Announcing Lafayette’s next Vice President for Advancement
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I am excited to share with you that Sean Scanlon will be joining Lafayette as our new Vice President for Advancement. Sean brings to the role over 25 years of experience and leadership in philanthropy. We are thrilled to welcome him to Lafayette, and look forward to him officially joining the College Aug. 11, 2025.
Sean comes to us following a national search that attracted outstanding candidates from across the country. Throughout the search process, he stood out from this strong pool with extensive experience that prepares him well to provide vision, leadership, and direction for advancement strategies and programs that align with and propel the College’s mission and priorities.
Sean has earned a reputation as an innovative and entrepreneurial fundraising leader who approaches philanthropy as an expression of values for donors and organizations. He uses data-driven and strategic methods to connect with diverse stakeholders and communicate the impact of their generosity.
Since 2023, Sean has served as Vice President for Advancement at College of the Holy Cross, during which time he transformed the Advancement Division while creating and launching a new campaign. He initiated a focus on principal and planned gifts, and led a 20% fundraising increase in his first year. His team also increased alumni giving participation to 37%, ranking Holy Cross among the top 10 nationally.
Prior to Holy Cross, Sean served from 2016-23 as the Vice President for Central Teams in the Advancement and External Affairs Division at Syracuse University, where he led more than 60 professionals covering regional major gifts, annual fund, planned giving, corporate and foundation relations, athletics, veterans, and the family giving program. He helped lead and manage a successful $1.5 billion campaign as well as a 94% increase in annual fundraising.
Sean’s first role in higher education was with Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, serving as the Senior Director of Development and Philanthropy from 2008-14. He then transitioned to Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, where he served as the Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, Development, and Corporate Relations from 2014-16. In both roles, he managed high-performing fundraising teams, increased annual fundraising, and successfully led significant campaigns.
Sean’s extensive experience in higher education roles is complemented by his time serving in two different roles at the Lincoln Park Zoo, first as the Director of Foundation and Government Relations and ultimately Director of Development. He started his career in various teaching positions as well as entrepreneurial, volunteer, and writing roles in the greater Chicago area.
Active in service to the profession, Sean’s professional affiliations include the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He served as a cabinet member for CASE District II from 2020-23.
Sean earned his B.A. in history and theology from the University of Notre Dame, and his M.A. in cultural and intellectual history from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also completed management, training, and leadership programs at Cornell and Syracuse, including the Hal Craft Executive Leadership Program at Cornell.
I extend my sincere gratitude to the members of our search committee who joined me on this comprehensive search: Lauren Anderson, Andrea Bohn, Amy Downey, Alex Karapetian ’04, Mike McGarvey, Rico Reyes, Tony Rodriguez ’84, Walter Snipes, Mike Summers, Jennifer Talarico, and Nicole Eramo (ex-officio).
We are excited to welcome Sean and his family to our Lafayette community.
On Lafayette!
President Nicole Hurd