Neal Weaver was chosen to serve as vice president of University Advancement and executive director of the Nicholls Foundation and will begin working at Nicholls on Nov. 3.

President Bruce Murphy explained that though there has not been a vice president for University Advancement for a few years, it isn’t an entirely new position at Nicholls. The position encompasses areas like University Relations, the Alumni Federation, development and fundraising and even athletics.

Office of University Relations, Printing and Design Services, Office of Alumni Affairs and the Office of Development are all departments that will fall under University Advancement.

“He’s currently doing this similar job, Vice President for Institutional advancement at West Texas A&M University,” Murphy said. “He’s been very successful while working with their alumni and their donors to move that program forward.”

Weaver has led advancement teams at two institutions over the last 17 years, breaking enrollment records and bringing additional investments of more than $100 million to the universities.

“The enrollment there has grown, and I’ve only heard positives,” Murphy said. “Obviously, anything that happens like that is a team effort, so you can’t credit any one person. However, if the institution has clearly grown under his leadership in that area, you’ve got to take that to heart.”

Weaver has a bachelor’s degree in Speech-communication from Oklahoma Panhandle State University, a master of Business Administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of Oklahoma.

In addition to his background and experience, traits that stood out to Murphy were Weaver’s progressive ideas.

“He’s a very forward-looking kind of a person,” Murphy said. “He talked about investment philanthropy.”

Murphy explained that this concept means the focus shouldn’t be on what the major companies or industries can do for Nicholls, but on what can Nicholls do for them.

Albert Davis, dean of University College and the interim vice president for Academic Affairs, was particularly impressed not only with Weaver’s qualifications, but also with his commitment to family and his humor.

“Fitting into the family and then having a sense of humor was very important to me,” Davis said.

After having lunch together, Davis said he recognized the qualities he had seen in Weaver during his interviews: the right attitude and tone mixed with a kind of wit and a sense of humor.

David Boudreaux, former director of the Nicholls Foundation, agreed that hiring Weaver was a progressive step in the right direction for Nicholls.

“It’s going to be good for Nicholls to have a vice president back in the office performing those duties that are so necessary for a university to move forward,” Boudreaux said. “Without private fundraising and with decreased state funding, it becomes a real challenge to maintain what you have, much less to help what you have improve. Everyone wants to get better, even if you’re very good, and we are very good at so many things.”

Weaver is married to Kristi, and the couple have three sons: Austin, a senior at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and twins Brett, a freshman at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas, and Blake, a freshman at West Texas A&M University.

In addition to his work in advancement, Weaver has taught at the West Texas A&M College of Business and has been recognized as a Stellar Speaker by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He has also been actively involved with developing young leaders as an instructor and volunteer with Youth Leadership Oklahoma.