Dan is one of the nation's premier planned-giving experts and a solid all-around fundraising consultant. He has more than three decades experience, primarily in higher education and healthcare.

Since 1990, he has been director of planned giving at Michigan State University in East Lansing. There, he manages all aspects of MSU's planned-giving program, including cultivation and solicitation of planned and major gifts. He is actively involved in developing marketing strategies for outreach and cultivation. Under his leadership, the MSU Office of Planned Giving has closed and documented more than $300 million in gifts and pledges.

Dan has built a reputation for growing young or non-existent planned giving programs into significant contributors. Besides his success at MSU, he facilitated similar growth at Wichita State University some years back as its first director of planned giving. Much of his consulting is in the arena of starting planned-giving programs within existing development operations.

Dan, a Certified Financial Planner, is past president of the Western Michigan Planned Giving Council and a member of the National Council of Planned Giving. He serves as a board member of the East Lansing Education Foundation and is involved in many other civic organizations. Dan is a regular speaker and consultant for nonprofit and professional organizations.

Before moving to MSU, Dan was Vice President for institutional advancement at Park College near Kansas City, Mo. His professional experience also includes Associate Dean of Development for St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kan.; Executive Director of the Bluestem Regional Medical Foundation in Bartlesville, Okla., and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Wesley Retirement Communities in Wichita.

He grew up in Russell, Kan., and was graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in marketing and public relations. He was commissioned by the Jayhawk Battalion of the US Army and just recently retired as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserves.