Usher, Thornton Named Major Gift Officers
6/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
June 12, 2015 
OXFORD, Ohio – Miami University has made a pair of hires to fill out its development staff.
Associate Athletic Director for Development Coleman Barnes has tabbed Scott Usher and Katie Rose Thornton as Assistant Directors of Development/Major Gifts Officers for the RedHawks. Both will assist the department of athletics in its effort to surpass the $80 million Graduating Champions Campaign fundraising goal, focusing on the Greater Cincinnati Area.
“With the addition of Scott and Katie Rose to our development team, Miami Athletics now has four major gift officers committed to visiting alumni and friends and sharing all the great investments being made to support the student-athlete experience,” said Barnes. “Our staff is making a commitment to getting more involved in the Greater Cincinnati Area, where more than 47,000 alumni call home. Both Scott and Katie Rose are former Division I student-athletes, which will certainly help them in their efforts to secure philanthropic gifts for the advancement of our athletics program.”
Usher has been Miami’s Development Coordinator since January 2014. Among other achievements, Usher helped increase the Red & White Club’s revenue by 24 percent since his arrival. Before joining the development team, Usher served as the RedHawks’ assistant men’s swimming and diving coach and director of operations from 2010-14, a role where he was called on to manage the team’s budget and secure alumni donations for direct team support. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Wyoming in 2006, where he was a five-time All-American swimmer and qualified for the US Olympic team in 2004. He earned his Master of Science in sport studies at Miami in 2012.
Thornton comes to Miami from Villanova, where she served as the Director of Basketball Marketing last year after a year as the Coordinator for Interactive Media. She has also worked in the private sector in a variety of marketing and sales roles with Cramer-Krasselt, LevLane Advertising, J. Walter Thompson and Penmark Auto Group. She also worked in corporate sales with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and spent another year as an assistant to former Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens. Thornton graduated from Columbia in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Historical Sociology and earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Temple in 2010. She also played both field hockey and lacrosse at Columbia.
To learn more about the Graduating Champions Campaign, contact the Athletic Development Office at (513) 529-8097.
OXFORD, Ohio – Miami University has made a pair of hires to fill out its development staff.
Associate Athletic Director for Development Coleman Barnes has tabbed Scott Usher and Katie Rose Thornton as Assistant Directors of Development/Major Gifts Officers for the RedHawks. Both will assist the department of athletics in its effort to surpass the $80 million Graduating Champions Campaign fundraising goal, focusing on the Greater Cincinnati Area.
“With the addition of Scott and Katie Rose to our development team, Miami Athletics now has four major gift officers committed to visiting alumni and friends and sharing all the great investments being made to support the student-athlete experience,” said Barnes. “Our staff is making a commitment to getting more involved in the Greater Cincinnati Area, where more than 47,000 alumni call home. Both Scott and Katie Rose are former Division I student-athletes, which will certainly help them in their efforts to secure philanthropic gifts for the advancement of our athletics program.”
Usher has been Miami’s Development Coordinator since January 2014. Among other achievements, Usher helped increase the Red & White Club’s revenue by 24 percent since his arrival. Before joining the development team, Usher served as the RedHawks’ assistant men’s swimming and diving coach and director of operations from 2010-14, a role where he was called on to manage the team’s budget and secure alumni donations for direct team support. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Wyoming in 2006, where he was a five-time All-American swimmer and qualified for the US Olympic team in 2004. He earned his Master of Science in sport studies at Miami in 2012.
Thornton comes to Miami from Villanova, where she served as the Director of Basketball Marketing last year after a year as the Coordinator for Interactive Media. She has also worked in the private sector in a variety of marketing and sales roles with Cramer-Krasselt, LevLane Advertising, J. Walter Thompson and Penmark Auto Group. She also worked in corporate sales with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and spent another year as an assistant to former Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens. Thornton graduated from Columbia in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Historical Sociology and earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Temple in 2010. She also played both field hockey and lacrosse at Columbia.
To learn more about the Graduating Champions Campaign, contact the Athletic Development Office at (513) 529-8097.
Miami Men's Basketball Head Coach Travis Steele 11-11 Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, November 11
Miami Volleyball Head Coach Dan Gwitt 11-11 Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, November 11
RedHawk Rewind Episode 12: Peter Suder
Tuesday, November 11
Player Spotlight - Doug Grimes
Tuesday, November 11