Anthony McAdoo (left), Ashley Shelton and Jack Pardo discuss connecting students with alumni through the Student Alumni Association.

One of the great joys of my career has been the professionals with whom I work. For 23 years at Arkansas and 15 at my previous position at Miami University, I have been blessed to work with some of the most talented, dedicated and innovative people in higher education. With that joy comes the responsibility of being a mentor and helping them achieve and grow as alumni professionals. The message has always been “work to leave a legacy.” The flip side of this role is that we have done too good a job and these outstanding colleagues leave for greener pastures.  I face that situation again, today.

Earlier this month, I accepted the resignation of Anthony McAdoo, who as Senior Director of Alumni Programs, has catapulted the association’s primary outreach unit to one of the nation’s best.  He has made technology a valuable tool for our chapters, societies and other groups. His insistence on measuring results has made analysis and evaluation of our programs a valuable day-to-day procedure.  He thinks beyond today and has a keen strategic eye that has put our association ahead of others in looking at the future.

Some of his major accomplishments are the creation of an alumni career program, which emphasizes the value of alumni networking in a job/career search, the establishment of a Young Alumni Board to hear what the newest graduates need from the association, the restructuring of the outreach area from a project-oriented system to a regional focused, and the emphasis on volunteer recruitment and training. The latter area was a strength which was recognized statewide and included an appointment by the governor to a volunteer commission for Arkansas.

Perhaps his greatest contribution has been the Alumni Attitude Survey that has identified for the organization specific areas where improvement was needed.  This survey helped focus our planning and programs to meet the needs of alumni. Some specific areas identified included more family-friendly events, the previously mentioned career assistance program (especially for our newest graduates), more  community service activities by our regional and academic and social societies, and life stage programming that takes into consideration that era of graduation of alumni means different needs.

During Anthony’s 10 years at the association, he has become a talented alumni professional.  He was the initial Tardy Fellow sponsored by the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE), a national organization of the top 100 alumni associations. In receiving this fellowship, he was designated as an “up and coming alumni professional who could benefit from interacting with senior alumni professionals nationwide.”  He took advantage of that appointment to grow.

He leaves to become Senior Associate Executive Director at the University of Oregon Alumni Association.  His role will be to transform that association by utilizing his strategic insight, technology savvy and volunteer engagement experience.

From all those chapter and society leaders, young alumni and Student Alumni Association members, volunteers, and a decade’s worth of fellow alumni staff members, “Thanks, Anthony!  You have left a legacy.”

I suspect we haven’t seen the last of him.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in New Orleans in January for a Hogs-Ducks match-up.