Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) today announced that William J. McAvoy will join the university's leadership team as vice president for development and alumni relations. McAvoy will succeed Dexter Bailey, who completed five years of service in that position last summer before moving to a similar post at SUNY Stony Brook.
McAvoy joins WPI from the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, where, working closely with the MFA board of trustees and Museum Director Malcolm Rogers, he led a successful $500 million capital campaign. In his new position at WPI, McAvoy will lead all of the university's advancement activities, including fundraising and relations with individual donors, foundations, and WPI’s 32,000 alumni in 91 countries. He will join WPI in February.
"We are delighted to welcome Bill McAvoy to this important leadership position," said Dennis D. Berkey, WPI's president and CEO. "A scientist by education, and a consummate advocate for leading cultural institutions, he is ideally suited to the exciting work of promoting WPI’s historic commitment to deeply intertwined technological advancements, humanistic concern, and fruitful innovation. He shares our important ambitions to strengthen relationships with alumni, promote the important work of our faculty and students, and fully serve our community. As WPI continues to move from strength to strength, Bill will play a vitally important role.”
Prior to his 10 years of service at the MFA, McAvoy held senior advancement positions at the Museum of Science and at the Pine Street Inn, both in Boston, and at Plimoth Plantation. He holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of Connecticut and a master of arts in public administration from Suffolk University. He and his wife, Amy, son, Devin, and daughter, Mae, reside in Hopkinton, Mass.
