Westmont Magazine Reed Sheard Adds Fundraising to His Responsibilities

Reed Sheard has become vice president for college advancement and chief information officer at Westmont, assuming the management of the college’s fundraising, communication and external relations programs in addition to overseeing Information Technology.

“Reed brings an extensive background in sales and marketing to this assignment,” says President Gayle D. Beebe. “He will provide effective leadership for our fundraising efforts at this important time in the college’s history when we are finally able to complete essential new buildings on campus.”

“I’m excited about the additional role and motivated by the challenge in front of us,” Sheard says. “I look forward to working with a strong and professional staff in College Advancement and providing the resources Westmont needs to accomplish its distinctive mission.”

Sheard came to Westmont in 2008 as vice president for information technology and CIO after serving as vice president for technology services for five years at Spring Arbor University in Michigan. He has led Westmont’s cloud computing initiative, and the college has emerged as a leader in this technology. The annual InfoWorld 100 Awards chose Westmont as one of 100 IT organizations that have “implemented and integrated technologies in innovative ways in pursuit of concrete business goals.”

After graduating from the University of Sioux Falls, Sheard earned a master’s of divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Seattle University. Before joining the staff at Spring Arbor, he worked at General Electric, Apple, Informix Software, helped start Consonus Inc., the fastest growing company in Oregon in 1999 and 2000, and served as assistant professor of leadership studies at George Fox University.