Making the Case for Leadership: Profiles of Chief Advancement Officers in Higher Education

The advancement industry has experienced tremendous growth in breadth and depth over the last few decades. Driving this growth is the chief advancement officer; however, as a relatively new position on most college and university campuses, little is formally known about the role and the people who fill it. In Making the Case for Leadership, Jon Derek Croteau and Zachary A. Smith provide insightful and intimate details of ten of the most high performing and successful CAOs in the industry: their career paths, leadership philosophies, and other important leadership variables. Additionally, the book presents the authors' Advancement Leadership Competency Model, based on the results of the interviews and rigorous data analysis. Croteau and Smith delve further into the advancement office and its history, impact, and potential than any book―or research―ever has. They conclude this momentous undertaking with the lessons learned and implications for the future related to the next generation of advancement leaders and future leadership development and training programs.

Zachary A. Smith was Associate Professor of Political Science at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He is the author of several books, including Groundwater in the West (1989), and The Environmental Policy Paradox.