Announcement

Emerson College today named John M. Malcolm, Chief Development Officer for Partners in Health, as the next Vice President of Institutional Advancement, following a national search. He will begin his role at Emerson on September 3, 2019, serving as a key member of the President’s Council and leading the college’s team of advancement, fundraising, alumni relations, marketing and communications professionals. “We are thrilled to welcome John Malcolm to the Emerson community. John brings an exceptional wealth of experience in building highly successful development operations at some of the world’s most preeminent not-for-profits and institutions of higher learning,” said Lee Pelton, President of Emerson College. “With a remarkable track record for recruiting influential champions and garnering support for complex, mission-driven institutions, John will play a pivotal role in strengthening Emerson’s capacity to serve as the global hub for the arts, communication, and the liberal arts in higher education." As Chief Development Officer at Partners in Health since 2016, Malcolm successfully led the organization’s development operation, including individual giving, corporate and foundation partnerships, public sector partnerships, and donor services. Working closely with the CEO of Partners in Health, Malcolm’s efforts led to an increase in total annual cash gifts from $106 million to $140 million during his three-year tenure. Prior to his work at Partners in Health, Malcolm was Vice President of College Relations at Williams College, where he worked with the President to lead the College’s $700 million campaign, collaborating to secure the largest gift in Williams’ history and bringing the overall alumni campaign participation rate to 75%. His previous career experience in higher education includes development leadership roles at Swarthmore College and Bucknell University. In addition to extensive fundraising experience, Malcolm brings passion and a lifelong commitment to combating social injustice. He spent six years at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, where he first served as the organization’s Vice President of Philanthropy, then as President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. There, he partnered with the Board to set and meet ambitious service and fundraising goals, managing a team that provided mentoring services to more than 1,500 at-risk youth. Early in his career, Malcolm worked for the Citizen Labor Energy Coalition/Citizen Action for six years. After graduating from Williams College, he worked as a canvasser before progressing to the rank of Field Canvass Director, where he led offices in San Jose, CA; Portland, OR; and Eugene, OR. He was named to the organization’s Fundraising Hall of Fame in 1987. Leigh Gasper, who served as Emerson’s Interim VP of Institutional Advancement during the national search, will continue to lead the college’s alumni engagement and annual giving efforts as Associate Vice President of Alumni Engagement.


About the College

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals, with the first opening last fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit Emerson.edu.