CARLISLE, Pa. — After more than 23 years of service to Penn State Dickinson Law, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Kelly Rimmer has been selected for a newly created role as senior director of development in Penn State’s Office of Principal Gifts.
Rimmer will join a team led by Senior Assistant Vice President for Principal Gifts Tina Hennessey to engage donors and encourage support for campaign initiatives and top programmatic priorities at the University, to include those at Dickinson Law. Rimmer began her new role on April 15 and will offer support, guidance, and leadership to Dickinson Law’s development efforts during the transition to a unified law school.
Rimmer's legacy at Dickinson Law is marked by her devotion to its alumni and friends and her commitment to nurturing those relationships while advancing the Law School’s vision and mission through its journey of evolution and change. Prior to her appointment as director of development and alumni affairs in 2009, Rimmer served as director of marketing, communications, and alumni relations. Through her efforts to cultivate relationships and build a more robust culture of philanthropy, she supported and then led Dickinson Law in three University-wide campaigns that generated more than $63.5 million and helped to more than double the Law School’s pre-merger endowment.
During the last campaign, "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," Rimmer and her team partnered with Emeritus Dean Gary Gildin to secure more Graduate Scholarship Matching Program scholarships than any other Penn State unit (23 new scholarships resulting in a $7.7 million impact to the endowment — a 15-month effort that nearly doubled the number of individual gifts at or above $125,000 in the Law School’s history) and helped Dean Danielle M. Conway to launch the Antiracist Development Institute. In recognition of her contributions to Dickinson Law, Rimmer received Penn State’s Division of Development & Alumni Relations Diversity and Inclusion Award and Dickinson Law’s Phillip M. Scott Excellence in Leadership Award.
“When Emeritus Dean Peter Glenn welcomed me as a development assistant in 2000, I never imagined how this community would help to shape the person and professional I am today," said Rimmer in a message to the Dickinson Law community. "Dickinson Law — and each of you — will forever be home to me. As hard as it is to leave a place that I value and know so well, I’m looking forward to collaborating with colleagues to impact innovation and excellence across the University. I’m excited for the future of the reunified Penn State Dickinson Law, and I will embrace continued opportunities to advance and elevate the great work being done by Dean Conway, alumni leaders, staff, faculty and students.”