New VP Heads Advancement Efforts

A division with a new name, Institutional Advancement (formerly College Relations), is now led by a new vice president, Philip J. Akers. He was most recently vice president for university advancement at Eastern Washington University and president of that institution’s foundation. Akers, named to the post after a national search, started at the College on May 2.

“Lewis & Clark is already a well-regarded institution, and I’m pleased to be a part of it,” says Akers. “I’m excited by President Tom Hochstettler’s aspirations to lead the College’s three schools to new levels of national prominence and renown.” 

Akers, 47, joined Eastern Washington in 1997 as associate vice president for university advancement and became vice president in 2002. He led the university’s integrated advancement unit, which includes fundraising, alumni relations, and university communications. Under his management, Eastern Washington’s fund-raising program grew 400 percent and the number of annual donors more than doubled.

He has also worked at the Washington State University Foundation and Gonzaga University.

Akers and his wife, Cathy, have two children Sean, 17, and Hannah, 15. Akers earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Portland and his master’s degree from Gonzaga University.