As interim leader and senior advisor for the Division of Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement, Tom Crawford directs fundraising and cultivates relationships with alumni, parents, friends, and other constituents on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh and its clinical partner UPMC. In this role, he oversees a staff of more than 270 and leads efforts to connect with Pitt’s more than 350,000 alumni worldwide.
Tom joined the University in 1988 as one of the staff of the University’s health sciences division of publications and development. He served as director of corporate and foundation relations at the University’s Health Sciences Development office from 1990 until 1994, when he was named executive director of corporate and foundation relations for the UPMC/Health Sciences Development Office. In 1997, he joined what was then called Institutional Advancement as executive director of foundation relations, and, in 2003, was elevated to associate vice chancellor for corporate and foundation relations and operations. In this role, he oversaw programs in corporate and foundation relations, human resources and budget, systems and research, records management, and donor relations and stewardship. In 2018 he was named vice chancellor for corporate and foundation relations where his focus was on serving as a liaison between individuals at the University—faculty, administration, and other staff—and individuals from local, national, and international corporations and foundations. Tom was instrumental in securing a $100M gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in support of Pitt BioForge, marking the largest single-project gift in the Foundation’s history and one of the largest that Pitt has ever received.
Tom is a 1983 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in English from the University in 1985. He has published fiction, poetry, and other pieces in national and international journals and has taught writing and fiction writing at Pitt and other institutions.
