The West Virginia University Foundation Board of Directors has named R. Wayne King as president and chief executive officer, effective July 1.
David W. Hamstead, chairman of the Board, has been serving as interim president and CEO since the retirement of F. Duke Perry in January.
Wayne King has strong fund-raising credentials in both the educational and medical fields,Hamstead said.He is a very congenial individual with great experience and talent. The Board feels that he is the ideal choice to lead the Foundation to even higher levels of accomplishment. We look forward to working with him.
King comes to the WVU Foundation from Des Moines, Iowa, where he currently serves as president of the Mercy Foundation, which provides philanthropic support for Mercy Medical Center, a 917-bed regional medical center and five subsidiary organizations. Prior to this, he served as senior vice president for development with the Oklahoma State University Foundation, which conducted a $206 million Bringing Dreams to Life campaign and raised $261 million. He also directed successful campaigns for the Presidents Opportunity Scholarship Trust, football stadium renovation and alumni center.
WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. said King brings to WVU extensive expertise and highly successful resultsas a fund-raising executive in higher education and health care.
His proven ability as a communicator will be a great asset in telling potential donors about WVU s status as a model land-grant university that is gaining in national stature every day,Hardesty added.
This is an outstanding opportunity for me to partner with a dedicated Board and Foundation team to continue to build on a strong legacy of service and support for West Virginia University,King said.The WVU Foundation has a 50-year history of significant accomplishments and I am very pleased to have been selected to lead this organization to the next level of success.
Mary and I are excited to become a part of the Mountaineer family and to be associated with a University that is held in such high regard across the country. I grew up in central Virginia and Mary in central Kentucky. Morgantown is only a half-days drive from our families and thats an added bonus.
King also has served as vice president for development at Southern Wesleyan University, Central, S.C., and at Bartlesville (Okla.) Wesleyan College and as executive director of the Lawrence Garvin Clayton Foundation, Central, S.C.
A certified fund-raising executive since 1986, he also is a certified instructor for the National Institute of Wills&Bequests. He earned a bachelors degree from Asbury College and masters degrees from Indiana University and the University of Oklahoma.
The Kings have a daughter, Tammi, who lives in the New York City area and works for ABC . Their son, Michael, daughter-in-law, Martha, and two-year-old grandson, Simon, live in Tulsa, Okla., where Michael serves as a staff pastor with Redeemer Covenant Church.
The WVU Foundation, Inc. is a private non-profit corporation that was chartered in 1954 to secure, hold, and administer funds and properties given by individuals, corporations and philanthropic foundations in support of West Virginia University and its non-profit affiliates.