Isenberg School Dean Mark Fuller Appointed Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations at UMass Amherst

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AMHERST, Mass. – Mark A. Fuller, current dean and Thomas O’Brien Endowed Chair at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, has been appointed the new vice chancellor for development and alumni relations by UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy.

Fuller will succeed Michael A. Leto, who announced his upcoming retirement last fall. As the university’s chief advancement officer, Fuller will serve on the chancellor’s leadership team and be responsible for short- and long-term plans to improve private support as well as cultivate strong relationships with UMass alumni and supporters. UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, has more than 200,000 living alumni.

“Mark is a transformative leader who has fostered a culture of excellence at the Isenberg School of Management, building relationships and growing engagement with alumni of all ages and from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds,” said Subbaswamy. “Educating the next generation of leaders and innovators in Massachusetts will require new levels of private support, as well as public investment, and Mark has the skills, passion and vision to play a lead role in our success. I am excited to welcome Mark to this critically important position.”

Fuller has led UMass’s Isenberg School of Management since 2009, establishing a strategic vision that has transformed the school and catapulted it to national prominence through curricular and co-curricular innovations, infrastructure improvements and changing internal and external perceptions of the school. That excellence is reflected in a variety of impressive rankings. In BusinessWeek’s undergraduate rankings, Isenberg emerged as the most improved business school in the nation from 2010 to 2016 among both private and public institutions. Employers have been similarly impressed. Isenberg was among the top five most improved programs in BusinessWeek’s employer survey. The school’s Online MBA Program has earned extraordinary honors, achieving the No. 3 ranking in the world and No. 1 in the nation from the Financial Times. Under Fuller’s leadership, the Isenberg School is nearing completion of its new Business and Innovation Wing, a $62 million addition that will house multiple new educational centers, an executive engagement space, experiential classrooms, and room for 60 new faculty and staff.

Fuller brings to his new position an outstanding record of development and engagement efforts. During his tenure, Isenberg has generated a four-fold increase in annual gift performance since 2010; received a $10 million endowment to create the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship; increased student giving ten-fold; secured private support for the Business Innovation Wing, and created 12 new endowed faculty positions.

“I’m honored and excited to find a new way that I can serve the entire campus,” said Fuller. “Thanks to the incredible vision and leadership of Chancellor Subbaswamy, and Vice Chancellor Mike Leto’s excellent work in guiding us through our last highly successful capital campaign, the campus is poised for great things. Garnering alumni support for the university, in all of its forms, is absolutely critical to our future as a top 20 public university, and I'm passionate about helping make that happen.”

Fuller will work closely with outgoing Vice Chancellor Leto, who will conclude his duties effective June 2019, providing for a smooth transition and time to plan the university’s next major fundraising campaign. Leto successfully directed UMass Amherst's most recent campaign, raising a record $379 million.

“Mike Leto has done extraordinary work in creating a new era of philanthropic support here at UMass Amherst,” Subbaswamy said. “Mike’s leadership has established a new standard that will ensure even greater success.”

Prior to coming to UMass Amherst, Fuller was a professor and chair of the department of information systems and holder of the Philip L. Kays Distinguished Professorship in Management Information Systems at Washington State University. He received his master’s degree in management and his Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. His research focuses on virtual teamwork, technology supported learning, and trust and efficacy in technology-mediated environments. Prior to Washington State, Fuller was an associate professor at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University.