Beginning January 2024, Thomas Chaves, West Norriton, Pa., has been named Vice President for Advancement at Albright College. An accomplished higher education information and technology professional with more than 30 years of experience, Chaves is a member of Albright’s class of 1985 and was an Albright trustee from 2018 through 2023, chairing the board’s Advancement and Communications committee.
After graduating from Albright College, Chaves launched his career immediately as his alma mater’s Director of Annual Giving, and then spent over 17 years working with more than 100 higher education clients to implement and effectively use SunGard/SCT advancement software.
Most recently, Chaves served as the Associate Vice President for Advancement Operations at St. Joseph’s University and the Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Lehigh University. He has been responsible for many advancement functions, including alumni relations and events, donor stewardship, annual giving, project management, information processing, research and reporting.
While serving a nine-year tenure on Albright’s Alumni Association board and a five-year tenure on the college’s board of trustees, Chaves also chaired conferences and summer institutes for the global, non-profit Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He is currently a member of the Anthology (iModules) Strategic Advisory Board and the CASE Commission on Philanthropy, and works closely with other advancement services leaders in understanding the advancement software landscape.
Albright bestowed the Mary Fry Good ’49 Service to Alma Mater award on Chaves in 2020, citing service that spans nearly four decades. As an Albright senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics, Chaves was both a founder and first advisor of the Lion Diplomats student organization, which aims to bridge the gap between students and alumni. He graduated as a Jacob Albright Scholar and received the college’s Gold “A” Award, going on to earn a master’s degree in management and business administration from Penn State University.
