Michael Casey, Collyer Vice President for Advancement

I write to share the news that after 17 years with Skidmore College, Michael Casey, the Collyer Vice President for Advancement, will step down this spring to become the vice president for advancement at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Michael came to Skidmore from Wesleyan University’s advancement office, following advancement positions at Franklin & Marshall and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Throughout our 14 years together, Michael has been a wonderful colleague and collaborator. As a new president, I benefited considerably from his experience and expertise in fundraising. He has also been a tremendous help to me in crafting speeches and other texts, and he has always taken an institution-wide perspective, pushing for excellence in all areas. He will be greatly missed.

Michael joined the Skidmore community in July of 2000 and built professional teams in the areas he supervised. During his tenure, the College raised more than a half-billion dollars for a range of initiatives including the construction of the Arthur Zankel Music Center. He also secured support for financial aid and academic programs, including 15 endowed chairs and the John B. Moore Documentary Studies Collaborative, as well as facilities and athletics and student affairs initiatives.

From 2004 to 2010, Michael oversaw the "Creative Thought. Bold Promise" Campaign, which raised a record $216.5 million. In recent years he has overseen the quiet phase and public launch plan for the current effort, "Creating Our Future: The Campaign for Skidmore," which has already raised $132.5 million. He participated in the creation of several important volunteer support organizations such as the Friends of Skidmore Athletics and the President’s Advisory Council, helped shape the new Communications and Marketing Office in 2015, and played a lead role in the 2001 crafting and development of the College’s highly successful branding platform "Creative Thought Matters."

Michael has been deeply involved in the greater Saratoga Springs community, including service on the boards of the Waldorf School, the Convention and Tourism Bureau, SaratogaArtsFest, and the YMCA.

Michael shared with me the following thoughts to be conveyed to his colleagues: "It has been a great honor to serve Skidmore these past 17 years, and a real pleasure to work with so many wonderful volunteers, donors, staff, and trustees and to see their tremendous commitment to the College and, most important, to our students."

I am pleased to announce that Kimberly Verstandig, our campaign director and associate vice president for advancement, will assume the role of interim vice president on March 1, until we complete a national search for Michael’s successor. Kim, who has been at Skidmore since 2012, formerly served as executive director of alumni and constituent relations at Bucknell University, senior development officer at Albany Medical Center, and director of advancement at the Albany Academies. She holds a B.S. in business administration and an M.A. in education from Bucknell. I am grateful to her for taking on this important assignment.

Michael will continue as a transitional advisor to Kim and the division until June 1. He begins his new assignment at Trinity later that month.

Please join me in thanking Michael Casey for all he has accomplished on behalf of Skidmore and wishing him well in his new position.