Mary Burke, Temple’s vice president for institutional advancement, is resigning from the university “to pursue other career opportunities,” according to an email obtained by The Temple News Wednesday morning.
President John Fry sent the email to all faculty and staff at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday and wrote that her last day will be this Friday, March 7.
Fry also held a meeting prior to the email going out with all institutional advancement staff members informing them of the news, a source told The Temple News.
“I want to thank Mary for all her contributions over the last few years,” Fry wrote in the email. “In every year she led the division, gifts to the university exceeded more than $100 million.”
Burke’s future at the university has been shaky for quite some time, according to previous TTN reporting. While she did raise more than $100 million in each of the last several years, total donation numbers have paled in comparison to Temple’s peer universities, The Temple News reported. Alumni engagement rates are also considerably lower than other local schools.
In 2023, Temple only had a 3% alumni giving participation rate, a 1% drop from the 2022 year, according to the university’s 2023-24 fact book. When comparing Temple to its peers, more than 11,400 donors contributed $2,466,661 on the University of Pittsburgh’s Day of Giving in 2024, while Penn State’s 2023 GivingTuesday raised $1.4 million. Temple 2024 Giving Days brought together just more than 1,400 donors, contributing roughly $600,000.
The university also did not meet its fundraising goal in fiscal year 2024, Burke told The Temple News in a February interview.
In December, Fry announced in an email to the university community that the institutional advancement office would be “thoroughly reviewed” to ensure it was equipped with the tools to celebrate the university’s upcoming 150th anniversary.
Burke’s departure comes several months after Temple Athletics parted ways with its director of institutional advancement, Ed Stoner, The Temple News first reported. A replacement has not yet been named.
The university will immediately begin a nationwide search for Burke’s replacement, a source said. Al Checcio, who has been working with Temple to conduct the “review” of the IA office, will serve as the interim vice president for the division, Fry wrote in Wednesday’s email.
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