Lindsey Loftus, executive director of the Alumni Association, will be leaving the Alumni Center Feb. 8 to take a position with NEOUCOM.

Credit: Ben Breier

Lindsey Loftus, executive director of the Alumni Association will leave Kent State at the end of this month to start his new job as the vice president of Institutional Development at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

“He’s done a great job of bringing our program to where it is,” said Kathy Stafford, vice president of University Relations and Development. “I’m sorry he’s leaving us, but I’m glad he has the opportunity to take on a new challenge.”

Loftus said he is excited about the position at NEOUCOM, a move he says is the next step in his career. Since becoming director in 2000, the 1986 Kent State graduate has worked to attach alumni to their alma mater.

“I manage all aspects of marketing outreach. We’re always working to build as much membership as we can,” Loftus said.

Getting donations is a key aspect of the position.

“The foundation [of the job] is really in the fundraising and making people feel connected to the university,” said Dan McCombs, who was the alumni association director before Loftus. “The challenge is in getting more members.”

Loftus emphasizes donations are not the only important thing alumni can contribute.

“Maybe they can help with career networking, student recruitment – it’s gifts of more than money,” he said. “Financial contributions are extremely important, but maybe they aren’t in a position to help us with money.”

In 2010, Kent State will be commemorating the centennial celebration. The centennial celebration is an event that is sure to keep the new alumni director busy.

“I do think that the centennial can be a catalyst to engage alumni and show off Kent State,” Loftus said. “I certainly looked at it as an opportunity.”

But in the meantime, a new alumni director must be chosen. The search hasn’t formally begun yet, Stafford said.

At NEOUCOM, he will be in charge of engaging alumni like he did at Kent State, citing the fact that NEOUCOM is a medical school and Kent State is a university with different majors of study as the only critical difference.

However, this alumnus is leaving a place that holds meaning to him.

“My wife and I are Kent State grads and we met here, so Kent State University is really special to me,” Loftus said.

Contact general assignmentreporter Janet Aronica at [email protected].