Scott Nichols formally retired from Boston University as of October 1, 2019 as Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations overseeing a staff of 230. He was responsible for all areas of advancement and led the University’s first campaign, which had an original goal of $1 billion. The Campaign concluded in September 2019 and achieved $1.85 billion with over 150,000 donors and over 1300 commitments of $100,000 to $150,000,000.
Formerly, he was chief advancement officer and Associate Dean at Harvard Law School for 20 years. During his tenure, which consolidated all advancement functions, he helped engineer two long range planning processes that both led to successful campaigns. The first was the $150,000,000 Campaign for Harvard Law School, an unprecedented effort that was five times larger than anything previously attempted in legal education. The Campaign exceeded its goal by $33,000,000. Nichols also spearheaded Setting the Standard: The Harvard Law School Campaign to raise $400,000,000, which achieved $480,000,000.
Nichols served DePaul University from 1980-86, initially as Director of Development then as Associate Vice President. Prior to that he was Director of Annual Giving at Northwestern University and held a variety of advancement positions at Bucknell University, including Director of Alumni Relations. He began his career teaching in Morocco as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Holding an undergraduate degree in economics from Bucknell, he obtained a master’s and doctorate degree in educational administration from the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral dissertation was on volunteerism in higher education. He received the William E. Arnold Award at Penn for Outstanding Promise of Leadership.
Nichols served as a trustee of Bucknell University for 20 years. At Boston College, he served as an Advisory Board Member for the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy. He teaches at Harvard’s New Presidents Seminar and has taught at the Institute for Educational Management and Management Development Program. Nichols has also served as consultant and fundraising coach to over 100 different non-profits and still maintains an active consultancy.He is currently in residence at Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater assisting their fundraising efforts.