The ASU Foundation for a New American University is responsible for all aspects of fundraising at Arizona State University. The foundation is organized into the several key areas listed below.
Rick Shangraw is the chief executive officer of the ASU Foundation for A New American University. Prior to joining the foundation in November 2011, he served as ASU’s senior vice president for Knowledge Enterprise Development and director of the Global Institute of Sustainability. Rick was responsible for ASU’s growing annual $350 million research portfolio, which placed ASU among the top 20 research institutions in the country without a medical school. Before joining ASU, Rick was the founder and CEO of Project Performance Corporation, a research and technology consulting firm specializing in environmental, energy and information management issues. He has a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in political science and a certificate in environmental studies from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania; a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University; and a doctorate from the Maxwell School with a specialization in technology and information policy and organization design. Rick also currently holds a professor of practice appointment with ASU’s School of Public Affairs within the College of Public Programs and the School of Sustainability.
rick.shangraw@asu.edu 480-965-7393
Steven A. Betts is a special advisor (assets) to foundation CEO Rick Shangraw. In his position, Betts assists in the determination of how new and future real estate holdings can be made to perform to the financial benefit of the foundation and, in turn, Arizona State University. Betts is former president and chief executive officer of SunCor Development Company, and prior to that was a prominent land-use and governmental affairs attorney for almost two decades. Betts was the architect and/or champion for ground-breaking Arizona land-use legislation such as the Growing Smarter Acts and the Arizona Preserve Initiative, and key economic development legislation such as the Tourism and Sports Authority Act, the Community Facilities District Act, and the Military Airport Authority Act. For his public policy work he was recognized with a Governor’s Proclamation in 2000, and with two Planning Recognition Awards from the Arizona Planning Association in 1989 and 1998. Currently, Betts serves Scottsdale (Ariz.)-based PhoenixMart as chief executive officer. He received his law degree with honors from DePaul University in Chicago and holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.
steve.betts@asu.edu 480-727-8520
Augustine V. Cheng assumed his post as senior vice president and managing director of enterprises at the ASU Foundation in November 2011. He also serves as CEO, managing director, and chief legal officer of Arizona Science and Technology Enterprises LLC (AzTE), a position he has held since 2007. AzTE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ASU Foundation, operates as the exclusive technology transfer arm for ASU. Augustine joined AzTE after 13 years at Columbia University, where he was chief counsel of the Patent & Licensing Group in the office of the general counsel. Augustine received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 1984. After graduation, he worked as a research executive at Young & Rubicam, Inc., a marketing communications firm. He attended law school at Fordham University School of Law, where he graduated in 1989 and served as an associate editor of the Fordham Law Review. After law school, Augustine worked as a federal appeals law clerk and as a litigation associate in the law firms of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Schulte Roth & Zabel. Currently a member of the national roster of arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association, Augustine holds the highest peer review rating (“AV”) for lawyers from Martindale-Hubbell.
acheng@azte.com 480-884-1985
Wellington "Duke" Reiter was appointed to his leadership position with the ASU Foundation for A New American University in November 2011. Duke’s interests pertain to the economic, cultural and sustainability issues of major metropolitan areas and the role that universities play in their success. In his role, Duke serves as the senior vice president and managing director of the ASU SOLUTIONS initiative. Subsets of this major effort include sustainable urbanism, new healthcare outcomes, the new teacher, and alternative energy sources.
His foundation appointment marks a return to ASU where he was dean of the University’s College of Design from 2003–2008. While directing the College of Design, Duke brought the school to national prominence as a leader in design, an advocate for the urban and built environments — especially on behalf of ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus — and a builder of cross-disciplinary programming. In 2008, Duke was tapped to serve as the fourth president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where, again, he helped to strengthen the relationship between the institution and the city.
wellington.reiter@asu.edu 480-727-7484
Ann Toca directs a staff of editorial, design, Web and project management professionals that is responsible for developing marketing-communications and media relations strategies for the ASU Foundation and its affiliates, including the ASU Parents Association, Women & Philanthropy, the President’s Community Enrichment Programs and the President's Club. The department's products, which have been recognized nationally for creativity and innovation, include marketing collateral, websites, presentations, newsletters, media releases, fundraising proposals and solicitations, event management and much more.
ann.toca@asu.edu 480-727-0724
Roz Abero is a graduate of Emory University with a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in business administration. A native Arizonan, she served as an assistant dean of admission and as director of development at Emory University, Arts & Sciences. Since Roz joined the foundation in 2008, she has helped build a team of central gift officers who represent the whole of ASU.
roz.abero@asu.edu (480) 727-9264
Gretchen E. Buhlig joined the foundation in January 2012 as vice president for leadership giving. Previously, she served A.T. Still University in Mesa (Ariz.) for nearly six years as associate vice president of institutional advancement. While at A.T. Still, Gretchen helped build and manage collegiate development and alumni relations programs for the university's Arizona campus and its three schools — Arizona School of Health Science, Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health, and the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona. Her appointment marks a return to ASU and the foundation. Gretchen, who earned a bachelor's degree in English from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and a master's in nonprofit management and leadership from Walden University in Baltimore, served in leadership positions with the foundation from 1995 through 2005, including associate vice president of presidential programs, assistant vice president and director of Women & Philanthropy, and director of the ASU President's Club.
gretchen.buhlig@asu.edu 480-965-5769
Kathie Cuomo joined the ASU Foundation as associate vice president for constituent development in July 2007. She has 30 years of development experience, primarily with higher education institutions. Prior to joining the foundation, she served as director of development and assistant dean for the business college at the University of Wyoming. Also at Wyoming, she served in positions including director of corporate and foundation giving, director of annual giving and as assistant director of the William D. Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. Kathie also has an extensive history in development at Santa Clara University and Caltech in California. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
kathie.cuomo@asu.edu (480) 727-9264
Virginia (Ginny) Foltz leads a financial office that supports the cultivation and development activities of the ASU Foundation and the university by providing a wide range of financial services. Under Ginny’s leadership, the office collaborates closely with units across the foundation and university to provide the infrastructure that enables others to achieve their financial goals and objectives.
virginia.foltz@asu.edu 480-965-1791
Joshua M. Friedman joined the foundation in January 2012 as vice president for strategic philanthropy after three years with National Public Radio (NPR) as the broadcast giant's senior director of individual giving. While working in the nation's capital for NPR, Josh's team raised more than $40 million for the capital, program, endowment and annual needs of the 800-member-stations broadcast network. He more than tripled individual giving by reorienting the program to focus on principal gifts. Prior to joining NPR, Josh was director of development at Johns Hopkins' Berman Institute of Bioethics, one of the largest of its kind and home for collaborative scholarship and teaching of ethics in clinical practice, public health and biomedical science. He has also been director of development for the Nobel Prize-winning Physicians for Human Rights and a fundraising director within the Partners HealthCare hospital network, which includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals. He earned his bachelor's degree in history from Johns Hopkins University.
josh.friedman@asu.edu 480-965-6952
Kristin Donaldson Irwin was appointed to her new role with the ASU Foundation in June 2012. Previously, over four years at the foundation, she has served as vice president of organizational development and as chief of staff. As vice president for strategic initiatives and outreach, Kristin brings a wide range of experience in strategic and tactical management, expertise in working with ASU's internal and external communities and constituencies, and the ability to advance some of the foundation’s most important initiatives. Prior to joining the foundation, she served as vice president of economic development and business relations at the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, as well as deputy director for Congressman Matt Salmon. Kristin is a second-generation ASU alumna.
kristin.irwin@asu.edu 480-727-6690
Melissa Kwilosz came to ASU to be an assistant development officer at the Polytechnic campus in 2007. The following year she joined the ASU Foundation as director of annual giving, a post she held until becoming assistant vice president of operations and services in 2010. Her expertise in data analytics and reporting made her the ideal candidate to move into the full vice president’s position in 2012. In that role Melissa oversees information resources management for the entire foundation, as well as strategic reporting and analytics, research and prospect management, and gift administration and database management. Melissa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Tulane University.
melissa.kwilosz@asu.edu 480-727-9195
John Skinner is the chief of staff of the ASU Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, he was an assistant vice president, chief of staff and director of communications for ASU's Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development. John has worked as an associate for Booz Allen Hamilton and also served 20 years in the military in a wide variety of positions, to include being the aide-de-camp to a four-star general and director of communications for multiple Air Force organizations. John holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Northern Arizona University where he was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program. He also holds a master's degree in international relations from Troy State University and masters' degrees from the Air Command & Staff College and Air War College.
john.skinner@asu.edu 480-965-0627