Hamilton named ECU’s assistant vice chancellor for corporate and foundation relations

Sharon Hamilton has been promoted to assistant vice chancellor for corporate and foundation relations (CFR) at East Carolina University. Hamilton has been with University Advancement since 2001 and initiated the CFR program in the division.

In making the announcement, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Christopher Dyba said the promotion recognizes Hamilton’s leadership role on the advancement team, where she has informed strategy across ECU and its multiple foundations, aligning university priorities with corporations and foundations.

“Sharon has served as an advocate for ECU with philanthropic leaders across the country,” Dyba said. “The relationships and trust she has built have resulted in millions of dollars of investment in the university for ECU’s key areas of research and education.”

Sharon Hamilton has been promoted to assistant vice chancellor for corporate and foundation relations with East Carolina University Advancement. (ECU photo by George Crocker)

Over the course of the Pursue Gold campaign, Hamilton and her team have helped raise nearly $100 million for the university with gifts and grants from corporations and foundations.

“Fostering partnerships with corporations and foundations whose interests and giving priorities are aligned with ECU is vital to advancing the university and its mission,” Hamilton said. “I’ve taught staff and faculty how to do this, too, and I am proud of that work.”

Hamilton has seen her work come full circle at ECU. Early in her career Hamilton supported a young professor with his first successful grant request to the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. The professor, now department chair, reached out this year seeking Hamilton’s guidance again, this time for an assistant professor on his team seeking her first grant from The Duke Endowment.

Also this year, ECU announced a $3.2 million grant from the United Health Foundation as part of an innovative project and shared commitment to support the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents in rural and historically underserved communities in North Carolina. The grant was the second from UHF in three years supporting the North Carolina Statewide Telepsychiatry Program at ECU.

Hamilton and her team will continue to focus on building CFR relationships by working closely with university leaders and key research faculty to identify initiatives that generally have a university-wide impact and develop persuasive and creative proposals to garner support for the mission of the university.

Hamilton is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Prior to joining the staff at ECU, Hamilton worked as a television news reporter and anchor at stations in North Carolina and as a corporate chief communications officer.

ECU is in the public phase of the Pursue Gold campaign to raise half a billion dollars. This ambitious effort will create new paths to success for Pirates on campus, across the country and around the world. Donor gifts during the campaign will keep us constantly leading and ready to advance what’s possible. Learn more at pursuegold.ecu.edu.

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