Faculty
Colin Hennessy
Colin Hennessy brings over 15 years of professional fundraising and management experience with expertise in annual giving, alumni engagement, segmentation strategy, data analysis, and more. He is recognized as an industry leader with a proven track record of developing philanthropic pipelines through thoughtful interventions informed by behavioral economics, data science, stewardship, and engagement.
As Vice President for Alumni and Donor Engagement, Colin leads a team dedicated to supporting the University of Iowa through thoughtful and innovative engagement and programming—overseeing alumni engagement, communication and marketing, events, and stewardship efforts.
Before joining the UI Center for Advancement in 2022, Colin held leadership positions at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. In addition, he was a senior vice president and practice area leader at the fundraising management consulting firm Grenzebach Glier and Associates. Colin earned his bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree in adult and distance education from the University of Phoenix, a master’s in public policy and administration from Iowa State University, and a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the 2019 Diane Thompson Award Winner for Excellence in Annual Giving from the Northeast Annual Giving Conference Association. In addition, Colin is a CASE Crystal Apple Award-winning speaker and teacher, in addition to the numerous CASE Circle of Excellence Awards presented to teams under his leadership.
Meg Weber
Meg Weber is the vice president, sales and consulting at Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Prior to RNL, Meg was the executive director of annual giving for Colorado State University from 2011 – 2019. At CSU, she oversaw a centralized, integrated annual giving program targeting a diverse constituent base including alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and grateful clients as well as a recent emphasis on students and young alumni. Under Weber's leadership, CSU implemented several innovative programs and shifted to a data-driven approach to planning and decision-making.
Weber has more than 20 years' experience in the field of advancement, and considers herself a bona fide annual giving nerd. With a career focused on annual giving at large public universities, Weber has held positions with Washington State University, University of North Texas, and University of Texas at Arlington. Weber also serves as an industry adviser for Community Funded.
She is a graduate of Washington State University.
Astria Smith
Astria L. Smith is the assistant vice president of annual giving and alumni relations at Southern Methodist University. She provides strategic leadership and direction for efforts that engage, solicit and steward SMU alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends. Her role allows her to integrate several areas of passion and expertise, including front-line fundraising, annual giving stewardship, multi-channel direct marketing, volunteer management and alumni engagement.
Smith holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and master’s degrees from both Amberton University and SMU. She began her development career at Methodist Children’s Home in Waco, TX before joining SMU in 2007. As a compliment to her 18 years in the development field, Astria shares her fundraising knowledge by volunteering in the community and has served as a presenter for several networks including CASE and AGN. She also appreciates the opportunities she has to benchmark with colleagues through her participation in a variety of professional national consortiums, advisory councils and organizations.