Update: Office for Development and Alumni Engagement
Dear Colleagues:
It is bittersweet that I share the news that Matt Colson, vice president for development
and alumni engagement, will be leaving us in August to pursue an incredible new career
opportunity, one that is the result of his outstanding work here at FSC.
Mattās innumerable accomplishments during his five-year tenure have been exemplary
and have brought our fundraising and our donor and alumni relations to new heights.
To share a few highlights, Matt cultivated and secured 10 of the top 10 largest gifts received in Farmingdaleās history,
including the recent $5 million gift for engineering and the naming of the Pasternack
School of Engineering Technology. He partnered with donors and organizations to conceptualize,
renovate, and build new student spaces for discovery, scholarship, and athletics.
He raised $5 million to fund and establish a fully endowed self-sustaining honors
program and paved a financial path for hundreds of students to enroll at our College
by creating philanthropy-based scholarships. Matt played an essential role in developing
the agreement with The ·”²õ³ŁĆ©±š Lauder Companies, including scholarship funding through Broadhollow Bioscience Park.
On his watch, total annual fundraising dollars increased by 550% over four years,
and our donor base grew from 600 individual donors to 2,100 in five years.
During his time here, Matt has lived his mantra to āgo big or go home.ā I am confident
his many successes and contributions to benefit our students will translate to his
new role as he continues his advancement trajectory. We are in the process of developing
a search plan and establishing a committee to recruit our next vice president for
institutional advancement. Weāll update you as this unfolds, and hope to have our
next development lead in place for the fall semester.
Please join me in thanking Matt for his unwavering commitment to our campus community,
and in wishing him well in his next venture.
Robert S. Prezant, PhD
President
Professor of Biology
