Correction appended
Donald Myers, AU’s chief financial officer, died due to cancer on Jan. 6 at his home in Bethesda, Md. He was 68 years old.
Myers fought cancer for “a number of years,” according to a Jan. 7 memo from President Neil Kerwin.
Myers graduated from Shepherd College, now Shepherd University, in 1968 and joined AU’s administrative staff later that year, according to the AU website. He earned an Master of Business Administration in Finance from AU in 1978 and served as AU’s CFO, vice president and treasurer from 1982 until his death.
Myers contributed significantly to AU’s financial growth, increasing the University’s endowment from $5 million to $500 million and helping the University weather the economic recession, according to Camille Lepre, the assistant vice president for communications.
“[Myers was] responsible for the long-term financial health and stability of AU,” Lepre said.
During his time at AU, Myers led the initiative to designate AU as an arboretum as well as a sustainability plan to make AU’s campus carbon-neutral by 2020, according to Lepre.
Myers also oversaw the three most recent campus master plans, Lepre said, which include:
AU’s planned East Campus expansion
the McKinley Building renovation
the relocation of the Washington College of Law to Tenley Campus
Myers is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren, three who currently attend AU.
Correction: A former version of this story said Myers helped to increase the University’s endowment up to $700 million. It has been corrected to $500 million.
