Walter Williams

Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations

Contact

• 330.569.5839
• williamswc@hiram.edu

Walter Williams, a strategic and innovative advancement professional with more than 25 years of experience, joined Hiram College in 2021 as vice president for development and alumni relations. As the senior administrator for advancement, Williams has oversight of the College’s development, alumni relations and internal communication initiatives, as well as foundation, corporate and government relations. He also serves as a member of the president’s Cabinet. 

Williams comes to the College after serving as the vice president for advancement at SUNY Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, New York. In this role, Williams served as an advisor to the president on all matters pertaining to the management and operation of development, alumni relations, and community and donor relations. Under his leadership, the College secured $11 million in new gifts and commitments, including the College’s second documented $1 million gift in its history. He also served as the executive director of the Empire State College Foundation, a private nonprofit organization with approximately $31 million under management.  

Prior to his role at SUNY Empire State College, Williams served as the senior advancement officer for the School of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, America’s oldest technological research university in Troy, New York. In this role, he worked to create and implement the first-ever comprehensive constituent fundraising program for the School of Science. He also provided oversight of principal and major gifts, the annual fund, corporate and foundation relations, donor relations, and alumni affairs. Williams also served as the senior director of development for the School of Architecture at Syracuse University, and in various roles at Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Slippery Rock University.