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News

UB reorganizes External Affairs

  • The ultimate showman, P.T. Barnum,
proved to be the inspiration for Cynthia Wu’s current book
project. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE

    Kathryn Costello
By SUE WUETCHER
Published: July 23, 2009

UB has reorganized its Division of External Affairs, moving its development and alumni relations functions into a new Division of Development and Alumni Relations and adding a new office in External Affairs to increase the university’s economic and community engagement efforts.

Kathryn R. Costello has been reappointed vice president for development and will report directly to President John B. Simpson. She heads the new division on a full-time basis after joining UB part-time in 2006 as vice president for development reporting to Marsha Henderson, vice president for external affairs, and more recently as a part-time consultant helping UB prepare for its upcoming capital campaign.

The new Office of Economic Engagement will work with business and community leaders across the region and state to further UB’s impact as an economic engine. It will work with the other units in External Affairs—Government and Community Relations, and University Communications—as well as with faculty and staff in UB’s academic, master planning and human resources areas, to coordinate the university’s wide range of business-related and economic development efforts.

Simpson noted that under Henderson’s leadership of External Affairs, UB has made “tremendous progress in engaging our university more effectively in the community, and in building greater awareness of the university’s critical importance to our region.” The Office of Economic Engagement “will build significantly on this success, helping our university to achieve even greater economic and community impact, and even broader public support and partnership toward advancing the goals of UB 2020,” he said.

Moreover, he pointed out that fostering strong private support and effectively engaging alumni and university friends across the nation and around the world “also are vitally important to helping UB realize its full potential.”

“Fostering a culture of philanthropy and building strong external relations grow increasingly important to the future of UB and our larger communities,” Simpson added.

In both of her previous roles at UB, Simpson said Costello has helped lead the development office to great success in building donor relations and garnering the private support necessary for UB to grow and thrive.

“Her contributions have positioned us very strongly for the upcoming campaign, ensuring that we have the best possible development organization in place to secure the philanthropic support critical to achieving the UB 2020 vision,” he said. “In Kathryn, we have an experienced, accomplished leader with both comprehensive knowledge of UB’s particular goals and needs and a strong vision for our future.”

Costello has more than 30 years of experience in development, strategic planning and management as a university senior executive and international consultant to higher education, foundations, boards of directors and trustees, and other nonprofit organizations. She has held senior leadership positions at the University of Georgia, Rice University, University of Maryland, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Southern Methodist University and Vanderbilt University. Her professional accomplishments include planning and implementing capital campaigns totaling more than $1 billion.