About
Jason Penry, Ph.D.
My life’s mission is to positively impact as many people as possible through consulting, teaching and service.
Biography highlights:
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Penry has 20 years of experience in consulting for universities from California to New York. Known for expertise in fundraising in college athletics, particularly how to maximize the university advancement/athletics fundraising partnership.
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Second-ever holder of the James W. Aston '33 University Chair in Institutional Development, established in 1985, at Texas A&M University. Spent over a decade in university leadership as a chief advancement officer/vice president/vice chancellor at Arkansas State and Angelo State /Texas Tech System. Served as one of the 24 members of the national Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Advancement Advisory Council.
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Experience includes three successful billion-dollar capital campaigns, and record-breaking marks among peers in best giving years, alumni giving rates, annual fund growth, planned giving, and largest gifts received.
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In a role unrelated to fundraising, spearheaded an effort to start the first medical school in Arkansas in over a century. Worked in partnership with Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, founding dean and the first African American female dean of a United States medical school.
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Led the Oklahoma State University POSSE, the fundraising arm of OSU Athletics. Experience included working with the top donor (Boone Pickens) and fundraiser (Mike Holder) in the history of college athletics, as well as record breaking annual fund growth.
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Penry holds his Ph.D. in higher education administration from Texas A&M University. He earned a master’s degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and a bachelor’s degree from LSU-Shreveport, where he served as student body president and was a letterman on the baseball team. He was chair of the board (2019-2020) for the College Baseball Foundation, which governs the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Other Tidbits
As part of his dedication to the philanthropic sector, Penry has created five scholarship endowments, including two for college athletics.
As a professor of the practice, teaches a graduate-level course, “Fundraising in College Athletics,” at Texas A&M. Research interests include the analysis of the largest philanthropic gifts in college athletics history and bias in the hiring of coaches.
Oversaw the implementation of the 12th Man+ Fund, which was the first "in-house" NIL program started by an official athletics booster group of a university. Heralded as a “trailblazing idea” and the “next evolution of the NIL movement,” it was recognized as a “Power Player” by the SBJ.
Founded the Surefire Baseball Forum in 2018 to prepare assistant coaches for head coaching roles and create more interest in college baseball among athletic administrators. Over 25 alums have secured their first NCAA Division I head coach role.
Penry's doctoral study conducted in 2007, “Forecasting the financial trends facing intercollegiate athletic programs of public institutions as identified by athletic directors of the ACC, Big 12 and SEC,” projected the financial divide between the haves and have-nots would only continue to accelerate by 2022.
While Penry led the Arkansas State advancement team for six years, the university secured 77 of the top 150 gifts in its history and six of the seven greatest giving years. Through “the system,” Penry has identified a methodical way pursue and secure principal gifts.