UNIVERSITY HIRES VP FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents has hired J. Wayne Davenport of Little Rock, Ark., as vice president for university advancement.

Davenport also will serve as executive director of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. He will begin his $94,000 job May 12.

Davenport currently is vice president of Blackstone Development Associates Inc., a consulting and fund-raising firm in Little Rock.

The regents hired Davenport during a closed-door meeting Wednesday afternoon.

In his current position, he has supervised and staffed capital development programs and identified major donors, Southeast officials said.

Davenport previously was director of development at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. While there, he directed a capital campaign that increased annual support for the school by 275 percent in five years.

He also boosted the school's donor base from 5,000 to 12,000.

"We are confident he will take Southeast to a new level in this increasingly important area of university advancement," said Dr. Dale Nitzschke, Southeast's president.

Davenport was hired after a nationwide search.

He replaces Dr. Robert Foster, the former executive director of the foundation and Don Ford, former director of development.

Both retired and the two jobs were combined into a single position with the creation of a new vice president post.

Davenport holds a bachelor's degree in photojournalism and a master's degree in news editorial and magazine, both from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

A native of Brookfield, Davenport and his wife, Julie, have two sons.