Peter Wilch joined Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in March 2021 as Senior Vice President for University Advancement and Chief Advancement Officer.
In this role, Wilch leads all fundraising and philanthropic efforts for LMU’s seven schools and colleges, athletics, and units across campus. Under Wilch’s leadership, the university has achieved record-setting fundraising years in FY2022, FY2023, and FY2024. He collaborates closely with the Board of Trustees, the Board of Regents, the President, the President’s Cabinet, and the deans of the seven colleges to advance strategic capital projects, secure philanthropic funding for faculty scholarship, and garner support for student financial aid, among other fundraising priorities. In partnership with the President and LMU’s Campaign Committee, Wilch is leading the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in LMU’s history, currently in its quiet phase and preparing for a public launch.
Before joining LMU, Wilch spent nine years as Vice President for Development at the University of San Francisco, where he designed and successfully led the $300 million Changing the World from Here comprehensive campaign. Prior to USF, Wilch served as Vice President for Alumni and College Advancement at his alma mater, Cornell College in Iowa. There he led the successful Extraordinary Opportunities campaign, exceeding the campaign goal and raising over $100 million. Wilch also successfully led the campaign for the University of Iowa Law School as part of the university’s $1 billion Good.Better.Best. comprehensive campaign and served as a gift officer at Grinnell College, securing funds for the endowment, Noyce Science, and the Bear Recreation and Athletics facility.
With nearly three decades of professional experience, Wilch is a recognized thought leader in the field of advancement. He is the past chair of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Jesuit Advancement Administrators group and an alumnus of the Ignatian Colleagues Program. Away from work, he has served as a past member of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of Catholic Charities of San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties.
As the youngest of nine children, Wilch was able to afford a college education thanks to the generosity of scholarship donors. He earned a B.A. in philosophy and politics at Cornell College and has spent his career working to pay forward the transformative education that the generosity of others helped him achieve.