Office of Vice President – University Advancement
William McAvoy
Bill McAvoy joined WPI in 2012 as vice president for university advancement, working closely with WPI’s president and the board of trustees to support strategic institutional priorities. He is responsible for all advancement activities, including fundraising and relations with individual donors, foundations, government, and WPI’s 38,000 alumni in 104 countries. Under his leadership, WPI recently completed a $248 million campaign, surpassing the goal of $200 million.
Prior to joining WPI, he spent 11 years as director of development at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, working with the MFA's director, board of trustees, and senior management while also overseeing all aspects of fundraising for the museum. He has also held senior advancement positions at the Boston Museum of Science, Pine Street Inn, and Plimoth Plantation.
He has sat on boards of directors for several organizations, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the ALS Association, the Plymouth County Development Council, and currently the Peter Farricker Spirit Foundation.
McAvoy received a BS in biology from the University of Connecticut, and a graduate degree in management with a concentration in nonprofit administration from Suffolk University.
Office of Lifetime Engagement
Peter is the Executive Director of the Office of Lifetime Engagement for Alumni Parents and Friends.
Peter is responsible for fostering and creating positive alumni relationships that assist WPI in meeting the university’s goals. He is lead staff for alumni programming including Homecoming and Alumni Weekend, for coordination with the alumni association; international chapters, and alumni affinity programs. He also oversees the Annual Giving campaigns including the Annual Fund, Staff and Employee giving, Parent’s Fund, Student Call Center and the Student Philanthropy Program.
Prior to joining WPI, Peter was Sr. VP and Chief Professional Officer at United Ways of New England, where he ran a not for profit focused on relationship management and fund raising in some of the largest New England area companies. Peter has spent 25 years at various roles in United Way including; president, interim president, and VP of resource development. He also led two separate United Way mergers and the subsequent integration efforts. He is a graduate of Colby College and has continued his education with management and fund raising courses at Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise and the National Academy for Volunteerism. Peter has served on several nonprofit and trade association boards and is an active volunteer in his community.
Brianne Ross
Advancement Events & Communications
Theona K. Scola
Development
Sira Naras
Leadership Giving
Maria Torres Reyes
Volunteer Engagement
Stephanie Pasha has been working at WPI since 2004, and joined the Office of the President as assistant vice president, chief of staff, and secretary of the corporation in 2014. She has worked with the university leadership team and the rest of the WPI community on a number of institutional initiatives and major campus events, including two presidential inaugurations. She was a lead on developing TouchTomorrow, WPI’s signature event promoting science and technology to a broad, public K-12 audience.
She worked at Boston University for over a decade in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and for BU's Dean of Arts and Sciences. She earned a BS in business administration and an M.Ed at Boston University, and an MA in English and creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University.
Government & Community Relations
Global Strategies & Special Projects
Advancement Services & Information Technology
