Dr. John Gallagher joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas this month as the new executive director of the UNLV Foundation.

Gallagher, whose academic and administrative career spans more than 20 years, came to UNLV from Tacoma, Wash., where he was vice president for university relations at the University of Puget Sound. Before that, he was assistant vice president of university relations and director of development at Seattle University.

When announcing Gallagher's selection, Tom Hartley, chairman of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees, stated, "Dr. Gallagher's extensive leadership, development, and public relations experience will enable us to increase the effectiveness of the UNLV Foundation and provide greater support to the university's academic programs."

His development experience began when he founded the department of corporate and foundation relations at St. Martin's College in Olympia, Wash.. The shift to development and fund raising came after many years as a faculty member in the division of political science, where he was associate dean and an associate professor.

Gallagher is well known within the academic development community. He contributed a chapter to the book, "Annual Giving Strategies: A Comprehensive Guide to Better Results," published by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He has also served as a chairman, panelist, facilitator, and presenter at numerous development conferences.

Gallagher has a doctorate in political science from the University of Washington.