University Relations

Vice Chancellor Donna Murphy

As UC Santa Cruz's Vice Chancellor for University Relations, Donna Murphy leads the campus' internal and external strategic communications, relationship building, and fund-raising operations and oversees all of the units that support those efforts. These include the offices of Development, Alumni Relations, Public Affairs, Special Events, and Community and Governmental Relations.

Donna joined UCSC in February 2006, bringing with her extensive experience leading external relations and development programs at two major universities and two international organizations. Prior to joining UCSC, she was senior associate vice president for Advancement at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center and a member of the senior leadership team. There she led the planning, implementation, and management of development and alumni relations programs, legislative advocacy, and advancement communications.

Donna also was vice president for development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in New York and for five years was assistant vice president for global marketing at Save the Children, where she planned and launched the organization's first major gifts program. She also held increasingly senior positions at her alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, including serving as interim vice president for University Relations during the campus' $100 million Centennial Campaign and Celebration. The campaign concluded with $150 million.

Donna has experience in all areas of media, legislative, alumni, and public relations as well as in fundraising. She's been involved in the planning and implementation of three major successful campaigns, two at the University of Oklahoma and one at Tulane Health Sciences Center.

A native of Norman, Oklahoma, Donna is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She has two adult sons, Michael and Patrick, both of whom reside in Durant, Oklahoma, with their families; and three step children -- Sarah Sweeney Forsthoefel (Amsterdam), Phillip Sweeney (Connecticut) and Clare Sweeney (Ohio) -- of her late husband, Brian M. Sweeney.