New Vice President of Advancement Named

Diane James has been appointed Vice President for University

Advancement at Western University of Health Sciences. James will begin

her new assignment on September 15. She will head up the university’s

division responsible for developing independent resources in support of

scholarships, building programs, and the university endowment.

“”I look forward to joining a passionate team committed to building

distinguished health-care programs and expanding WesternU’s research

efforts,”” said James.

James added, “”I am impressed with the innovative, humanistic health

care curriculum and teaching, the cutting-edge facilities at the

university, and certainly with the talented and caring alumni who are

touching lives all over the world. I have spent my entire professional

career in education, and one of my goals at WesternU is to nurture

faculty in their efforts to obtain external research dollars.””

“”We are very fortunate to have attracted such a talented advancement

administrator to serve as our new vice president,”” said Philip Pumerantz,

president of the university.

James has a 25-year career in fundraising, with over 8 years in

higher education. She comes to WesternU from Chapman University in

Orange, Calif, where she served as the Associate Vice President for

University Advancement. In the last fiscal year, Chapman broke all

previous campus fundraising records with $24 million in cash and another

$36 million in pledges. James supervised major gift activity and 18 full-

time positions for the division.

Prior to her Chapman position, James served as the Director of

Advancement for the Claremont University Consortium in Claremont, Calif.

She launched a new centralized advancement office for The Claremont

Colleges, a group of seven nationally ranked private colleges (5

undergraduate/2 graduate). There, she generated funds for a new student

health center.

Prior to this position James served as Director of Foundation

Relations for Harvey Mudd College in Claremont where she worked on major

gifts for capital projects, research, scholarships, and endowment. James

facilitated a 220-percent increase in foundation gifts over previous

years in the areas of science and engineering.

James also served as Director of Foundation/Corporate Relations at

Cal Poly, Pomona, where she closed major gifts for all of the schools and

colleges. She also has K-12 experience in fundraising positions with the

Chino and Lancaster School Districts and assisted other school districts

launching education foundations.

James earned her bachelor’s degree in communications/speech

pathology from CSU Long Beach and her master’s degree in organizational

management from Azusa Pacific University. She has earned certificates

and credentials in educational administration, planned giving, nonprofit

management, public relations, and fundraising (CFRE).

James resides in Glendora with her husband and their two dogs and

enjoys golf, travel, and gardening as hobbies.