Genevieve Shaker

Genevieve G. Shaker, Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Development and External Affairs in the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts and Assistant Professor of Philanthropic Studies in the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She is recognized as a leader among a new generation of scholars of philanthropy in higher education and noted as one of the few academicians who is also an active professional fundraiser. Drawn to philanthropy through the "ordinariness" of her family's engagement with their community, Shaker grew up with the expectation that she, too, would contribute to society as a professional--as her parents had through college teaching, as her grandmother had in raising funds for the American Lung Association, as her extended family has done through public service and as she in turn has done in redefining philanthropic dimensions in professional work. Shaker imbues her teaching with an urgent sense that she is teaching for her children, for the well-being of future generations. Shaker has said she tries to instill the same values about compassion, giving, sensitivity, community, and respect in her students as she experienced in her own education and family. As professional fundraiser, Shaker has worked in a variety of roles since completing her master's degree in philanthropic studies in 1998, including development associate, director of communications and creative services, associate director of development, and consultant to nonprofit organizations. In 2013, she became the chief development officer for the School of Liberal Arts, one of the largest schools at Indiana University and IUPUI, a core campus of Indiana University and an urban research university with over 30,000 students. As associate dean, she is responsible for overseeing a staff of six professionals, coordinating and directing the school's external affairs and community relations, and managing its fundraising efforts in coordination with the Indiana University Foundation. In 2013, her team concluded a multi-year fundraising drive as part of a campus-wide campaign that garnered over one billion dollars, with $18 million contributed to Liberal Arts. Shaker completed her Ph.D. in higher education from Indiana University in 2008. She has focused her research on the changing nature of the American professoriate, which has become increasingly part-time with short-term contracts; almost 75% of the academic workforce in America is now "contingent," without any long-term commitment from the employing college or university. This condition has influenced Shaker's scholarship as she investigates why faculty-under these rapidly changing conditions-continue to contribute more to their students and communities than required or expected by employers. Shaker has developed a hypothesis derived from Robert Payton's definition of philanthropy as "voluntary action for the public good" about the motivations of faculty in seeking academic careers-and personal fulfillment--because of the opportunity to contribute to the public good in ways that reflect actual charitable and voluntary action above and beyond paid work. This work includes an exploration of the extent to which part-time and contingent faculty consciously accept lower pay and lower status because of the intrinsic rewards that come from contributing-intentionally-to the public good. She will use this work as the keystone of a volume she is editing for Teachers College Press of Columbia University with contributions from leading scholars and policy analysts concerned with the role of faculty in preparing a capable citizenry and effective workforce. The expertise Shaker has developed in understanding the philanthropic work of faculty has led her to consider workplace philanthropy among professionals more broadly. Shaker is developing her research agenda to extend from the academy into other venues where the role of a professional implies a duty to the public good. Extending the range and impact of her scholarship, Shaker has also written about fundraising for practitioners in popular journals, developed a podcast sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and produced other materials for online distribution. Several of Shaker's conference presentations have been focused on a practitioner audience, and she has already won recognition among fundraising peers for her experience as well as perspective on how to understand giving and philanthropy among particular populations. Shaker acknowledges a responsibility to disseminate knowledge and experience to both practitioners and students alike. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles as well as chapters in scholarly books along with multiple resources in various media for practitioners. She has presented over 50 papers, workshops, interviews, or speeches since 2008, including a paper judged among the best at the 2013 Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Forum. The quality of her research was recognized early as her Ph.D. thesis won the dissertation of the year award (2009) from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and also led to work recognized by the nation's primary group of faculty development professionals (Professional and Organizational Development Network) with the 2009 Robert Menges Award for research in educational development. As a teacher, Shaker has developed a loyal following. Focusing her energies on courses for undergraduates, she inspires students in introductory classes to commit to the serious study of philanthropy and, for a few, to seek a career related to the philanthropic sector as fundraisers or leaders in the nonprofit sector. She used social media to enrich student learning, bringing to class discussions of current events as they are unfolding in a lively and engaging way. Service learning has typically been an important element of her courses, and the integration of contemporary events with the immediacy of student work with nonprofit organizations has made hers a highly effective pedagogy. As a reflection of the high regard in which she is held as a teacher, she was selected as the only philanthropic studies faculty recognized with the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award in 2013. She is a mother of a and the wife of a technology entrepreneur.