Jennifer Svihus, a former development officer at UC San Diego, has been named associate vice chancellor for development at UC Santa Cruz.
Svihus will coordinate fundraising efforts campuswide and plans to lay the groundwork for the campus's first comprehensive fundraising campaign. The comprehensive campaign will build on the success of the just-completed Cornerstone Campaign, which exceeded its $50 million goal by $17 million.
At UC San Diego, Svihus was involved in a $1 billion campuswide comprehensive campaign, which is now about three-quarters of the way to meeting its goal. She was senior director of development, with responsibility for the school of medicine and research initiatives, at UC San Diego.
Svihus said she looks forward to working with UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice D. Denton to raise money for the priorities outlined at the chancellor's November 4 investiture. Those priorities include strengthening fundraising by increasing productive partnerships on campus and with companies, educational institutions, and governments in Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay.
Svihus plans to meet soon with a cross-section of the campus community, including the academic deans. "I'll be assessing our current strengths and where we need to grow to meet the needs of the university," she said.
Before taking the San Diego post in 2002, Svihus was director of development for Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and a development associate at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton with a double major in entertainment management and public relations. Svihus grew up in Carmel.
