Alumnus Bill Shepard returns to Wright State as vice president for advancement

Bill Shepard will rejoin Wright State as the vice president for advancement.

Bill Shepard, a two-time Wright State University graduate and long-time university employee, will return to his alma mater as the vice president for advancement, effective April 3.

He will replace Bill Bigham, who has served as interim vice president for advancement since 2019 and will resume his role as director of planned giving.

In 2017, Shepard left Wright State to become the vice president for advancement and CEO of the Eastern Michigan University Foundation.

In this role, he successfully led the university’s comprehensive campaign, which is expected to raise $110 million, exceeding the campaign’s total goal by $10 million. He also oversaw a strategic effort to review and enhance Eastern Michigan’s engagement efforts with its alumni.

This appointment is a homecoming for Shepard, who came to Wright State as a first-generation college student and then spent three decades in various leadership roles at the university, including seven years in key fundraising positions.

“I am excited to return and continue serving my alma mater in this fundraising role,” he said. “Wright State University is a place of opportunity and an institution that changed my life. As a first-generation college student, I can personally attest to the impact we are having in the region. I look forward to working with President Edwards on initiatives that will advance Wright State’s efforts around student success.”

Shepard served as associate vice president for advancement and vice president of the Wright State University Foundation from 2011 to 2017 and assistant vice president for advancement from 2010 to 2011. During that time, he served on the leadership team for Rise. Shine. The Campaign for Wright State University, the university’s largest fundraising campaign, raising more than $167.7 million from more than 31,300 donors.

Before joining university advancement, he served as assistant vice president for student affairs and executive director of the Student Union.

Shepard received his master’s degree in social and applied economics and his bachelor’s degree in geological sciences from Wright State.