The Institution
One of the top academic and research institutions in the world, conducting pathbreaking research in medicine, science, the arts, and the humanities. It includes three undergraduate schools, 13 graduate and professional schools, and a school of continuing education.

The Challenge
Fill nine key development positions with highly experienced professionals who were also great colleagues and talented managers, fulfilling the needs of a recently established workplace culture – an immense challenge with the current shortage of advancement talent.

The Inside Story
Shortly after his inauguration in 2002, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger addressed the long-term academic growth of the University. This effort culminated new intellectual initiatives and a plan to create world-class facilities to support them. Much of the physical growth was to be in a 17-acre area of Upper Manhattan just north of the Morningside Heights campus – an innovative new urban academic environment. This vision was the driving force behind Columbia’s current $4 billion campaign. Bollinger realized that the University’s advancement effort needed to be transformed in order to accomplish such an ambitious goal, so he brought in Susan Feagin as executive vice president for University development and alumni relations. Feagin, in turn, quickly boosted morale and created a unified team and culture of openness within the advancement organization, while also rebuilding bridges to faculty. When she was ready to expand the team for the campaign, she chose Leodas Search Group (and its predecessor firm, Leodas Solymar), which had recently demonstrated its skill in conducting multiple searches by completing five for Columbia.

The Searches
Excited by Bollinger’s leadership and Feagin’s vision for her team, Leodas Solymar and Leodas Search Group took a creative approach to the searches. Mindful of the need for advancement to regain the trust of the faculty, the firm tapped networks across the country and recruited professionals who had thrived in such demanding environments as Yale, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, and New York University. They brought to Columbia people whose skills and passions matched the jobs, and whose energies contributed to the new culture of collaboration and engagement.

The Hires
Over the course of two years, the Leodas team successfully recruited top professionals to fill the nine positions: director of principal gifts, director of major gifts, executive director of planned giving, director of international gifts, director of development for the School of International and Public Affairs, associate dean for development for the School of Journalism, director of development for The Earth Institute, director of development for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and director of development for the Fu Foundation School of Engineering.