Debra LaMorte served as Senior Vice President for University Development and Alumni Relations at New York University from 2001 to 2016. Ms. LaMorte began her career at NYU in 1990 when she joined NYU School of Law where she ultimately served as Associate Dean for External Affairs. LaMorte had an illustrious 30-year career at NYU which resulted in her raising over $7B on behalf of the University. She was known to have raised over $1M per day during her time with NYU. As the University’s main fundraiser and alumni liaison, Ms. LaMorte was directly responsible for delivering the philanthropic resources necessary for NYU to meet its academic and programmatic goals and for engaging alumni, parents, and friends of the University worldwide. When she stepped down from her role as Senior Vice President in 2016, she stayed on with NYU for and additional two years as Special Advisor to the President.
In her role at NYU, LaMorte successfully completed a $3.2B comprehensive campaign in 2008 which at the time was the largest campaign in the history of higher education. LaMorte was directly responsible for helping to secure 15 transformative gifts ranging from $25M to $150M. In 2010, LaMorte led a $1B campaign to exclusively support scholarships at NYU. That campaign successfully closed at $1.2B in 2015.
LaMorte was also a member of the adjunct faculty at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where she taught Professional Fundraising for 10 years. LaMorte was presented with the “Woman of the Year Award” by the New York City Women and Development Association in 2017.
LaMorte received her B.A. from Antioch College in 1975, and her J.D. from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1979. She is currently engaged in service on several non-profit boards, consults in fundraising for NYU and Lake Forest College, and lives with her husband in Stanley, Idaho.