As senior vice chancellor for philanthropic and alumni engagement, Kris Davitt directs fundraising and cultivates relationships with alumni, parents, friends and other constituents on behalf of the University of Pittsburgh and its clinical partner UPMC. In this role, she oversees a staff of more than 270 and leads efforts to connect with Pitt’s more than 350,000 alumni worldwide.
Under Davitt’s leadership, the Division of Philanthropic and Alumni Engagement has secured transformational gifts that led to the naming of the David C. Frederick Honors College, the Chris Bickell ’97 Head Football Coach and the Orland Bethel Musculoskeletal Research Center. The division also facilitated a $100 million gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in support of the Pitt BioForge biomanufacturing facility.
Davitt’s career in fundraising and engagement spans more than 30 years. Prior to joining Pitt, she served as associate vice president for development for undergraduate programs at the University of Pennsylvania and vice president for development at Brown University. At both institutions, she held leadership roles in multibillion-dollar fundraising campaigns.
Before working in higher education, Davitt held positions at several human service nonprofits in Philadelphia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts, graduating magna cum laude, with a concentration in international relations at Brown University. She also holds a Master of Arts in nonprofit and human services management from Rider University.