Arwen Duffy

Arwen Staros Duffy joins University of Massachusetts Amherst as Vice Chancellor for Advancement.

Arwen has served in her leadership role at USC since 2014, where she oversaw record fundraising efforts for the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Gould School of Law, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, Price School of Public Policy, Rossier School of Education, and Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work as part of the Campaign for USC. Previously, she served as senior vice president for development and external affairs at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. A Yale University graduate in art, she also was vice president of advancement for the California Institute of the Arts, where she earned her MFA in 1994. Arwen began her career in higher education advancement at UCLA, where she secured support for the School of the Arts and Architecture and College of Letters and Science.

As Vice Chancellor for Advancement, Arwen will report directly to the Chancellor of the university and will be responsible for providing strategic leadership of all efforts to significantly increase funding for the university. She will be a member of the university’s senior leadership team.  This will be an opportunity for Arwen to create change, thoughtfully motivate and influence engagement across the institution—at all levels—and confidentially guide a team to ambitious new levels of achievement.   Arwen will assume her new responsibilities in mid-November 2021.

About University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees – at a pivotal moment in its 157-year history. The largest public land-grant research university in New England, it is distinguished by the excellence and breadth of its academic, research and community engagement programs.  The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. The campus provides a rich cultural environment in a rural setting close to major urban centers.