Vice President for University Advancement

Dear University Community:

It is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Mr. Jason Diffenderfer as Vice President for University Advancement, effective immediately.

Jason has been serving in this leadership position in an interim capacity since September of 2022. He joined UB in 2018 as senior associate vice president for advancement and co-director of UB’s Boldly Buffalo campaign. Prior to joining our UB community, he led fundraising efforts as the executive director of development at the University of Louisville.

While at UB, Jason has demonstrated his ability to harness the power of philanthropy to enhance our university’s academic and research excellence, innovation and impact. In particular, he led the fundraising team during the public phase of the Boldly Buffalo campaign, helping it surpass its $650 million goal a year ahead of schedule and thus extend the goal to $1 billion. Furthermore, he led Advancement’s team to achieve its largest annual fundraising totals in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Jason’s leadership of Advancement in an interim capacity has continued to elevate the importance of philanthropy and its impact on our university mission. His work to refine Advancement’s divisional objectives and strengthen our engagement with our alumni, friends and partners has been instrumental in advancing our mission-driven priorities—notably our ambition to situate UB among the top 25 public research universities in the nation.

I have appreciated Jason’s collaborative nature and collegial style as a member of my senior leadership team over the past year, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in service of our university’s mission of excellence.

For more details about this announcement, please read the story in UBNow. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Jason on his appointment.

Sincerely,

Satish K. Tripathi
President