Rice University appoints new VP for development and alumni relations
Stephen Bayer, a seasoned fundraiser with over 22 years of leadership experience in higher education, has been named vice president for development and alumni relations at Rice University, effective Sept. 26.
Bayer comes to Rice from Duke University, where he has served as the senior associate vice president of alumni engagement and development. In that role, he managed the central frontline fundraising staff, including major and leadership gifts, gift planning, international development and foundation relations.
At Rice, he will collaborate with university leadership on crafting a strategy and execution plan to increase annual fundraising significantly and to grow and diversify charitable support to underpin critical initiatives. He will be responsible for creating multi-year strategies for new donor pipelines, meeting annual fundraising goals, enhancing current systems, recruiting and retaining top talent and improving alumni outreach and engagement across all schools and programs.
“Over the past year, several new vice presidents have been hired, and I’m excited to announce today that another strong and talented leader is joining the leadership team,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches wrote in a message sent to the Rice community Wednesday morning. “Stephen has a track record of building and managing large teams of fundraisers and advancement professionals, driving innovative strategies and consistently exceeding goals.”
“I am honored to join President DesRoches and his leadership team during this exciting time at Rice University,” Bayer said. “Together we will cultivate community, foster meaningful relationships and highlight the power of philanthropy. I am eager to help elevate the extraordinary potential of Rice to new heights and be a part of the institution’s transformative legacy.”
The eight-member search committee of faculty, staff and Rice Board of Trustees members selected Bayer after a nationwide search was launched in February by Russell Reynolds, one of the country’s premier executive search firms. The committee was led by Matthew Loden, the Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music at Rice’s Shepherd School of Music.
Bayer joined Duke in 2011 as associate vice president for development. He was promoted to the senior associate vice president of alumni engagement and development in 2019. Prior to that, he was at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where he began his development career in 2001 as associate director of planned giving and left in 2011 after spending three years as the college’s vice president for development and alumni relations.
During his time at Swarthmore, Bayer led a staff of 50 and a goal-breaking $245 million campaign, the largest in the college’s history. At Duke, he managed a staff of 180 and played a critical leadership role in the design, strategy and management of the Duke Forward Campaign, which raised $2.85 billion, exceeding the campaign’s goal by $600 million.
Prior to his work in development, he practiced commercial litigation in Philadelphia and spent five years in personal investment banking working closely with high net-worth entrepreneurs, assisting his clients in diversifying and managing personal investments, growing their businesses through joint venture equity and transferring generational wealth through creative estate planning and insurance funding.
Bayer earned a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Tufts University.
Ronica Smucker, associate vice president for development, has led the development and alumni relations office as interim vice president for development and alumni relations since April. She assumed the role after Kathi Dantley Warren left Rice in March.