New alumni director announced

Love, who has 17 years experience working in admissions, annual funds and alumni relations, will join the University on Jan. 1. Mary Ruth Yoe, editor of the University of Chicago Magazine, will continue to serve as Acting Executive Director until that time.

"I am pleased to welcome Chris Love to the University," said Randy Holgate, Vice President for Development & Alumni Relations. "She has led a nationally recognized program serving 65,000 alumni worldwide. The depth of her experience in alumni relations and related areas will enrich our program. I look forward to her arrival. I also want to thank Mary Ruth Yoe for her superb work during the transition period."

As assistant vice president at Brown since 1989, Love initiated alumni public service programs, oversaw development of an alumni Web site and on-line discussion courses for alumni, and strengthened ties between alumni and the admissions, development and career planning offices. Brown's overall alumni program earned a Grand Gold Medal from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 1993.

Love began her career at Brown University in 1970 as admissions officer and later held appointments as associate director of alumni relations and associate director of Brown's Annual Fund prior to her 1989 appointment as assistant vice president. Love has also worked as a librarian at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and as director of the Middletown Public Library in Middletown, R.I.

She received her B.A. from Brown in 1970 and her M.S. in 1974 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Sarah Pearson has been named Senior Director for Major Gifts in another key appointment in Development & Alumni Relations. Pearson comes to Chicago from Cornell University, where she has been director of the Cornell Fund since 1993. The Cornell Fund raised $200 million in unrestricted funds and reunion gifts during Cornell's $1.5 billion campaign. "Sarah Pearson has worked in one of the country's best major gifts programs and her appointment will help us continue to build on what we have accomplished during the Campaign for the Next Century. She is a talented manager with extensive experience and a thorough knowledge of the development process," Holgate said.

Pearson's 16-year career in development includes appointments as director of public affairs for the College of Human Ecology at Cornell, and development positions at Boston and Harvard.

She received her B.A. in 1975 from Bates College, and her M.F.A. in 1977 from Brandeis University.