member, Former Vice Chair, Board of Regents
Georgetown University
Jessica McLain
Chief Philanthropy Officer
MedStar, Inc.
Bill Rebeck
Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Georgetown University
Brinder Singh
Chief Operating Officer
MedStar, Inc.

Tatiana Litvin- Vechnyack, Ph.D.
Vice President for the Office of Technology Commercialization
Georgetown University

Anton Wellstein
Professor Oncology & Pharmacology
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Roberta Waite, EdD, RN, PMHCNS, ANEF, FAAN
Dean, School of Nursing
Georgetown University

Search Support

William O’Leary
Heidrick & Struggles

Alissa Fernandez
Heidrick & Struggles

Marie Mattson
Secretary of the University

Lisa Krim, J.D.
Senior Advisor to the President for Faculty Relations