The School of Kinesiology is excited to announce the reorganization and expansion of our Office of Development & Alumni Engagement.

Robin Stock joins the school as our new chief development officer on October 31. She has more than 20 years of progressive non-profit leadership experience, including significant work in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space. “With an amazing new building, an energetic faculty and staff, and highly competitive, top-ranked programs, this school is a dream,” Robin said. “I have always loved working hand-in-hand with a dean, with faculty, with students, and with donors to find ways to continue to push programs forward.”

Robin comes to us from Bowling Green State University, where she served as assistant vice president for development. During her two years at BGSU, she grew major gift attainment by more than 30%, led seven principal-level gifts of over $12M, raised $255M with her team to beat the university’s capital campaign goal, and closed a $2.5M corporate naming gift. Robin also served on the President’s Diversity and Belonging Council, where she worked with colleagues across campus to build broad-based cultural understanding among students, faculty, and staff; recruit and retain diverse employees; and close the achievement gap.

We know that Robin’s seasoned leadership, deep development experience, and proven fundraising track record will take our school in new directions - and she can’t wait to hit the ground running. “I am already so proud to represent Kinesiology,” she said. “This school is innovating and changing lives - challenging the idle state, as the tagline says - and I am really looking forward to hearing those stories so that we can build on the great philanthropic work that has already been done.”

Louis Perdue, who has been with the school for over seven years, has been promoted to senior director of major gifts and annual giving. His fundraising work will continue to focus on the east coast, particularly the New York tri-state area and Florida. He will also oversee the school’s events and alumni engagement efforts, led by Maureen Leonard. “I’m excited about the future of the development team and even more excited about the future of the School of Kinesiology,” Louis said. “While the school is already amazing, we are on the cusp of something even greater.”

Maureen Leonard joined the school in September as our events and alumni engagement manager. Maureen previously worked in events and alumni engagement at Wayne State University and the U-M Rackham Graduate School. “Upon my first visit to the building, I could feel the energy of the place and after meeting the other staff members I began to realize what this new path could take me on,” she said. “While I continue to find the opportunity to collaborate with students and staff members rewarding, as I did at Rackham, I am also excited about the prospect of working with alumni again.” Maureen has already produced several successful fall events and will attend her first Kinesiology alumni engagement event, the NYC Mixer, in early November.

Marlon Wright, who has been with the school for seven years, has been promoted to regional director of western states. He will expand his fundraising portfolio from Chicago and California to additional western states through this new role. In addition, Marlon will serve as the Sport Management Advisory Board (SMAB) liaison. “I look forward to working with our team as we continue to grow the development model at the School of Kinesiology,” he said. “As a Kinesiology alum, I take great pride in our engagement efforts and visibility around the country.”

Jennifer Harrison, administrative assistant for finance, development, and operations who has been with the school for over ten years, will continue to provide excellent administrative support to the development team. “I'm really excited for our future possibilities and growth,” she said.

Congratulations to our development & alumni engagement team on their new structure and new roles!