FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Sacred Heart University has announced the appointment of Paul J. Sutera as the new senior vice president of University advancement, following a comprehensive, national search. Sutera will join the University on Oct. 1.
Sutera comes to SHU from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, where he has been the senior vice president of advancement since 2012. His responsibilities at SHU will include planning, initiating, directing, reporting and evaluating all fundraising activities for the University. He also will supervise the University advancement office, which encompasses alumni relations.
“Philanthropy will be the fuel to realizing the ambitious growth plans for the SHU community,” Sutera said. “I don’t believe alumni, parents, friends or companies and foundations make donations, or even gifts—they make investments. Our ability to share with them the impact of their investment is what will move us from good to great.
“I am excited to work with the board of trustees and the alumni network in realizing Sacred Heart’s full potential locally, regionally, nationally and internationally,” Sutera said. “President Petillo has been a great visionary for SHU and I look forward to partnering with him and the strategic thought leaders as we build a ‘culture of philanthropy’ at SHU.”
“The University advancement team will go through a transformation to ensure we are even better storytellers than today,” he said. “The SHU story is one of tremendous inspiration and pride, so I look forward to championing the alumni engagement team in finding opportunities to connect alumni, parents and friends. We will be calling them to participate in SHU Nation.”
At Iona, Sutera established the college’s largest comprehensive campaign in support of scholarships called “Iona Forever.” He endowed professorships and academic programs while improving learning and living environments. He successfully raised $154 million in gifts and pledges toward a $150 million campaign that finished a year ahead of schedule and included the two largest individual gifts in Iona’s history.
Prior to Sutera’s career at Iona, he was associate vice president for development at Quinnipiac University in Hamden for four years. In this role, he led direct fundraising activities and oversaw 11 professional fundraisers in the areas of principal gifts, school-based major gifts, gift planning and corporate and foundation relations. Sutera also navigated various positions in fundraising and student affairs at Rice University in Houston, Texas. During his nearly 11 years at Rice, he helped finish a $500 million fundraising campaign, and raised early leadership gifts in the quiet phase of a transformational $1 billion comprehensive philanthropic endeavor.
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About Sacred Heart University
As the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, and one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., Sacred Heart University is a national leader in shaping higher education for the 21st century. SHU offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its Fairfield, Conn., campus. Sacred Heart also has satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland and offers online programs. More than 9,000 students attend the University’s nine colleges and schools: Arts & Sciences; Communication, Media & the Arts; Social Work; Computer Science & Engineering; Health Professions; the Isabelle Farrington College of Education; the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology; the Dr. Susan L. Davis, R.N., & Richard J. Henley College of Nursing; and St. Vincent’s College. Sacred Heart stands out from other Catholic institutions as it was established and led by laity. The contemporary Catholic university is rooted in the rich Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts, and at the same time cultivates students to be forward thinkers who enact change—in their own lives, professions and in their communities. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its Best 386 Colleges–2021 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best Business Schools–2021 Edition. Sacred Heart is home to the award-winning, NPR-affiliated radio station, WSHU, a Division I athletics program and an impressive performing arts program that includes choir, band, dance and theatre. www.sacredheart.edu