BY YINGJIA WANG

In print | February 28, 2008

After a search process that began in October of last year, the college recently announced the promotion of Director of Development Stephen Bayer to the role of Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations. Bayer replaces Dan West, who retired last semester. In this role, Bayer will spearhead much of the college’s fundraising efforts.

According to Associate Vice President of Human Resources Melanie Young, Bayer was selected from a field of 22 initial candidates. Of these candidates, seven were selected for interviews and three advanced onto the final round of the selection process.

Throughout the process, Bayer was the only internal candidate considered. Despite the seemingly inherent benefits of having Swarthmore experience, Vice President Maurice Eldridge ’61, who helped review the candidates, said that being a familiar candidate is not entirely advantageous.

“There is a disadvantage in that you are known better than the outside people because we know your strengths and your weaknesses,” Eldridge said.

Bayer’s previous positions at the college include Associate Director for Planned Giving, Director of Capital Gifts, Director of Principal Gifts, and most recently, Director of Development.

Before coming to Swarthmore in 2001, Bayer worked in the legal and business fields. Following an abandoned entrepreneurial venture, Bayer came to Swarthmore after answering a job advertisement that sought someone with a law and financial background who had fundraising experience, three qualities that he possessed. The transition from working in the for-profit to the non-profit sector was a satisfying one for Bayer.

“I had visions of grandeur, and working for a non-profit wasn’t the first thing I had come to mind,” Bayer said. “But then I stepped on campus and realized [that Swat was] a place with incredibly bright people who were passionate about what they do. It really drew me in and made me love this place.”

Bayer lists some of his greatest accomplishments in his seven years at Swarthmore thus far as fostering better communication within the staff, hiring quality talent, strengthening ties with international alumni, raising significant amounts of money and attracting new donors to the college.

He points to the importance of explaining to current and potential donors the reason that the school needs to fundraise as a major challenge in his role in the Development Office. “One of the greatest difficulties is elucidating that there is still a tremendous need to raise money despite the fact that we have a large endowment,” he said. “Helping alumni and friends understand that the large endowment that we have is generated largely from wonderful investment growth is difficult. We only spend about 4% of our endowment a year, and this enables us to make sure that the college can continue maintaining its excellence going forward,” Bayer said.

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