Ron Schiller
Founding Partner of the Aspen Leadership Group and the Philanthropy Career Network, Ronald J. Schiller is a nationally recognized advisor to presidents, board members, and other leaders in higher education, arts and cultural organizations, health care, and social and community services. Since 2011, he has focused his attention on executive search and strategic consulting, drawing on his experience as fundraising leader, executive team member, board member, and search consultant built over a 30-year career.
Ron has held leadership positions in seven educational and cultural institutions, including the University of Chicago, where he led a team of more than 450 that completed a $2.3 billion campaign and facilitated two nine-figure gifts. He serves on the faculty of the annual CASE conference, "Inspiring the Largest Gifts of a Lifetime" and has served as co-chair of CASE's Winter Institute for Chief Development Officers. He is the author of two books: The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising, published by Rowman & Littlefield, and Belief and Confidence: Donors Talk About Successful Philanthropic Partnership, published by CASE Books. He is a regular speaker for regional and national conferences of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, CASE, and Rice University’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, among others, and he is the recipient of CASE’s Crystal Apple Teaching Award.
Ron is President of the Cornell University Glee Club Alumni Board. He has served on the Cornell University Council and on the boards of the American Friends of Covent Garden, Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen’s Buddy Program, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.
Prior to founding the Aspen Leadership Group, he served as Senior Vice President of Lois L. Lindauer Searches, President of the NPR Foundation, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Chicago, Associate Vice President of Advancement and Campaign Director at Carnegie Mellon University, Vice President for Development at Northeastern University, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at New England Conservatory of Music, and Director of Institutional Advancement at the Eastman School of Music. He began his career in philanthropy at his alma mater, Cornell University, during Cornell’s groundbreaking $1.25 billion campaign in the late 1980s.
Ron has held leadership positions in seven educational and cultural institutions, including the University of Chicago, where he led a team of more than 450 that completed a $2.3 billion campaign and facilitated two nine-figure gifts. He serves on the faculty of the annual CASE conference, "Inspiring the Largest Gifts of a Lifetime" and has served as co-chair of CASE's Winter Institute for Chief Development Officers. He is the author of two books: The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising, published by Rowman & Littlefield, and Belief and Confidence: Donors Talk About Successful Philanthropic Partnership, published by CASE Books. He is a regular speaker for regional and national conferences of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, CASE, and Rice University’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, among others, and he is the recipient of CASE’s Crystal Apple Teaching Award.
Ron is President of the Cornell University Glee Club Alumni Board. He has served on the Cornell University Council and on the boards of the American Friends of Covent Garden, Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen’s Buddy Program, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.
Prior to founding the Aspen Leadership Group, he served as Senior Vice President of Lois L. Lindauer Searches, President of the NPR Foundation, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Chicago, Associate Vice President of Advancement and Campaign Director at Carnegie Mellon University, Vice President for Development at Northeastern University, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at New England Conservatory of Music, and Director of Institutional Advancement at the Eastman School of Music. He began his career in philanthropy at his alma mater, Cornell University, during Cornell’s groundbreaking $1.25 billion campaign in the late 1980s.
