Paul “Rocky” Kettering has joined St. Mary’s University as the new executive director of University Development.

Kettering comes to the University Advancement team from his previous position at the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation in Hattiesburg, Miss., where he was the foundation’s associate executive director.

“We are pleased to have Rocky join the St. Mary’s team, where his outstanding interpersonal skills fit well with the foundation of support we have developed,” said Tom Galvin, vice president for University Advancement. “His record of success with fundraising campaigns complements our needs as we move forward with Vision 2012.”

Kettering brings to St. Mary’s a belief that development success comes from building personal relationships. He strongly supports the University’s mission of providing students with an education that prepares them for meaningful service and productive careers.

“Fundraising is not a product, but a process that requires personal connections between the University and its supporters, and that support is vital to achieving our academic mission,” he said. “I look forward to getting to know the St. Mary’s community by building new relationships and strengthening existing ones, which will allow us to meet and exceed our goals – both in fundraising and academics.”

In fact, Kettering is in the process of completing a doctorate degree in organizational leadership with a dissertation titled “Service Learning Curriculum Effects on the Philanthropic Attributes of Moral Development and Civic Activity.”

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, and a master’s degree in philanthropy and development from St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn.

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