John W. Crowe Vice President for Advancement Music Center of Los Angeles County

Los Angeles (July 25, 2006) -Music Center President Stephen D. Rountree announced today John W. Crowe's appointment as Vice President for Advancement. Crowe leaves the Claremont Graduate University where he held the same title.

Rountree said, "I have worked with John and watched his leadership throughout his career and know he will bring great expertise and enthusiasm to the Music Center. Crowe will be responsible for leading the Music Center's fundraising efforts and will head the 21-person Advancement Office." Crowe said, "The Music Center is at an exciting juncture in its history and I am excited to be a part of it and look forward to contributing to all that the Center brings to a vital and rapidly expanding downtown."

Crowe's career spans more than 30 years in higher education, primarily at the University of Southern California where he served in the leadership of two major campaigns. He joined Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in 2001, heading communications, alumni, and development programs for the graduate-only institution, a member of The Claremont Colleges.

During his 16 years at USC, he was AVP for University Development, Executive Director of Development for the Keck School of Medicine, and Senior Associate Dean for External Affairs for the Marshall School of Business.

His return to Claremont was a bit of a homecoming, since before going to USC Crowe was director of development at Harvey Mudd College, another member of the Claremont Consortium.

He is an alumnus of CGU, holding an Executive MBA degree from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. Crowe began his career at Cal State University Dominguez Hills shortly after that university's founding.

In addition to his degree from CGU, Crowe completed doctoral study at USC and is a graduate of USC's Advanced Management Program. He holds a MA in American Studies and a BA in Journalism from Cal State Los Angeles. He was a staff writer for Copley Newspapers (The Daily Breeze) and taught journalism at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Active in professional development, he co-authored two books published by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and served on the faculty of numerous CASE training programs. He is the chair of the CASE District VII (southwest states plus Hawaii), and a member of the Association for Fundraising Professionals.

Crowe and his wife, Mary, are residents of San Dimas. Both are Los Angeles natives.