Leadership Announcement - Vice Chancellor for University Development and Alumni Relations Julie Hooper

We are writing to share that Julie Hooper will be stepping down as vice chancellor for university development and alumni relations at the beginning of February to assume the position of executive vice president and chief development officer at the Environmental Defense Fund, a global nonprofit working in 30 countries around the world to stabilize the climate, strengthen the ability of people and nature to thrive, and support people's health. Julie will remain based in Berkeley working out of the Environmental Defense Fund’s San Francisco office.

Through her ten years of exceptional leadership, under three different chancellors, and through her generous sharing of expertise and innovation at Berkeley and far beyond, Julie has earned the deep respect of her colleagues. Her work has made a great and valuable difference in advancement across the University widely. The Light the Way campaign achieved the highest campaign total for any public university (with or without a medical school) at $7.37 billion. This achievement is all the more impressive when we remember that the public launch of the campaign was February 2020, at the outset of a global pandemic. Due to the success of the campaign and ongoing philanthropic activities, Berkeley has been able to remain one of the world’s premier universities, with enhanced support for our faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and world-changing research. The campaign was an unbelievable success and its benefit to the campus will be felt for many years to come. In addition, Julie led a culture change to a donor-centric “One Berkeley” fundraising model that has been critically important for the campus and our constituents. Julie’s leadership has made Berkeley as excellent in philanthropy as it is in its academic pursuits.

We know you share our deep gratitude to Julie for her decade of service. Please join us in wishing her all the best as she moves on to this next chapter.

We are working on our interim plans and more information is to come soon. We plan to launch a national search for the next vice chancellor and will share more information in the coming months.

Sincerely,