Nevin E. Kessler brings more than 20 years experience in development to the foundation as it approaches the $1 billion goal of the ‘Our Rutgers, Our Future’ campaign
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers President Robert L. Barchi today announced that Nevin E. Kessler will become president of the Rutgers University Foundation and executive vice president for development and alumni relations.
Kessler comes from North Carolina State University where, since 2007, he served as vice chancellor for university advancement and president of the NC State University Foundation. 
During his tenure at NC State, Kessler successfully launched a $1.5 billion fundraising campaign; helped secure a $40 million gift – the largest in the history of the university – to endow and name the College of Management; identified more than 15,000 new potential major donors; and implemented the university’s first development and alumni relations initiative in Asia.
“Nevin brings to Rutgers a wealth of experience and a long track record of impressive accomplishments,” said Barchi. “His leadership will ensure that we reach our fundraising goals as we complete our unprecedented capital campaign, which will expand private support for programs and initiatives, allowing us to better support our students and the entire university community.”
Kessler begins his duties Oct. 14.
“This is a remarkable moment in the long and distinguished history of Rutgers University,” said Kessler. “We are concluding an ambitious capital campaign. We have just completed the integration with the former UMDNJ, which has created a truly comprehensive research university. And we are simultaneously developing a University Strategic Plan and a Facilities Master Plan, both of which will establish the foundation for the new Rutgers. As we approach the university’s 250th anniversary, I look forward to working with Rutgers alumni and friends to advance the mission of this great public institution during a time that offers so much opportunity.”
Prior to his position at NC State, Kessler served as associate dean for development and alumni relations at the Yale School of Management. Under his leadership, gifts and new commitments rose from $4 million in fiscal year 2003 to more than $32 million in fiscal year 2006.
Kessler’s background also includes senior positions in development and foundation relations at the University of Connecticut and Virginia Tech. He holds a bachelor of arts from Dickinson College and a master of arts from Bowling Green State University.
The “Our Rutgers, Our Future” campaign, publicly launched in 2010, is the most ambitious and comprehensive fundraising effort in the university’s history, with a goal of $1 billion to support faculty, research, academic facilities, scholarships and fellowships, and university and community programs.
Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Serving more than 65,000 students on campuses, centers, institutes, and other locations throughout the state, Rutgers is the only public university in New Jersey that is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities.