What do you do for a living? How many of us have answered that question by giving our title and a synopsis of our job responsibilities?

Marts & Lundy is pleased to announce that John Ford was elected chair of the board by firm members during the firm's semi-annual staff conference. For the past few years John has worked with several Marts & Lundy clients, including MIT and the National University of Singapore, through his Of Counsel relationship with the firm. Upon his election, John shared the following thoughts on his new position and on the state of philanthropy.

This summer’s “philanthropy news” seems to be over-flowing with seemingly contradictory items on whether philanthropy is on an upward or downward spiral. Your personal take may depend on the institution you serve—public colleges and universities are seeing state budget cuts; Yale succeeds with a $4 billion campaign; Union Mission in LA succeeds with a focused message to major donors; independent schools find themselves struggling to balance tuition income needs with financial aid needs; medical centers are seeing large gifts back on the rise.