After two decades, University of Iowa Center for Advancement CEO Lynette Marshall to retire

• University of Iowa Center for Advancement President and CEO Lynette Marshall will retire next summer, 20 years after she started in 2006 and 70 years after the UI Foundation began in 1956.
• Marshall raised billions while at Iowa, including millions to help rebuild the campus following the 2008 flood.
• A national search for her successor will launch in the coming months.

IOWA CITY — After two decades shepherding billions in donations to the University of Iowa and its auxiliary enterprises like Athletics and UI Health Care, UI Center for Advancement President and CEO Lynette Marshall on Wednesday announced plans to retire in summer 2026.

A national search for Marshall’s successor will launch in the coming months as she prepares for retirement while continuing to lead the organization into a period of transition.

“Over the next year, I will work closely with board and university leadership on a thoughtful transition plan," Marshall said in a statement. “I'm grateful to support a university that transforms lives — including my own and those of my family. Advancement work has been more than a career for me these past 42 years — it has been a calling. And I can’t imagine a more meaningful one to have answered.”

‘For Iowa. Forever More.“

Marshall began her tenure atop what was then the UI Foundation nearly 20 years ago after spending a quarter century at her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she served as the first fundraising professional for the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences — eventually working her way up to vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation and associate chancellor for development for the Urbana-Champaign campus.

When she was hired by the UI Foundation in July 2006, Marshall became only the third leader in the organization’s 50-year history — identified by a search committee tasked with sorting through at least 100 candidates, according to media reports.

By that time, Marshall already had raised more than $1 billion at Illinois, saying at the time, “I’m most proud of engaging undergrads in a full understanding of private support,” according to a story in The Daily Iowan.

She continued that work in Iowa, shaping a student philanthropy initiative in 2007 — shortly after arriving — that’s evolved to include a “Student Advancement Network” for students interested in serving as philanthropic ambassadors, an advancement fellowship, an academic certificate program in fundraising and philanthropy, and a summer internship program.

When epic floods hit the campus in 2008 causing nearly $800 million in damage to the campus, Marshall spearheaded recovery fundraising — specifically for the devastated arts campus through a $30 million “Arts and Minds” campaign that contributed to a new $77 million Visual Arts Building, $189 million Voxman Music Building, and $176 million million Hancher Auditorium.

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That arts campaign was part of a larger “For Iowa. Forever More.” campaign that in 2013 aimed to raise $1.7 billion but busted through its goal and became the most lucrative in state history, reaching nearly $2 billion in 2017 — involving 272,534 total donors and $239 million research-related gifts.

That campaign also supported a new $400-plus million Stead Family Children’s Hospital and $50 million Stanley Museum of Art, which opened in 2022.

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‘Broadens our mission’

Under new UI President Bruce Harreld, Marshall just after wrapping the massive fundraising campaign in 2017 was tasked with merging the UI Foundation and the UI Alumni Association into a united “Center for Advancement.”

The new advancement model aimed to leverage the organizations’ expertise to create “more meaningful alumni engagement and increased philanthropic support.” Despite critics at the time, Harreld cited overlapping missions and opportunity for improved efficiency in serving the campus and broader alumni community.

“It certainly broadens our mission,” Marshall said at the time. “And we're delighted with that.”

Public documents show the center’s net assets since the 2018 budget year have increased from $1.4 billion to more than $2 billion in the 2024 budget year — the most recent records available.

“Lynette has led the Center for Advancement with integrity, vision, and an unwavering commitment to the University of Iowa,” UI Center for Advancement Board of Directors Chair Andy Code said in a statement. “Thanks to her leadership, the organization is strong and well-positioned for the future. The board has full confidence in the talented leadership team she has built, and we are deeply grateful for the legacy she will leave.”

‘Together Hawkeyes’

The center in 2023 went public with its current “Together Hawkeyes” fundraising campaign that aims to raise more than $3 billion by Dec. 31, 2027. The hope is to involve more than 300,000 donors in that effort and create more than 3 million “points of connection” for UI engagement.

At the time it went public nearly two years ago, the campaign already had passed the halfway point — raising $1.6 billion, including a $7 million gift to endow the UI women’s basketball head coaching position and a $70 million donation from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation to help build a new UIHC inpatient tower.

Representing the university more broadly and the field of philanthropy, Marshall over her four decades of advancement work has served in leadership roles for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education — or CASE, the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and the Big Ten Fund Raisers Institute.

“Lynette exemplifies the very best of our profession,” CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham said. “Her leadership, mentorship, and dedication to inclusive philanthropy have influenced not only her institution but the entire advancement community.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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