August 14, 2023

Dear University of Oregon colleagues,

I am delighted to announce that Joe Buck will be joining the University of Oregon as our new Vice President for Advancement. In this role, Joe will oversee our fundraising and alumni engagement programs, working closely with faculty leaders and senior administrators to support university priorities through philanthropy, relationship cultivation, and engagement with the UO’s transformational donors, alumni, and friends.

Joe is coming to the UO from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he is currently the vice president for development and alumni relations. During his twenty years of higher education fundraising and engagement leadership at Lehigh University, the University of Chicago, and other top universities, Joe has built incredibly successful teams and developed deep and lasting relationships. He has demonstrated a strong track record of success and at each institution he’s served, he has helped to accelerate the achievement of the university’s mission.

Among his many achievements at Lehigh, Joe led a 130-person team, increased fundraising progress by 25 percent, and successfully launched a more than $1 billion campaign, among his many achievements. Previously, he served in several fundraising leadership roles at the University of Chicago for over nine years, including as the associate dean of advancement at the Booth School of Business where he doubled the school’s fundraising progress in just three years. He also worked as a major gifts fundraiser at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and at La Salle University. Joe earned both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Education at Saint Joseph’s University.

I thank Bob Shepard for his interim leadership and the entire advancement team for their dedication to supporting our mission during these interim months. I am also grateful to Tim Inman, university secretary and presidential adviser, for his continued leadership of Government and Community Relations.

Joe will officially join the UO on September 18. I am excited for his arrival and confident he will launch the next great era for fundraising at the University of Oregon.

Please join me in welcoming him to our university community.

Sincerely,

Karl Scholz
President