Jeff
Ulmer, who brings more than 20 years of institutional advancement
experience from two prestigious Southeastern Conference schools to the
“For Ole Miss athletics to be viable in the future, our donor base must be expanded,” said Athletics Director Pete Boone.
“Jeff brings to us valuable experience in research, planning and
presentations from two SEC institutions that are very successful in
this area.”
“The UMAA Foundation is fortunate to have Jeff Ulmer
as its president,” said Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat. “He is an
experienced development officer who understands the role of private
support in athletics programs and will provide the kind of leadership
we need to be competitive in the Southeastern Conference. Escalating
costs have made it essential to increase the level of private support
for athletics and we believe Jeff will provide the kind of leadership
we need.”
where he served four colleges and participated in two capital campaigns
over a 15-year period. He started as the Associate Director of
Development for UF’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, moving on
to become the Associate Director of Development for UF’s
Levin College of Law before moving to UF’s Warrington College of
Business/Fisher School of Accounting as the Senior Director of
Development.
In 2003, Ulmer was lured away from his alma mater to become the Assistant Dean for Development for
where he guided the law school through a $28 million capital campaign.
Three years later he was named Executive Director of Development for
Vanderbilt’s Commodore Club, the fund raising arm of Vanderbilt
athletics. He was instrumental in restructuring Vanderbilt’s major gift
program, emphasizing philanthropic giving for capital and endowment
initiatives.
At Ole Miss, Ulmer will oversee the UMAA
Foundation’s development team, with a primary mission of reaching out
to alumni, donors and fans across the state of
“Our
goal is to get out on the road and meet with the people who have
supported us for so many years,” Ulmer said. “By developing a stronger
network of partners and raising the visibility of Rebel athletics
throughout the state and beyond, I’m sure we will meet and exceed our
expectation of standing among the most competitive programs in the
nation – both athletically and academically.”
Ulmer grew up in
and around the Gator football program. At the age of 13, his first
assignment at UF was holding the headset cords on the sidelines for
then-UF Head Football Coach Doug Dickey. After a brief time as a
walk-on student-athlete on the football team in 1980, Ulmer joined the
Gator Strength Complex where he worked as a student assistant strength
coach.
After graduating from
he took a position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as assistant strength
coach for one season. He eventually found his way home to
“I
consider myself truly blessed to have served two great institutions,
but I consider myself even luckier to have the opportunity to work on
behalf of Rebel athletics,” Ulmer said. “Ole Miss has the most loyal,
high-spirited and generous alumni and fans of any I have ever known. I
knew I was home when I arrived in