College of Arts and Sciences welcomes advancement dean

The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University has appointed Karen Weiss Jones as its new assistant dean for advancement. Weiss Jones comes to SU from Boston University, where she served as chief advancement officer in the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She brings more than 10 years of progressive experience in resource development, with an emphasis on major gift strategy and solicitation, strategic planning, accountability and board development.

“Karen Weiss Jones is a valuable addition to our team,” says Arts and Sciences Dean George M. Langford. “She brings tremendous expertise to the college, having held leadership positions at some of the nation’s finest institutions. Her commitment to teamwork, leadership and collaboration bode well for us and for the University.”

Prior to BU, Weiss Jones served as regional director of leadership gifts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, senior major gifts officer at the University of Pennsylvania and director of planned giving at Gettysburg College. Earlier in her career, she worked with Amish and Mennonite farmers as director of land preservation for Lancaster (Pa.) Farmland Trust. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

At SU, Weiss Jones reports to Dean Langford and to Brian Sischo, vice president for development and manager of The Campaign for Syracuse University. She is responsible for cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major donors in The College of Arts and Sciences, as well as for supervising the college’s advancement team. Also, she functions as a strategy liaison between the college and SU’s Office of Development.