Drezner, Noah D. (ndd2123)

Noah D Drezner

Professor of Higher Education
Principal Investigator, The Tzedakah Lab Program Director for Higher and Postsecondary Education Special Advisor to the Provost for Doctoral Education Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee
212-678-3787

Office Location:

206D Zankel

Office Hours:

By appointment and Tuesdays & Wednesdays 3:00-4:30pm

Educational Background

Degrees

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Higher Education

M.S.Ed., University of Pennsylvania, Higher Education Management

B.S., University of Rochester, Earth and Environmental Sciences


Certificates

Harvard University, Higher Education Management and Development

University of Pennsylvania, College & University Teaching

University of Rochester, Professional Writing

Roberts Wesleyan College, Nonprofit Leadership

Selected Publications

Books

Drezner, N.D. & Huehls, F. (2014). Fundraising and institutional advancement: Theory, practice, and new paradigms. New York: Routledge. 

Drezner, N.D. & Huehls, F. (2019). 筹款与大学发展:理论、实践与新范式. 北京: 中国人民大学出版社 (Renmin University of China Press; Translation, Chinese Simplified)

Gasman, M., Drezner, N.D., Epstein, E., Freeman, T.M., & Avery, V.L. (2011). Race, gender, and leadership in nonprofit organizations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Drezner, N.D. (2011). Philanthropy and fundraising in American higher education. ASHE Higher Education Reports. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 


Books Edited

Drezner, N.D. (Ed.) (Forthcoming). Research Handbook on Philanthropy and Education. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. 

Drezner, N.D. (Ed.) (2013). Expanding the donor base in higher education: Engaging non-traditional donors. New York: Routledge. 

Drezner, N.D. (Ed.) (2010). Fundraising in a time of economic downturn: Theory, practice, & implications. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 9(4). 

Walton, A. & Gasman, M. (Eds.) Huehls, F., Wells, A., & Drezner, N.D. (Associate Eds.) (2008). Philanthropy, fundraising, and volunteerism in higher education. ASHE Reader Series. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Publishing.  


Articles in Referred Journals

McNamee, C.D. & Drezner, N.D. (2021). Breaking Stereotypes About Alumni Donors: Who Gives First? The Journal of Higher Education, 93(2), 220-247.

Mobley, Jr., S.D. Johnson, J. & Drezner, N.D. (2021). “Why aren't all the white kids sitting together in the cafeteria?”: An exploration of white student experiences at a public HBCU. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(3), 300–313. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000298

Drezner, N.D., Pizmony-Levy, O. (2021). I belong, therefore, I give? The impact of sense of belonging on graduate student alumni engagement. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50(4), 753-777.

Drezner, N.D., Pizmony-Levy, O. & Anderson-Long, M. (2020). In 'alma mater' we trust? Exploring attitudes towards institutions and alumni giving. Teachers College Record. https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?contentid=23384

Garvey, J.C. & Drezner, N.D. (2019). Towards a culturally inclusive understanding of alumnx philanthropy: The influence of student involvements and experiences on LGBTQ alumnx giving. The Review of Higher Education, 42(5), 363-392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0056

Abbasov, A. & Drezner, N.D. (2018). Exploring educational philanthropy in Azerbaijan: Charitable giving behaviors among the university alumni. Journal of International and Comparative Higher Education, 10(1), 2-12.

Drezner, N.D. (2018). Philanthropic Mirroring: Exploring Identity-Based Fundraising in Higher Education. Journal of Higher Education, 89(3), 261-293. Lead Article http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2017.1368818

Garvey, J.C. & Drezner, N.D. (2016) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer alumni financial giving to and participation with undergraduate alma maters: A mixed-methods study. College Student Affairs Journal, 34(2), 29-42.

Drezner, N.D. & Garvey, J.C. (2016). LGBTQ alumni philanthropy: Exploring (un)conscious motivations for giving related to identity and experiences. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 45(IS), 52s-71s. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0899764015597780

Garvey, J.C. & Drezner, N.D. (2013). Advancement staff and alumni advocates: Cultivating LGBTQ alumni by promoting individual and community uplift. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 6(3), 199-218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0033452

Drezner, N.D. (2013). The Black church and millennial philanthropy: Influences on college student prosocial behavior at a church-affiliated Black college. Christian Higher Education, 12(5), 363-382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2013.824813

Drezner, N.D. & Gupta, A. (2012). Busting the myth: Understanding endowment management at public historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Negro Education, 81(2), pp. 107-120.

Drezner, N.D. (2010). Private Black colleges’ encouragement of student giving and volunteerism: An examination of prosocial behavior development. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 10(3), pp 126-147. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ijea.2010.14

Drezner, N.D. (2010). Fundraising in a time of economic downturn: Theory, practice, & implications – an editorial call to action. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 9(4), pp 191-195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ijea.2009.40

Gasman, M. & Drezner, N.D. (2010).  Fundraising for Black colleges during the 1960s and 1970s:  The case of Hampton Institute. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39(2), 321-342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0899764009333051

Drezner, N.D. (2009). Why give?: Exploring social exchange and organizational identification theories in the promotion of philanthropic behaviors of African American millennials at private-HBCUs. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 9(3), 147-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/ijea.2009.39

Gasman, M., & Drezner, N.D. (2009).  A Maverick in the field: The Oram Group and fundraising for change in the Black college community during the 1970s. History of Education Quarterly, 49(4), 465-506.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5959.2009.00226.x

Perna, L., Lundy-Wagner, V., Drezner, N.D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S., Bose, E., and Gary, S. (2009). The contribution of HBCUs to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research in Higher Education, 50, 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11162-008-9110-y  

Gasman, M., & Drezner, N.D. (2008).  White corporate philanthropy and its support of private Black colleges in the 1960s and 70s. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 8(2), 79-92. 

Gasman, M., & Drezner, N.D. (2007). A rising tide: New Orleans’s Black colleges and their effort to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Multicultural Review, 16(1), pp 34-39. 

Drezner, N.D. (2006). Recessions & tax-cuts: The impact of economic cycles on individual giving, philanthropy, and higher education. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 6(4), pp 289-305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ijea.2150036

Drezner, N.D. (2005). Advancing Gallaudet: Alumni support for the nation's university for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing and its similarities to Black colleges and universities. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 5(4), 301-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ijea.2140222

Noah D. Drezner (he/him) is a Professor of Higher Education, Director of the Higher and Postsecondary Education Program, Special Advisor to the Provost for Doctoral Education, Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee (senate), and Principle Investigator of The Tzedakah Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University. Additionally, he is founding editor of Philanthropy & Education (Indiana University Press) and formerly a Visiting Professor of Education and Philanthropic Studies at Beijing Normal University. 

Noah is internationally known as a leading researcher on educational philanthropy. His research interests include philanthropy and fundraising as they pertain to colleges and universities, including higher education's role in the cultivation of prosocial behaviors.

Currently, Noah’s work is based on identity-based philanthropy. In other words, he is researching how a person’s social identities affect their giving to higher education and how colleges and universities can engage their alumni in more inclusive ways. He is the co-PI for the National Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Alumni, a multi-institutional mixed methods project, and recently completed a population-based survey experiment, The National Alumni Giving Experiment, that evaluates how a person’s social identities affect their propensity to donate and at what level when exposed to different types of fundraising solicitations.

He has published numerous articles and six books and given several international presentations on related topics. His dissertation received the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) H.S. Warwick Award for Outstanding Research in Alumni Relations for Educational Advancement in 2009. The Association of Fundraising Professionals awarded him the 2014 Skystone Partners Prize for Research on Fundraising and Philanthropy for his book, Expanding the donor base in higher education: Engaging non-traditional donors, and their inaugural Early Career Emerging Scholar Award in the same year. Additionally, he was presented the CASE John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy for Educational Advancement in 2015 for his work on philanthropic mirroring and social identity’s impact on giving.

Noah holds his Bachelor of Science from the University of Rochester, a graduate certificate in non-profit leadership from Roberts Wesleyan College, and his Master of Science in Education and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

Noah is an active alumni leader at the University of Rochester. Noah serves as president of the Hillel at the University of Rochester Board and co-chair of the University’s Diversity Advisory Council. Outside of the University, Noah serves on the Justice Policy Institute Board and is the former treasurer of the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), a nonprofit dedicated to bringing LGBTQI refugees to safety. In the past, he served on the boards of Maryland Hillel and Hillel of Rochester-area Colleges, and as president of Kol Tzedek, a Reconstructionist Synagogue in West Philadelphia.

Selected Research Awards & Honors

The Penn GSE Alumni Recent Alumni/Early Career Award of Merit

ASHE/CAHEP Barbara Townsend Lecture

Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy for Educational Advancement.  In recognition of “The Social Base of Philanthropic Fundraising in Higher Education: How Frames and Identity Matter.

Skystone Partners Prize for Research on Fundraising and Philanthropy, Association of Fundraising Professional. In recognition of Expanding the donor base in higher education: Engaging non-traditional donors (Routledge, 2013).

Early Career Emerging Scholar Award, Association for Fundraising Professionals. **First recipient of this new award**

Emerging Scholar Award, ACPA: College Student Educators International.

Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) H.S. Warwick Award for Outstanding Research in Alumni Relations for Educational Advancement. In recognition of my dissertation.

Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy for Educational Advancement.  In recognition of Philanthropy, fundraising, and volunteerism in higher education.

Selected Participant, Association for the Study of Higher Education, Early Career Faculty Teaching & Dissertation Advisement Workshop.

William E. Arnold Award, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.


Selected Teaching & Mentoring Awards

Honorable Mention, Teaching Award, Teachers College, Columbia University

Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar & Mentor, University of Maryland

University Honors Faculty Fellow, University of Maryland 

Lilly-Center for Teaching Excellence Fellowship, University of Maryland

Excellence in Graduate Mentoring Award, College of Education, University of Maryland

Fulbright Award in Distinguished Teaching / Mentor, College of Education, University of Maryland

Outstanding Mentor of the Year, Department of Education Leadership, Higher Education, & International Education, University of Maryland.


Selected Service Awards and Honors

James S. Armstrong Alumni Service Award, University of Rochester 

The Freedom & Liberation Medal, The President’s Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues, University of Maryland

Dean’s College Leadership Award, College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park

Champion of Our Community Award, University of Maryland LGBT Faculty / Staff Association and LGBT Equity Center

Outstanding Advisor Award for a Student Organization, Adele H. Stamp Student Union – Center for Campus Life, University of Maryland, College Park

Visiting Academic Appointments

Visiting Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Higher Education, Institute of Higher Education Studies, Beijing Normal University, 2016-2021


Research Center Affiliations

Centre for Higher Education Futures (CHEF), Aarhus University (AU), Copenhagen, Denmark


Past Academic Appointments

University of Maryland, College Park

Associate Professor of Higher Education (Tenured), 2014

Assistant Professor of Higher Education, 2008-2014

Senior Research Fellow, Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership, School of Public Policy


Past Administrative Appointments

Associate Director of Development, Leadership Gifts, Office of College Advancement, University of Rochester

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