Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret will take over as president and CEO of the LSU Foundation in May. The foundation announced his selection earlier today, capping a months-long national search to fill the position. Moret will oversee fundraising and philanthropic activities for all campuses in the LSU system.
For Moret, an LSU graduate and former Student Government Association president, returning to the university to spearhead institutional advancement—particularly at a time when LSU is facing deep state budget cuts—is both a challenge and the fulfillment of a goal.
“LSU has had a transformational impact on my life, and it is one of Louisiana’s most precious economic assets. I share the aspirations of LSU President F. King Alexander and the LSU Foundation Board of Directors for LSU to build a more robust philanthropic support base that will enable the university to better sustain the important work of its faculty, continue and enhance its transformative impact on the lives of students and invest in opportunities for academic preeminence,” Moret says in a prepared statement. “I look forward to working closely with President Alexander, the LSU Foundation staff and board members, the deans, faculty, staff, students and alumni to help fulfill our shared aspirations for LSU.”
Moret comes to the position after seven years at LED, where he is widely credited with attracting more than $62 billion in investment and about 91,000 new jobs to the state. In a statement, Gov. Bobby Jindal, who appointed Moret to LED in January 2008, credits him with helping to transform LED into one of the nation’s most respected state economic development agencies.
“We have been able to attract a wide variety of high-quality economic development projects, many of which would have seemed like remote possibilities only a few years ago” Jindal says, adding, “I am very proud of the great job he has done for Louisiana, and I wish him the best.”
Prior to his tenure at LED, Moret headed the Baton Rouge Area Chamber for several years. Before that, he worked as a consultant, an assistant to the LSU chancellor and a public policy fellow with the Public Affairs Research Council. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
“We are excited to bring in Stephen Moret as the president and CEO of the LSU Foundation,” says T. Cass Gaienne, who chairs the LSU Foundation Board of Directors. “Stephen brings many years of diverse leadership experience to the position and he will be key in helping us enhance LSU’s fundraising efforts.”
LSU’s institutional advancement system is undergoing change under the leadership of Alexander, who has called for better coordination among the university’s independent fundraising organizations. In its statement today, the foundation says Moret will act as a liaison to Alexander to ensure more efficient and effective fundraising efforts, and will also continue current working toward creation of a common database of affiliated philanthropic organizations.
“Moret’s plans for the LSU Foundation to support excellence in our academic mission are both refreshing and motivating,” says LSU College of Engineering Dean Rick Koubek, who has worked closely with the foundation over the past few years on a $100 million capital campaign for his college. “His appointment as president and CEO marks the beginning of a deeply transformational period for the LSU Foundation.”
Moret succeeds retiring president and CEO G. Lee Griffin, who became interim president and CEO of the foundation in 2011 and continued to serve at the request of the foundation board.
Jindal is expected to announce a replacement for Moret at LED in the coming weeks.
—Stephanie Riegel
