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Photo by REED HUTCHINSON
Under Michael Eicher, External Affairs units found new ways to collaborate. |
Architect of UCLA’s $3-billion campaign to leave
BY CYNTHIA LEE
Today Staff Writer
Michael C. Eicher, vice chancellor for External Affairs and the primary architect behind the most successful fund-raising effort in the history of higher education, announced May 17 that he has accepted an appointment as vice president for development and alumni relations at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
On July 14, Eicher will conclude a distinguished career here that began in 1986, when he joined UCLA’s Health Sciences Development staff, and extends two decades, marked by his appointment as vice chancellor in 1999. Last month’s gala celebration of the completion of Campaign UCLA, an unparalleled fund-raising initiative that raised more than $3 billion, was the culmination of his efforts to lift UCLA’s fund-raising to new levels.
Since 1996, he has been the senior administrator responsible for Campaign UCLA. Prior to his appointment as Vice Chancellor, External Affairs, he held the positions of Vice Provost for Development-Medical Sciences, Associate Director of University Development, and Assistant and, later, Associate Vice Chancellor for Development.
“His impact will be felt for generations to come,” said Chancellor Albert Carnesale in a letter to vice chancellors, deans, directors and academic leaders. “In leading UCLA’s nationally acclaimed advancement program, Mike has played a major role in ensuring that UCLA continues to compete successfully with other top-tier research universities, many of which have far greater resources. In doing so, he has built an enduring legacy for the university.”
In announcing his decision to the 550 staff in External Affairs, Eicher said it was not an easy decision for him to make. But “this opportunity is the right one for me and my family at this point in my career. External Affairs is strong and well-positioned to continue to move forward under new leadership.”
External Affairs is made up of six major departments with diverse responsibilities: Advancement Services; Alumni Relations; Development; Finance and Information Management; Government and Community Relations; and University Communications. The department’s goal is to build strong and meaningful relationships with alumni, donors, government officials, the media and the community.
Among Eicher’s many achievements was his ability to bring these organizations closer together to take advantage of opportunities to collaborate, pool their strengths and work toward common goals.
It was not always so, he said. “When I was a development officer early in my career, if a government relations person called me and said, ‘You know a donor who might be helpful in the political arena, can you help us?,’ I would have thought twice about whether or not that was something I wanted to do.
“Today, the staff in External Affairs realize that we can accomplish more working
together than we can by tackling things independently,” Eicher said. “We have a strong management team that has instilled in their teams trust of each other and confidence in their own abilities so that no one feels the need to fiercely guard their territory. They have learned to work collaboratively and to cut across unit boundaries to take advantage of each other’s ideas and initiatives, and focus on a common purpose so that everyone wins.” This powerful integration among departments also extends to a corps of volunteers which, he said, has grown incredibly strong. In Campaign UCLA, roughly 6,000 volunteers played a major role in its success.
Eicher said that the academic leadership — including the deans and the Academic Senate — has also developed greater trust in and understanding about what External Affairs does and the importance of its mission. “University leaders appreciate our team approach and are critical factors in our success as a department.”
Fueling the passion that has driven him to work on the university’s behalf for nearly 20 years is Eicher’s unqualified belief in the quality of UCLA and its people — students, staff, faculty, volunteers and alumni. “It’s something that I encounter every day,” he said. “It’s what has always connected me to UCLA.”
What he will miss most are the relationships he has built over two decades with the External Affairs staff, the academic leadership, his administrative colleagues, and volunteers, donors and community leaders.
“These relationships have survived challenging times, disagreements and differences of opinion — large and small. They’ve been tested by all kinds of trials and have emerged stronger. That’s what will be hardest for me to leave behind.”
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