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DJ Schier (Public Relations, ’11, minor in Leadership Studies) currently serves as the Dean of Students at Villa Maria College in Buffalo. DJ is a lifelong learner who is strongly committed to and passionate about education and leadership development. Over the past 12 years, DJ has been working in higher education at Buffalo-area colleges, such as Niagara County Community College and Medaille University. He earned his B.S. in Communication and Public Relations from SUNY Fredonia in 2011 and served as the Senior Class President. DJ went on to earn his M.S. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration in 2013 from Buffalo State University. DJ currently serves as a member of the Alumni Association Board for SUNY Fredonia and has served on several other boards, including serving in Executive Board positions for the College Student Personnel Association of New York State, Inc., or CSPA-NYS, a statewide higher education professional development organization. 

Born and raised in WNY, Spencer Morgan is a native of Allegany, NY. He is a 2008 graduate of SUNY Fredonia earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in American Studies. During his time at Fredonia, Morgan interned at the local Darwin R. Barker Historical Museum which was his first experience in a professional museum setting and ultimately influenced him to enter the field of museums. 

For graduate school, he was accepted to and attended Buffalo State College (now Buffalo State University). As a former RA at SUNY Fredonia serving Chautauqua Hall and University Commons, Spencer soon also found himself employed as an Assistant Hall Director, working and living at the University at Buffalo while attending grad school at Buffalo State. In 2011 he earned a Master of Arts degree in History with a Concentration in Museum Studies. 

As an intern and volunteer, Morgan found himself at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the Historical Building at the Erie County Fairgrounds, and the Steel Plant Museum of Western New York where he became the museum’s inaugural Curator. In the years following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, Spencer supported his career as a museum curator by working part-time at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff and waiting tables.

Following this period, he served as the Director of Development and Marketing at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village (the former Amherst Museum), Grants and Special Events Coordinator at Villa Maria College, an Associate Director of Development at SUNY Fredonia where he worked in major/planned gifts and affinity giving at the Fredonia College Foundation, Director of Development at the Buffalo Zoo, and as Executive Director at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, NY as of April 1 st . Spencer has served on a number of boards including the Erie County Historical Federation, Citizens Advocating Memorial Preservation, the Lackawanna Historical Association, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House, the Pinehurst Beach Preservation Society, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals WNY Chapter.

As a Charlton Scholar, he has attended both the SUNY Council for University Advancement annual statewide conference and AFP’s international ICON conference. During his time employed at Fredonia, Morgan was lucky enough to also attend the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Summer Institute in Educational Fundraising at Dartmouth College. He has served as a guest speaker, guest curator, and guest lecturer on several occasions. In 2013, Morgan published his first book focused on the history of steelmaking in WNY. He has earned a Paralegal Certification from the University at Buffalo, an Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Empire State College, and recently completed the Not For Profit Management Program through the Harvard Business School Club of Buffalo. In 2020 Spencer became 1 of just 8,000 professionals across the globe to earn the CFRE credentials through Certified Fund Raising Executive International. With a career spanning over 15 years, he has raised millions of dollars for local institutions and nonprofits and has experience in nonprofit management, development/philanthropy, museum operations, board governance and development, strategic planning, events management, grant writing and administration.

Topics: nonprofits, museums, history, board governance, fundraising & grant writing