Brown University News Bureau

The Brown University News Bureau

1996-1997 index

Distributed May 30, 1997
Contact: Mark Nickel

Steven Calvert named vice president for Alumni Relations

Steven Calvert, currently assistant vice president for development and director of alumni relations at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named vice president for alumni relations at Brown.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Steven L. Calvert, currently assistant vice president for development and director of alumni relations at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named vice president for alumni relations at Brown University. Calvert's appointment was announced Saturday, May 24, 1997 by Brown President Vartan Gregorian at the Commencement meeting of the Brown Corporation, the University's governing body.

"Steve Calvert comes to Brown with enthusiasm, energy, and a record of excellence in alumni relations programming," Gregorian said in making the announcement. The appointment ends a national search for new alumni relations leadership. Calvert will take up his duties at Brown on July 1, 1997.

As vice president for alumni relations, Calvert will have overall responsibility for facilitating educational opportunities, developing effective alumni programs, enlarging alumni networks, coordinating activities between Alumni Relations and the College Admission Office, and advancing alumni information and communications for more than 65,000 graduates of the University. In addition to leading an Alumni Relations staff of 16, Calvert will have responsibility for the University's award-winning alumni magazine, the Brown Alumni Monthly, and its six-member staff.

A 1968 graduate of Dartmouth College (A.B., English), Calvert earned his Ph.D. in English at Rutgers University in 1975. He began his career in alumni relations and development at Dartmouth College, where he directed continuing education programs and alumni publications exclusive of the alumni magazine. In 1988, he became director of continuing education and conferences and created several new programs, including The Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth (ILEAD), now a permanent, year-round program for older learners. He moved to his current position at Carnegie Mellon University in 1991, where he started class reunions, an institute for learning in retirement, and electronic communications for alumni.

Calvert has published or delivered more than 50 essays and presentations on alumni relations and continuing education and has served as a consultant for many colleges and universities nationwide.

"I am delighted to be moving to Brown," said Calvert. "I have admired the University and the alumni programs at Brown for all of my career in both alumni relations and continuing education. It is my hope that, together, we can find useful ways to go where no other university has gone in serving our alumni and offering them meaningful ways to return service to their alma mater."

In the spring of 1996, Gregorian appointed Timothy Forbes '76, trustee and national chair of the Brown Annual Fund, to chair the search committee. Committee members and their Brown affiliations at the time of their appointment included Peter Bernstein '73, president-elect of the Brown Alumni Association (BAA) and former chair of the Brown Alumni Monthly board of editors; Elizabeth Chace '59, trustee and vice president of the Brown University Sports Foundation; Spencer Crew '71, trustee; Anne Mills '60, trustee and former president BAA; Carolyn Cardall Newsom '62, president of BAA; Anita Spivey '74, co-chair of the BAA's Multicultural Activities Committee; Judge Joseph Tauro '53, trustee emeritus and chair of the Corporation Committee on Athletics; Phyllis Tillinghast '51, trustee emerita; Jerome Vascellaro '74, chair of the BAA's marketing committee; and Kenneth Miller, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology. H. Anthony Ittleson '60, executive chair of the comprehensive campaign, and Artemis A.W. Joukowsky '55, then vice chancellor and now chancellor of the University, served as ex officio members. Liaison and staff support were provided by Brian Hawkins, vice president for academic planning and administration; Nancy Hoffman, director of the Office of the President; and Fatima Kane, executive assistant in the Office of the President.

Calvert's appointment completes a reorganization of Brown's institutional relations area, announced in 1996. Three vice presidents - development, external affairs, and alumni relations - will work collaboratively to create and carry out a consistent communications strategy with both internal and external constituencies.

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