Claire Gaudiani - Philanthropy Expert, Former College President -Joins Faculty of NYU's Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising

NEW YORK (May 21, 2007) - Claire Gaudiani, a former president of Connecticut College, has been named the first full-time faculty member at The George H. Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University's School of Continuing and Professional Studies, announced the School's Dean Robert Lapiner.  A scholar of the history and economics of philanthropy, Dr. Gaudiani will teach within the M.S. in Fundraising program as well as in the Center's non-degree and professional certificate programs.

From 1988 to 2001, Dr. Gaudiani served as president of Connecticut College, a private liberal arts college in New London. Under her leadership, the College quintupled its endowment and its applications for admission rose as dramatically as its national reputation.

An authority and frequent speaker on topics related to philanthropy, civil society and higher education, Gaudiani is the author of The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism (New York Times-Henry Holt 2003).  In this seminal book - part-history, part-policy treatise - she argues that Americans are "not generous because we are rich, but rich because we are generous" and presents a blueprint for reinvigorating social justice through philanthropy.

NYU-SCPS Dean Robert Lapiner said, "Claire Gaudiani is a scholar of notable accomplishment, with an intellectual passion for the fields of philanthropy, higher education and civil society.  She shares our conviction in NYU-SCPS's extraordinary potential to create an unmatched concentration of needed intellectual and professional resources for a field that, she has demonstrated in her writings, lies at the heart of American democracy."

"The fact that Claire Gaudiani, one of the country's leading experts in philanthropy and fundraising, has joined the faculty of the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University, adds immeasurably to the quality of our teaching and the impact we will have on philanthropy and fundraising in this country," said Naomi Levine, executive director of the Center.  

"The Center's Masters Program is a bold enterprise," said Dr.  Gaudiani.  "The degree offers an imaginative combination of practical career preparation with an in-depth exploration of philanthropy's force in America's history. The faculty and I aim to prepare a new generation of professionals who command both areas of knowledge."

The Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising was established in NYU-SCPS in 1999.  Under the direction of founder and executive director Naomi Levine, the Center offers graduate-level and non-degree coursework in fundraising and grantmaking.    The new Master's degree program, established in 2006, provides one of the nation's most comprehensive academic curricula, including specially-developed courses in fundraising management, ethics and nonprofit law, statistical and research methods, technology, and corporate and foundation philanthropy.  This graduate program is one of 14 focused professional Master's degree programs offered by NYU-SCPS, which are characterized by curricula that address both broad theory and practical knowledge and taught by leading practitioners and subject matter experts in their fields.

Dr. Gaudiani holds a Ph.D. and master's degree in French literature from Indiana University and a bachelor's degree, also in French, from Connecticut College. She has served on the boards of numerous for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises including the The Henry Luce Foundation, MBIA Inc., the Shubert Theatre, the Connecticut Center for School Change, Connecticut Legal Services Advisory Board, Public Radio International, and Citizens Bank. She is a trustee of WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute.)  She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and as a fellow of the PBK Society. She was also elected to the Century Association. She has received ten honorary doctorates.