People

David Rutherford, a seasoned higher education fundraising chief who also worked for more than 20 years in nonprofit leadership, will join Palm Beach State College as the new Vice President of Advancement.

President Ava L. Parker, J.D., selected Rutherford for the newly created position on her executive leadership team following a nationwide search. Rutherford starts Jan. 16 and will have administrative oversight of the Grants office, College Relations and Marketing and the PBSC Foundation.

Rutherford comes to PBSC from Florida Atlantic University, where he has worked since July 2005. During his more than 12 years at FAU, he worked his way up from director of development for the College of Education to his most recent role as vice president for principal gifts and gift planning. Among his achievements at FAU, he secured more than $25 million in naming gift commitments and $20 million in deferred gift commitments. He also secured more than $3 million in scholarship endowments and more than $8 million in program support.

“I am pleased to have David join our team. His extensive leadership and fundraising experience, as well as his collaborative style, will be assets to the College and are critical to helping us move our institution forward,’’ said Parker. “With the budget cuts that we have faced, we must work together and be more strategic and creative in generating dollars to support our students and our programs. We also must be more deliberate in sharing the Palm Beach State College story with the community, alumni and others.”

Rutherford said he is honored Parker selected him for the role. “I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve President Parker and to lead an extraordinary team of professionals. I look forward to becoming familiar with the amazing people and programs that make Palm Beach State such an outstanding institution.”

In addition to his work at FAU, Rutherford has nonprofit leadership experience at educational and ministry organizations. He worked for 20 years at Zion Lutheran Church & School in Deerfield Beach, starting in 1980 as a high school mathematics teacher and coach. He worked his way up the ranks to become headmaster of K-12 and the Developmental Learning Center, a position he held for six years. After that, he worked in various organizations, including four years as president of Film the Bible Inc., where he generated $2 million in start-up capital and closed a $1 million bequest.

He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Liberty University in Virginia.