Leader who set fundraising milestones to leave CSUB

Legacy of philanthropy to continue under team built by Victor Martin, president says

By California State University, Bakersfield

April 18^th, 2022

President Lynnette Zelezny announced Monday that Victor Martin, vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the CSUB Foundation, has accepted a position at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. Martin’s last day on campus will be May 31.

While a nationwide search is conducted to find Martin’s replacement, Heath Niemeyer, associate vice president for development, will assume the interim roles of vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the CSUB Foundation.

“Under Victor’s leadership and in partnership with the Foundation Board of Directors and the community, CSUB has opened a new era for philanthropy on behalf of our students,” Zelezny said. “Victor has built a foundation for excellence that will continue, and that is a wonderful legacy to leave.”

Martin, who joined CSUB in 2013, has worked with the Foundation Board and his team in University Advancement to raise approximately $60 million in support of students, an unprecedented achievement in the history of fundraising at the university.

“We’ve celebrated our largest fundraising totals as an institution in the last few years, and community and alumni engagement are at an all-time high,” Martin noted. “Above all, I’m most proud of the team that has been built in University Advancement and the strong engagement with the Foundation Board of Directors.”

Martin worked with community supporters to achieve many milestones for CSUB, including:

The largest single gift in university history – $5 million from the Grimm Family Foundation – for the establishment of the Grimm Family Center for Agricultural Business;
Support for the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which will lead our region forward;
A pledge from Valley Strong Credit Union to establish an endowment for a research fellowship on regional prosperity;
Fundraising for a number of capital projects, including the Energy Innovation Center;
Coordination with internal and external partners to establish the Hall Family Plaza, the Center for Social Justice, the Pre-law Program and so many other worthy initiatives to benefit the families in Bakersfield and the Antelope Valley.

But perhaps Martin’s most enduring contribution to the university was the launch of CSUB’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign, `Runners on the Rise, which already has raised more than $33 million of its $55 million goal, with two years remaining in the initiative.

“It is a reflection of Victor’s dedication to CSUB and commitment to developing an exemplary team that the campaign’s momentum will continue without disruption, thanks to the guidance of co-chairs Greg Bynum, Raji Brar and J.P. Lake,” Zelezny said.

Martin agreed that the campaign is on a trajectory of success.

“If you do the right succession planning and team building, the momentum will continue,” he said. “My first priority when I was considering this career transition was ensuring that the campaign would be successful and that CSUB is in a good spot.”

Also under Martin’s leadership, CSUB marked its 50th anniversary with a yearlong celebration, planned and executed the investiture of the university’s fifth president, and unveiled a new brand, whose logo featuring a rising sun captures CSUB’s place as a source of enlightenment and hope in our region.

Martin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Illinois University, and arrived in Bakersfield in 2011 as a consultant and fundraiser and joined San Joaquin Community Hospital Foundation in 2012 as a campaign director.

“In addition to former CSUB President Horace Mitchell and President Zelezny, who have been so supportive, I owe a debt of gratitude to Chris Frank. When she was chair of the Board of the San Joaquin Hospital Foundation, she gave me my first chance in Bakersfield and trusted me to help guide a campaign for the AIS Cancer Center.”

In 2013, Martin joined CSUB as director of development and was named associate vice president for development and interim vice president for University Advancement in 2015. A year later, he was named permanent vice president, overseeing a staff of about 30, whose duties include alumni engagement, marketing and communications, fundraising and event planning.

“For nearly a decade, I have been inspired by our deserving students, the university’s outstanding faculty and staff, CSUB’s incredible alumni, and the tireless support from, and integration with, the amazing communities of Kern County and the Antelope Valley,” Martin said.