FUND-RAISING DIRECTOR HIRED

Southeast Missouri State University has a new fund-raising director.

The board of regents on Wednesday hired Alan Zacharias, 39, as vice president for university advancement and executive director of the school's fund-raising foundation.

Zacharias, who will be paid a salary of $115,000, will begin his duties on Sept. 23. He currently is senior vice president for university advancement and chief operating officer with the Concordia University Foundation in River Forest, Ill. He has served in that position since 1996.

Zacharias and his wife, Rhonda, have ties to Southeast Missouri. She grew up in Scott County and Zacharias' father was a Lutheran minister in Scott City, Mo.

Zacharias attended Southeast for two years and has two brothers who are Southeast graduates.

He and his wife have two children.

He replaces Wayne Davenport who resigned recently to accept a position at Cleveland State University in Ohio.

Zacharias is familiar with Southeast from his days as a student. "I think certainly the learning curve is shorter," he said following his hiring.

Zacharias will direct a capital campaign drive that is already under way. He said his arrival may provide a shot in the arm for the fund-raising effort. "It is a means of breathing new life into a campaign," he said.