For the last 20 years, Jack Mosser, PhD, has led college and university advancement programs, running campaigns, creating alumni engagement programs and building cultures of philanthropy in higher education institutions from coast to coast.
Now, Mosser has landed what he calls “a professional opportunity of a lifetime” as the medical school’s new Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs.
“It is truly rare to have the opportunity to work for a visionary dean like Dr. Hal Jenson, an amazing faculty and the extraordinary donors and regional health care partners who have made this medical school possible,” said Mosser, who started in his new role March 2.
Mosser, a Midwest native originally from Evanston, Illinois, earned his PhD from the University of Michigan with a focus on higher education fundraising. He has a master’s degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Mosser most recently served as the executive director of the College of the Desert Foundation in California. He has held senior leadership positions in institutional advancement at Bucknell University, and Cornell University, and has served as a fundraising consultant for numerous organizations.
“We did a national search to find an individual with Jack’s experience to assist WMed in expanding its sources of philanthropic funding, to assist in supporting student success and developing a comprehensive advancement program to support the mission of the medical school,” Dr. Jenson said.
In his new role, Mosser will serve as the medical school’s chief philanthropy officer, guiding its advancement program to new levels of operation.
Mosser brings with him extensive experience in both public and private higher education. Among his accomplishments, Mosser has raised funds for simulated patient labs and endowed faculty chairs, grown endowed and current use funds for student scholarships, created corporate partnership programs, developed planned giving programs, increased unrestricted operating support to enhance student educational opportunities, and worked hand-in-hand with professional and family foundations.
Mosser has been tasked to develop a multi-year strategy to diversify and grow philanthropic revenues for the medical school. This effort will include launching programs to secure unrestricted operating support, major gifts, planned gifts, and support from corporations and foundations to advance the mission and strategic priorities of the medical school.
Mosser and the medical school’s advancement team will work with the medical school leadership team, faculty, and staff to increase engagement opportunities for alumni, community leaders, corporations, foundations and friends of the medical school and to create value-added experiences for the medical school’s students.
Mosser said he is honored to have been selected to lead WMed’s advancement efforts.
“In a few short years the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine has become one of the most innovative and distinctive medical schools in the nation,” Mosser said. “The medical school's development slogan, ‘You Make WMed,’ accurately captures the spirit and impact that donors are having in supporting the WMed mission and the education of physicians of the future.”