Michael Andreasen Appointed Executive Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development

Dear members of the Columbia community:

I am delighted to announce my appointment of Michael Andreasen to serve as Columbia University’s executive vice president for university development and alumni relations, effective September 15, 2026.

Mike comes to Columbia with more than three decades of experience and demonstrated success in transformational university fundraising. He is currently the vice chancellor for development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill). There, he built a collaborative fundraising ecosystem that includes 26 independent fundraising units, 17 associated fundraising foundations, and numerous advisory boards. He also guided the remarkably successful One Carolina fundraising effort, in close collaboration with the chancellor, provost, deans, senior administrators, and the Board of Trustees, with donations totaling $606 million in the last fiscal year, the second highest total in the university’s history.

Prior to leading fundraising at UNC-Chapel Hill, Mike served as senior vice president for university advancement at the University of Oregon, where he oversaw the university offices dedicated to development, state, community, and federal affairs; advancement operations; stewardship; and public events and alumni relations. He also executed a $3 billion campaign and was instrumental in securing some of the largest donations ever to a public flagship university—efforts that contributed meaningfully to advancing the institutional mission. Before Oregon, Mike was in fundraising leadership roles at the University of Michigan; University of California, Santa Barbara; and the American Film Institute. He began his career as director of the annual fund for the University of California, Irvine, where he also earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science.

Mike’s appointment comes at the end of an extensive and exhaustive national search. From the beginning Mike stood out for his deep understanding of large and complex institutions of higher education, his demonstrated ability to ensure the efficient and effective use of university resources to achieve institutional fundraising goals, his ability to think creatively about transformative philanthropic opportunities, his intellectual curiosity and commitment to excellence, and his excitement about the potential that lies in Columbia’s next chapter. I look forward to partnering with Mike in the years ahead to realize this great potential.

We as an institutional community are deeply indebted to Susan Feagin, who served in this role from 2002 to 2010 and then very generously returned last fall to lead the department on an interim basis. Susan is an exceptional leader and fundraiser, and a dedicated University citizen with unwavering commitment to Columbia. We are all fortunate that she answered the call to serve here once again and expertly saw us through an important transitional period. I am immensely grateful for her service and her invaluable contributions to this search process.

Please join me in extending congratulations and a warm welcome to Mike Andreasen.

Sincerely,

Jennifer L. Mnookin
President, Columbia University in the City of New York