Kimberly Blair named principal gifts officer
Virginia Tech has hired Kimberly Blair as a principal gifts officer.
In this role, a new position within university development, Blair will manage a portfolio of principal-gift prospects, and will plan and implement initiatives to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward prospects and donors.
“I’m excited that Kim is rejoining our team,” said Thim Corvin, senior associate vice president for development and principal gifts. “With 22 years of experience and proven track record in institutional advancement, she is well qualified to make an immediate impact on Virginia Tech’s principal gifts and fundraising programs by helping us secure transformational gifts to the university.”
Blair returns to Virginia Tech from Ferrum College, where she was vice president for institutional advancement. Before assuming that role in 2010, she served as the director of development for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech.
At Ferrum, Blair was responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of the college’s fundraising priorities. During her tenure, she launched and successfully completed the largest campaign in Ferrum’s history, raising more than $28 million. Blair also helped establish a pipeline of giving that is supporting the college even after the campaign’s conclusion.
As director of development for Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies, she managed the college’s component of Virginia Tech’s past comprehensive campaign, which surpassed the $34 million goal for the college within that campaign. Blair was personally responsible for raising $10 million toward the college’s goal.
Before coming to Virginia Tech, Blair worked at Roanoke College for 15 years in positions of progressive responsibility, including regional development representative; director of annual giving; and director of alumni, parent, and annual programs.
She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Roanoke College.
“I am honored to be given the opportunity to rejoin the team at Virginia Tech under the leadership of President Timothy Sands and Vice President for Advancement Charlie Phlegar,” Blair said. “Virginia Tech continues to distinguish itself as one of the top universities in the country, and I am thrilled to be a part of its exciting future. With my previous tenure as a member of the development team, and having grown up in Blacksburg with many friends and family who are Tech alumni, my roots run deep within the Hokie Nation.”
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
