Michael C. Perry Named New Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations

Michael C. Perry has been appointed the new vice president for development and alumni relations at the College of the Holy Cross. He will assume his duties in mid-September, according to Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of the College, who made the announcement.

As a member of the College’s senior executive team, Perry will report directly to Fr. McFarland and will oversee a team of 45. He will be responsible for all aspects of the College’s fundraising efforts as well as donor and alumni relations.

“We are delighted to have Michael Perry joining the executive team at Holy Cross,” said Fr. McFarland. “In addition to his solid management and administrative experience in premiere educational environments, he has a good understanding of our strong and distinctive identity as a Jesuit liberal arts college. He also has the proven ability to lead a hard-working and committed team, to work effectively with major donors, and to appreciate and advance the mission of Holy Cross.”

He succeeds Paul E. Sheff, who left the College earlier this year after a ten-year tenure to become the first lay president of Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, Mass.

Perry has had a 23-year career in the field of advancement. For the past five years, he served as vice president for institutional advancement at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, one of the nation’s leading independent schools. There, he successfully launched and managed a $100 million comprehensive campaign and oversaw alumni relations, marketing and communications. Prior to that, he spent 18 years at Deerfield Academy, in Deerfield, Mass., including nearly ten years as director of development.

He earned his B.A. degree from Tufts University and M.A. in history from Trinity College.