Staff Directory

Pam Conlin is the vice president for Bowling Green State University Advancement and the president and CEO of the BGSU Foundation, Inc. Having served as an Advancement professional in higher education for 23 years, she is leading alumni engagement and philanthropy efforts to support the University’s strategic and foundational objectives.

Arriving at BGSU in 2018, Conlin invigorated the momentum of the Changing Lives for the World Campaign, ensuring its successful completion on December 31, 2020. The Campaign goal was exceeded by 27% and raised more than a quarter of a billion dollars in commitments from alumni, faculty, staff and friends, impacting every area of the University and making it the largest comprehensive fundraising endeavor in BGSU history.

As president and CEO of the BGSU Foundation, Conlin works with an experienced Board of Directors who support the mission, vision, and strategic planning of the University by serving as stewards of the charitable funds entrusted by donors to the University. Conlin continues to emphasize the importance of growing the Foundation’s endowment to provide student and University support in perpetuity. 

Prior to BGSU, Conlin held several fundraising and constituent engagement positions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She played a key role in SMU’s $1.15 billion comprehensive campaign and, in her position as assistant vice president for principal and major gifts, she worked to develop and implement an aggressive plan for growth.

Conlin earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Miami University and developed an interest in non-profit fundraising as a community volunteer and advocate while living in several U.S. states with her family. Conlin is an ardent advocate for higher education and the opportunities it provides to transform people’s lives.

As the special assistant to the vice president, Sarah works closely with the vice president for University Advancement/president and CEO of the BGSU Foundation, Inc. supporting the University Foundation board of directors, Alumni board of directors and members of the comprehensive campaign committee. She started her career at BGSU in 2016 as the coordinator of alumni and annual giving. Prior to the University, Sarah worked for a regional land trust for five years as the marketing manager. She earned an undergraduate degree in environmental policy and analysis from BGSU in 2010, and a masters degree in media and communications with a specialization in strategic communications and social media in 2020.

Adrea Spoon '01, '06 joined the University Advancement team in February 2023 and serves as the assistant vice president, alumni engagement and annual giving and executive director of the Alumni Association. Adrea grew up in Northwest Ohio and never imagined 20+ years later she’d still be in the area sharing her Falcon pride. She earned a bachelor of arts in communication in 2001 and master of education in 2006, both from BGSU. Over the last 20 years she worked in the BGSU Office of Admissions, in a variety of roles, and most recently as director of undergraduate admissions. Previously, she worked on the annual giving team at the University of Findlay. She’s excited to continue building relationships, connecting through conversation and events and supporting her alma mater.

Outside of work, her twin boys keep her and her husband busy. Fall and spring are full of time on the soccer field and winter involves ice skates and hockey sticks. As she transitions in to this new role, she’s thrilled to continue sharing her BGSU passion as she works with alumni and friends of the University.

Please connect with me! linkedin.com/in/adrea-spoon-a478256

Lisa Bowen '06, '10, '13 is the associate director of Alumni operations and facilities. She began her BGSU career in 2002 as a senior secretary in the Development Office. She went on to work in the Division of Student Affairs, both in Student Health Services and in the vice president of Student Affair’s office. She previously served as the senior administrative assistant to the vice president for University Advancement/president and CEO of the BGSU Foundation, Inc. Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies in 2010 and a master's of education in leisure and tourism in 2013, both at BGSU.

Joining the Alumni Engagement team in March of 2023, Toni Gordon is not new to Bowling Green State University. Toni has been at BGSU since 2018 working in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, helping students, staff, and faculty feel like they belong and are connected. Excited to be working in University Advancement, Toni can’t wait to help BGSU alumni feel celebrated and honor all of their accomplishments. Toni graduated from Hope College in West Michigan in 2009 with a bachelor of arts in psychology and sociology with a criminal justice emphasis. She went on to graduate with her masters of science in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 with a degree in higher education. She has worked at several institutions, however BGSU has felt more like home than any other!

Kim Jacobs is director of alumni engagement and oversees all Alumni activities and events including those during BGSU’s annual Homecoming. Kim joined BGSU in 1999 as assistant dean in the Office of Campus Involvement, and then joined the staff of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union shortly after it opened in 2002. The common denominator throughout her career is the planning of events and activities. Her experience in higher education has included Ohio State University, University of Illinois, Mundelein College, University of Illinois – Chicago, and Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne. “I’ve enjoyed planning events and experiences for BGSU students and now look forward to doing the same for our Falcon alumni.”

Emily Wilhelm '16 joined the University Advancement team in May 2022 as the assistant director of alumni engagement. Prior to BGSU, she was an event coordinator for the ProMedica Foundation and a corporate fundraiser for Bloomsburg University in Central Pennsylvania. Emily is looking forward to growing the alumni regional networks and alumni affinity groups. "I feel so lucky to be working for my alma mater and having the opportunity to engage with BGSU alumni", she said. "I can't wait to meet you all!" 

Jordan Cravens ’09, ’13 is a senior director of development at Bowling Green State University. She provides fundraising leadership to the colleges of Education and Human Development; Health and Human Services; Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering; and the Division of Student Affairs. Jordan began her career in annual giving at BGSU with increasingly progressive roles in the organization. Prior to her work in advancement, she served on the BGSU volleyball coaching staff. She is a two-time alumna of BGSU with degrees in journalism and a master of education, specializing in sport administration.

Karly (Grilliot) DeGroot is a director of development and liaison to the Schmidthorst College of Business. Prior to this role Karly lived in Texas for several years while first serving an AmeriCorps term and later working for Habitat for Humanity. She is a native to Bowling Green and earned her bachelor's degree in Spanish from BGSU. While earning her bachelor's degree, Karly took advantage of the great study abroad programs that BGSU has to offer. She studied for a semester in England and an academic year in Spain. Karly is thrilled to be back in her home town and working for her beloved alma mater.

Ryan Hite joined the BGSU Athletics staff as assistant athletic director for development in November 2019. A native of Findlay, Ohio, Hite most recently served as a major gift officer at Denison University, his alma mater. He has spent the past 17 years as a coach, administrator and development officer at the high school and college level. Hite lives in Bowling Green and works with the Falcon Club and major donors to the Department of Athletics.

Dan Meyer joined BGSU as associate athletics director for development in August of 2014. He provides direction and leadership to the Falcon Athletics development program, which includes fundraising efforts for all capital projects, scholarship endowment, annual giving and planned gifts as well as special events and the VarsityBG student-athlete alumni program. Meyer is a member of the senior management team for BGSU Athletics, after serving previously in a variety of administrative roles over a 20-year career at the University of Wisconsin, Portland State University and Washington State University.

Danielle P. Solis '16 is a senior director of development at Bowling Green State University. She provides fundraising leadership of the Allen W. and Carol M. Schmidthorst College of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, Honors College and select special projects across the institution. Prior to returning to BGSU, Danielle was the advancement director for the Montessori School of Bowling Green. She holds bachelor of arts degrees in both political science and history from Bowling Green State University, and she also earned a master of science in nonprofit leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kristen Pickens is a director of development and liaison to the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering. Prior to joining BGSU, Kristen had over 15 years of progressive sales, marketing and business development experience. Most recently, she was the director of a nonprofit community center for the past six years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business, majoring in marketing, from the University of Toledo. Kristen is the proud parent of a BGSU graduate with hopefully another joining soon. She is an avid reader, runner and bike rider in her spare time.

Sandy Stoots joined University Advancement in 2015, providing administrative support for directors of development, prospect researchers and the area of planned giving. She has worked on campus for 15 years at both the Student Health Service and the College of Musical Arts. In the two years of her position at the College of Musical Arts, she provided administrative support for the large ensembles.

Sara Zulch-Smith '00, '11 is a senior director of development and liaison to the College of Education and Human Development and University Libraries. Before joining University Advancement in 2012, she worked 15 years as assistant to the dean of the College of Education and Human Development. Her role involved managing the $2 million renovation of the Education Building. Before joining BGSU, she was a journalist. “I love higher education because it changes lives,” she said. “I'm always in awe of people who are willing to give of their time and themselves to support students they may never meet.”

Laura Moore is executive director of donor relations and stewardship for University Advancement. In this role, she directs a comprehensive donor relations and stewardship program focused on reporting, compliance, cultivation and recognition of donors. Prior to joining BGSU, Laura served as the director of alumni relations for Owens Community College, the executive director of the Owens Alumni Association, interim executive director of the Owens Community College Foundation and college development, and executive assistant and special events coordinator for Dana Commercial Credit Corporation. She earned an associate degree in applied business and bachelor's degree in business education from Bowling Green State University.

Sheri provides administrative support for donor relations, stewardship and and advancement. She joined University Advancement in 2016 with 18 years of service to BGSU previously in University Dining Services, TRIO Programs and Intercollegiate Athletics.

Grace Waterstradt joined the University Advancement team in February 2023 as the assistant director of donor communications and compliance. Prior to BGSU, Grace worked in various higher education roles including: student services and housing, development and alumni relations. Grace earned her bachelor’s degree in public relations in 2015 from Adrian College and a master of education in higher education administration in 2018, from Tiffin University.

Jeremy Ball is assistant vice president for advancement services, leading BGSU’s efforts in data management, development systems, and prospect management and research. Joining the university in February 2021, Jeremy brings to BGSU over 15 years of progressively responsible advancement services experience, most recently at Elon University. He earned his masters of business administration from Capital University and a bachelor of science in computer science from Eastern Michigan University. He, alongside his wife and two children, is excited to now be part of the Falcon family.

Kyle Crawford '07 is system specialist. Trained as a structured query language (SQL) analyst, he helps to maintain the database of alumni, donors and friends of BGSU. He earned his bachelor's degree in computer science from BGSU. Before he joined the staff in 2009, Kyle worked in the legal and compliance department for Sky Financial, Inc.

Nancy Fenchel ’23 is a foundation gift analyst, responsible for daily processing of charitable donations to BGSU. Nancy joined the University Advancment team in 2022 with 17 years of previous experience in nonprofit fund accounting, including 9 years in higher education.

Karen Gill joined the University Advancement team in 2022 as a Foundation gift analyst. She works to process gifts that are received by the Foundation, applying them to the proper funds and donor records. Karen has many years of experience working in accounts receivable. 

Roger Heminger is the records management officer. He joined University Advancement in 2012. He previously worked 12 years as a clerical supervisor in BGSU's Falcon Health Center, where he directly served students through billing, appointment-setting and customer service functions. He previously spent 24 years in retail management. “I love working at Bowling Green State University and interacting with students,” he said. “I learn from them every day.”

Michael Lohr is senior manager of prospect research. He has more than a decade of experience in research and prospect management experience spanning three successful capital campaigns. He earned his master's degree from National-Louis University, a bachelor's degree from Wheeling Jesuit University and an associate degree from West Virginia Northern Community College.

Sheri provides administrative support for constituent records and advancement. She earned a bachelor of arts in sociology from BGSU in 2000. She joined University Advancement after serving BGSU in Health Services and in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies.

Jen is the manager of foundation accounting at BGSU where she oversees the gift processing and foundation accounting and reporting functions for University Advancement and the BGSU Foundation. Jen joined the UA/BGSU Foundation team in 2022 with over 20 years of accounting experience. After graduating from BGSU in 2002 with a bachelor of science in business administration, accounting specialization, she began her career with Ernst & Young in Toledo, OH. She has 15 years of audit experience with public accounting firms, both big and small, where she developed an interest and specialty in nonprofit organizations. Outside of public accounting, her experience includes working for or with nonprofit organizations, including board positions. Three years were previously spent at BGSU as the manager of grants accounting. Jen lives in Perrysburg with her four daughters and is excited about their future falcon opportunities.

Joanna Pardon ’05 is a senior financial accountant responsible for the daily accounting functions and reporting activities of the BGSU Foundation.  Joanna joined Foundation Accounting in 2021 with 13 years of experience in restricted fund accounting, eight of which were served in the BGSU Grants Accounting Department.

Jessica Quittenton ’06 is the director of prospect management and research. She and her team are responsible for the discovery of individuals positioned to advance BGSU’s initiatives, strategically providing research, and collaborating with fundraisers to make data-driven and strategic decisions to move prospects through the cultivation process and raise funds to support BGSU. Jessica joined the advancement services team in July 2022 with 14 years of experience in fundraising and advancement services within higher education. She earned a bachelor of science degree from Bowling Green State University and a master of arts in nonprofit administration from John Carroll University.                                   

Siri Vallepu is working as a business intelligence analyst for University Advancement. In addition to maintaining the constituent records database, she works with donor and fundraising data to provide insights by creating dashboards and real time analytics. She began her career in India and holds a master’s degree in health informatics from the University of Findlay.