CUA Cover Winter 2005 final (Page 2) - Columbus School of Law

EYE ON THEFutureThe Gift-seekerBrad Bodager Marks One Yearas the Law School’s Chief Fund Raiser“With a 100-plus year history and morethan 10,000 alumni located across the countryand around the world, the law school offersa community of excellence and focus on skillsand service that prepares our graduatesto make a difference.”When Brad Bodager accepted hisappointment as executive directorof the Columbus School ofLaw’s Office of Development and AlumniRelations, the operation he chose to lead littleresembled those of his past employers.For one thing, Bodager’s many yearsof experience in fund raising, developmentand strategic planning had been carriedout in all areas of institutionaladvancement. Most recently, he hadserved as vice president for advancement forPacific Research Institute in San Francisco,where he oversaw a comprehensive corporateand foundation program that raised inexcess of $3 million annually. Prior to that, hespent five years as assistant vice presidentfor development and external relations forClaremont McKenna College in California,and before that, he was with DukeUniversity School of Law for five years asdirector of campaign leadership gifts.Bodager’s career had provided anumber of highly successful ‘best practice’models for how to design and executedevelopment programs that yieldsustainable results.A fondness for Washington, D.C.,where he had earned his own LL.M.from the Georgetown Law Center,coupled with his sense that the lawschool’s alumni and development programwas a gem in the rough, wereamong the reasons Bodager movedback to the East Coast to begin atCatholic University in January 2007.One successful year later, Bodagerspoke with CUA Lawyer to assess wherethings now stand.CL: YOU’VE WORKED IN THE DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMS FOR DUKE’S LAW SCHOOL, AS WELLAS AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS WITH MORERESOURCES — SUCH AS FACULTY AND SCHOL-ARSHIP ENDOWMENT MONEY — THANCATHOLIC UNIVERSITY’S LAW SCHOOL HAS. SO,WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS POSITION IN THEFIRST PLACE?BB: My interest in legal education hascontinued since my own legal studiesand as a member of the ABA and its varioussections during this time. As a memberof its section on legal education andadmission to the bar, I have developed anappreciation of the importance of legaleducation to our society and the roleplayed by national law schools such asthe Columbus School of Law. With a 100-plus year history and more than 10,000alumni located across the country andaround the world, the law school offers acommunity of excellence and focus onskills and service that prepares our graduatesto make a difference.CL: YOU’VE SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF YOURTIME HERE SO FAR POSITIONING THE LAWSCHOOL’S ALUMNI OUTREACH AND DEVELOP-MENT OPERATION A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY THANHAS BEEN DONE IN THE PAST. WHEN YOU FIRSTARRIVED, WHAT STRUCK YOU AS A HIGH PRIORITYRIGHT AWAY?4CUALAWYER /Fall–Winter 2007