Alumni lead billion-dollar drive

President Tilghman has named the three alumni who will lead the University's upcoming capital fundraising campaign. The campaign will likely aim to raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, according to sources who spoke with The Daily Princetonian last November.

Robert Murley '72, Nancy Peretsman '76 and John "Dubby" Wynne '67 will manage the fund-raising effort.

Peretsman and Wynne are both current members of the University Board of Trustees, and Murley finished a 10-year term as a trustee last June. Combined, the three have spent more than 30 years on the University's board.

"We all come to this with a lot of history, both on the board and in a lot of service roles for Princeton," Murley said in an interview Wednesday. "We share a combination of respect for Princeton and for Shirley Tilghman and her leadership."

"We're very much united in our thinking that this is an important time in the University's history," he added.

Tilghman and Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee '69 said they had full confidence in the alumni's leadership capabilities.

"They are terrific. They are experienced. They are dedicated and they are already working hard," Durkee said.

In a letter to the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Tilghman expressed her enthusiasm for the chosen leadership. "I look forward to working with Bob, Nancy, Dubby and many others to ensure that Princeton is able in the future, as it has in the past, to make the investments it needs to achieve its most important and enduring goals," Tilghman wrote.

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Plans for the campaign include raising funds for new initiatives in areas such as the arts and neuroscience, which Murley called "next generation and cutting edge."

Murley and Wynne both worked on the University's last major capital campaign, which lasted from 1996-2000 and raised $1.14 billion. All of Princeton's campaigns occur over a period of five years to coincide with a major reunion for each alumni class, which occur once every five years. Such reunions are traditionally a time for increased donations.

Wynne, who could not be reached for comment, lives in Virginia Beach, Va., and currently chairs the trustees' Academic Affairs Committee. He is the former president and CEO of Landmark Communications, a media conglomerate that owns The Weather Channel as well as many smaller media outlets.

Murley's service to the University started when he was a class agent during his five-year class reunion. He later served as the national annual giving chair from 1992 until he joined the board in 1995, and is currently on the board of Princo. He is the vice chairman of the investment banking firm Credit Suisse First Boston.

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Peretsman rejoined the board last June after serving from 1976-80 and 1981-91. She is currently executive vice president and managing director of Allen and Company, a large Wall Street investment-banking firm. Her husband, Bob Scully '72, was recently named co-president of the investment banking firm Morgan Stanley.