Jim Lanier, Senior Consultant and Senior Fellow, AGB

About

Jim Lanier has worked with over 100 university and foundation boards throughout the United States on board assessment, operations, and governance issues, and he trains AGB facilitators and consultants. Foundation clients include boards representing community colleges, small and mid-sized public comprehensive universities and systems, and large major R1 institutions.

For over 23 years, Lanier served as vice chancellor for institutional advancement and CEO of the East Carolina University (ECU) Foundation and the ECU Real Estate Foundation. During his tenure, he transformed it into a high-performing advancement enterprise, and the foundation board was elevated in stature and significance. Throughout his career, he was an active volunteer with AGB and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He is a recipient of the national CASE-Commonfund Institutionally Related Foundation Professional Leadership Award.

Lanier has authored articles and books concerning foundation boards and governance issues, and he has been a frequent speaker at regional and national meetings for AGB, CASE, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). He has chaired the CASE National Assembly, the National Commission on Philanthropy, and the National Steering Committee for Institutionally Related Foundations. He also chaired the first joint AGB–CASE committee that drafted and introduced the initial “Illustrative Model Letter of Understanding (LOU) Between Institutions (or Systems) and Institutionally Related Foundations.”

Professional Credentials

Lanier earned his BS and MEd from East Carolina University and completed the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University.