William Johnson, vice president and chief development officer at Hiram College in Ohio, has been named associate vice president for development and alumni relations at Lawrence University. He begins his new duties at Lawrence March 1.
Johnson brings more than 20 years of fund-raising and management experience to Lawrence, where he will be responsible for managing the college’s major and planned giving programs, corporate and foundation relations, annual giving, donor relations, information and systems support as well as alumni relations.
“Willie Johnson is not only a seasoned and accomplished advancement professional, but he also has a firm understanding of and commitment to liberal education,” said Greg Volk, Lawrence executive vice president. “I am confident that his enthusiasm and leadership skills will be of great value to Lawrence in bolstering an already strong and multifaceted development and alumni relations program.”
As Hiram’s vice president and chief development officer, a position he has held since March 1, 2003, Johnson oversees all of Hiram’s development operations, including the direction of a $53.5 million capital campaign currently in progress.
Prior to Hiram, Johnson spent nine years as the associate vice president for major gifts at Carthage College in Kenosha where he was responsible for the cultivation and solicitation of gifts of $5,000 and more.
During his career, Johnson also has served as the director of corporate relations at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and spent three years as the director of development and public relations for the Iowa Special Olympics. He became his fund-raising career in 1982 as the assistant director of development at Wartburg College.
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and social work at Wartburg and his master’s degree in business administration from Duke University.
Johnson and his wife, Sandy, have two children, a son Evan, 14, and a daughter, Chelsea, 13.
