Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Hodson named to top MSSU post

(From Southern News Service)

Missouri Southern has a new leader in its ranks.

The university has announced that Dr. Brad Hodson has been appointed Executive Vice President. He will also serve as Executive Director of the Missouri Southern Foundation.

The appointment is a homecoming for Dr. Hodson, who earned his bachelor of science degree in economics and finance from Missouri Southern in 1991. Hodson and his family have remained involved with MSSU and the Missouri Southern Foundation, endowing a scholarship in his father’s name a few years ago.

“It is a privilege to return to a university that has given so much to me and my family,” Hodson said. “When Dr. Marble first approached me about this opportunity, I was excited to be included in the vision for Missouri Southern’s future. After having not been on campus for 24 years, I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the faculty, staff, students and alumni, and helping to take this institution to a new level.”

Dr. Hodson will lead a newly formed division at Missouri Southern which, for the first time, aligns together offices responsible for the advancement of the university, as well as alumni and community outreach. In his new role as Executive Vice President, he will oversee Admissions, University Relations and Marketing, Governmental Relations, Alumni Relations, Fundraising and Advertising Sales.

Hodson was very involved as a student at Missouri Southern, taking an active role in student government and Greek life. After graduating, he earned a master’s in business administration degree from Pittsburg State University in 1993 and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005.

He served as Director of Development for the Eastern Michigan University College of Business from 2002-03 before becoming PSU’s Director of University Development. In 2006, he became PSU’s Vice President for University Advancement, providing oversight of fundraising, alumni relations, public relations and marketing, and career services, while also serving as president and CEO of the PSU Foundation.

Hodson has been an integral part of significant university fundraising campaigns. He led the successful completion of PSU’s $120 million capital campaign – at the time, the largest campaign at a regional public university in the nation. In 2012, PSU’s gift income rose to $15.5 million – double what it had been upon his arrival 10 years earlier.

As President and CEO of the Pittsburg State University Foundation, Hodson oversaw the growth of the fund’s total assets from $36 million in 2006 to $91 million in 2014 – a 150% increase through a mix of success in major gift fundraising and endowment investment performance.

For his leadership in these accomplishments, PSU received two national CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Fundraising.

In naming him to the new position, Missouri Southern President Dr. Alan Marble said Hodson is uniquely qualified to strengthen the university’s fundraising initiatives, its appeal to prospective students, and its alumni engagement.

“Dr. Hodson and I have been acquainted for many years, and I am a great fan of his work,” Marble said. “His list of accomplishments speaks for itself. We’re delighted to have another Missouri Southern alum rejoin the Lion family, and we’re looking forward to a very bright future.”

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