Your Purpose, Our Calling
Your support for this campaign will help our students live, learn, and lead with purpose. Connect with a member of our fundraising team to determine how you can make the most of your gift.
Campaign Leadership To activate the tab, press your spacebar.
Meet our core Campaign leadership team.
Christopher Callahan
President
University of the Pacific
209.946.2222
Christopher Callahan became the 26th president of University of the Pacific, California’s first chartered institution of higher learning, on July 1, 2020. He is chief executive of a university that is ranked among the nation’s top 100 in the nation and No. 18 in the West, with campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco.
Scott Biedermann
Vice President
Development and Alumni Relations
209.946.2166
Scott guides and oversees all aspects of the division of Development and Alumni Relations and the Leading with Purpose campaign. He is a proud alumnus of Pacific and just completed his EdD in Educational Administration at Benerd College in the summer of 2020. His purpose is to secure financial support to ensure the excellence of the University. Scott spends most of his free time cheering on his three children at swimming and water polo meets with his wife, Alicia, who he met at Pacific.
Cathy Wooton
Senior Associate Vice President
Development and Alumni Relations
209.932.2895
Cathy is responsible for oversight of advancement services, parent giving and university events while also leading budget and human resource matters for the division. Cathy, a Pacific alumna, loves being a part of the community and seeing the impact donors can have through philanthropy. She is an active member of the Rotary Club of Stockton, and of other professional organizations and philanthropies that make a difference locally, nationally and internationally.
Judy Nagai
Associate Vice President
Development
Conservatory of Music
Eberhardt School of Business
209.932.2864
Judy is responsible for oversight of the college and school-based major giving program on the Stockton campus. Having spent more than 20 years working in higher education, her purpose is to increase access to higher education through philanthropy. Judy holds a BS from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration from the University of Vermont and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Kelli Page
Associate Vice President
Alumni Relations
209.946.2987
Kelli (Williams) Page ’87 joined University of the Pacific in 1996. She supervises a staff of nine individuals with the responsibility of administering programs that engage alumni with their alma mater, as well as overseeing the Vereschagin Alumni House. She holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a minor in business from University of the Pacific.
Molly Byrne
Associate Vice President
Development and Alumni Relations
209.946.2780
Molly directs the university’s donor relations, communications, annual giving and oversees the office that fosters partnerships between Pacific and companies, industry and private philanthropic organizations. She comes to Pacific with extensive fundraising experience from both the nonprofit and business communities. A native of California, Molly holds a BA from Loyola Marymount University and an MA from George Washington University.
Specialist Gift Officers To activate the tab, press your spacebar.
Including Estate and Gift Planning, Principal and Leadership Giving, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Annual and Parent Giving.
Emily Novick
Assistant Director
Corporate and Foundation Relations
209.946.7333
Emily is part of the corporate and foundation relations team in the central office that fosters relationships between Pacific, companies, industry and private philanthropy. She comes from the UC system, having been a part of both the central corporate and foundation relations office at UC Irvine and the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley. She has a BA in Legal Studies and Spanish as well as an MA in International Relations/Latin American Affairs, both from Chapman University. She is a huge sports fanatic and gym nut and you can generally find her playing soccer, traveling, or exploring Sacramento with her boyfriend.
Georgette Hunefeld
Senior Director
Strategic Philanthropic Initiatives
University Libraries
209.946.7375
Georgette ’90 has found a strategic intersection between social interests and philanthropy. Her purpose is to guide donors to engage in opportunities to create impact and transform lives by giving through Pacific. Specializing in capital projects she is focused on the Library renovation. She also concentrates transformative gifts of Powell Match and Endowed Scholarships, and Student Life Initiatives to include internships, leadership and scholarships for first generation college students. Her expertise supports all schools and units and she would love to assist you in your purposeful gift to Pacific. Her husband Chris ’74, daughter Allie ’16 and son Billy are proud members of a Pacific legacy family.
Michael Richmond
Executive Director
Annual Giving
209.932.2777
Michael leads the annual giving team, which is responsible for developing and implementing annual programs and activities to generate a base of ongoing support for initiatives throughout Pacific. He and his team collaborate with shareholders across all three campuses to enhance students' experience and provide scholarship opportunities. He and his wife Lana, enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors with their four children.
Jen Aldridge
Associate Director
Estate & Gift Planning
209.946.2775
Jen has been in the fundraising industry from the east coast to the west coast for more than 10 years. Jen supports philanthropy efforts in the Office of Estate and Planned Giving and is driven to make a difference in the Pacific community.
Gift Officers
By School To activate the tab, press your spacebar.
Direct your gift to the school or college of your choosing.
Jessica Jencek
Associate Dean for Development, Executive Director of the Dugoni School Foundation Board
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
415..92.9.64
Dan Mackeben
Assistant Dean for Development
School of Engineering and Computer Science
209.946.2643
Anastasia Damyan
Annual Fund Manager
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
415.929.6413
Anastasia was named Annual Fund Manager in December 2020 after serving for more than a year as the Dugoni School's Development and Alumni Association Assistant. Previously, she was the 2018 Project Director for the Children's Defense Fund-Freedom School, a youth literacy program in Hartford, Connecticut. She grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and earned her bachelor's degree from Metropolitan State University. Shortly after graduating, she undertook a year of community service through the progressive United Church of Christ. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews, gardening, and learning new things.
Anita Ayers
Director of Development
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
415.929.6402
A native New Yorker who always dreamed of living in California, Anita moved to the Bay Area 12 years ago. She attended the Bronx High School of Science, earned a B.A. in English Literature from Fordham University and a paralegal certificate from San Francisco State University. Anita spent more than ten years at the USF School of Law primarily in a Development and Alumni Relations role that included donor research, project management, reunion and class gift programming, gift acknowledgement and alumni communications. Anita lives in Berkeley with her husband, Dale Nelson, a retired political science professor, and is enthusiastic about cooking, most sports, most arts, most sciences, old music and spelling and grammar. She also enjoys travel and volunteers for environmental causes.
Janice Bross
Senior Assistant Dean for Development
College of the Pacific
209.946.2254
Craig Yarborough
Associate Dean
Institutional Advancement
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
415.929.6430
Craig earned his bachelor's degree from Pacific’s Stockton campus in 1977, his DDS degree from the Dugoni School in 1980 and his MBA from the Eberhardt School of Business in 1999. After spending 13 years in private general practice in Lodi, California, Craig returned to his alma mater as a full-time faculty member/administrator in 1993. In addition to his administrator duties at the dental school, Craig has been an active member of organized dentistry serving in multiple leadership positions including as Speaker of the House of the California Dental Association, the CDA Presents Board of Managers, past chair of the American Dental Association Council on Annual Sessions, and a director on the CDA Foundation Board. Craig is a past president of the dental school’s Alumni Association and past Executive Director of the Dugoni School Foundation, the school's fundraising board. He and his wife Nancy are parents of two graduates of the Dugoni School, Jenna Atwood ’09 and Matthew Yarborough ’14.
Jim Dugoni
Senior Director of Development
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
415.749.3349
Originally hired at Pacific in 1996, Jim spent 16 years working for Tiger Athletics. He also spent 3 years overseeing the Pacific Fund before serving as a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving (CSPG) for 4 years before being elevated into his current role with the Dugoni School. Jim earned a BS in Business at Pacific in 1986, a MS in Sport Management from the U.S. Sports Academy in 1990 and a MA in Education Administration from Stanford in 1993. In May 2019, Jim’s youngest son Jack became the 13th member of the Dugoni family to graduate from Pacific.
Briana Bacon
Senior Assistant Dean for Development
School of Health Sciences
209.946.7441
Briana comes to the School of Health Sciences with over ten years of fundraising experience. Her previous roles have included Director of Development for the Brubeck Institute and Assistant Dean for the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of the Pacific. Briana has over 22 years of experience working with non-profits in the arts and social sector. She received her MA in Organizational Behavior from Alliant University and BA in Sociology from University of California, Santa Cruz. You can find her working with donors, faculty, students and staff to illustrate the impact that philanthropy can have on generations. Briana enjoys spending time gardening, baking, and adventures with her family and four-legged kids.
Mindy Danovaro
Senior Assistant Dean
Pacific McGeorge School of Law
916.340.6096
Mindy is responsible for fundraising in support of scholarships, experiential learning, endowments, academic and programmatic needs of the law school. Her background includes fundraising for a variety of industries ranging from healthcare and emergency medical services to the arts. She received her B.A. in Fine Art from UCLA and her M.A in Communications from New York Institute of Technology.
Sally Pereira
Director of Development
Pacific McGeorge School of Law
916.739.7391
Sally is responsible for fund development and managing endowments and scholarships at McGeorge. She has served over 20 years on the McGeorge Development and Alumni Relations team and three years leading the University’s Annual Giving team. Previously, she worked in Development and Alumni Relations at Christian Brothers High School and at Price Waterhouse. She received her B.S. in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.
Susan Webster
Senior Director of Development
Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy
209.946.3116
Susan has great pride in Pacific’s pharmacy students and is delighted to work with alumni and donors to create scholarships, network, fund research, and support important programming at the School. Her two sons, Matt and Chris, are current Pacific students—thanks in part to Susan’s stories of faculty and alumni success stories at the dinner table.
Gift Officers
By Department To activate the tab, press your spacebar.
Including Powell Match, Athletics, Student Life, University Library, and Campaign administrative members.
Tod Davis
Powell Match Manager
209.946.2502
After a 20-plus year career in fundraising in the greater Stockton community, Tod '89 returned to his alma mater in 2011. In 2014, he took on a newly created position to oversee the administration of the Powell Match, a nearly $100 million gift-matching program made possible by Robert and Jeannette Powell’s transformative gift. Since his return, both of Tod's kids have enrolled at Pacific.
Tim Dickson
Executive Associate Director
Athletics
209.946.3177
Tim leads all areas of fundraising for Pacific Athletics, working closely with alumni and donors on facility projects and endowments. He is a member of the athletics senior staff and oversees golf, tennis and men’s basketball. Tim received his BA from Pacific in 1998 and previously worked in athletics at St. Mary’s College and Long Beach State. He and his wife, Julie, met at Pacific and are busy raising their two children.
Johanna Bakmas
Associate Director
Development and Alumni Relations Communications
209.946.7735
Johanna ’09 manages the major communication pieces for the campaign. She is a proud Pacific alumna and holds a BA in history from Pacific and an MA in museum studies from George Washington University. When she’s not storytelling for Pacific, you’ll find her volunteering in the Stockton community or spending time with her husband Rob '08, their son Roger and dog Timmy.
Steve Whyte
Events Manager
209.946.2753
Steve has spent his career in marketing and event production since graduating from Pacific in 1979. After owning a special event production company for 10 years, Steve returned to head up Pacific’s event planning operations. His wife, Judee Tippett-Whyte, graduated from the Dugoni School of Dentistry in 1986 as the first woman valedictorian in the school’s history.