IUAA adds passionate IU graduates to staff

For four alumni, IU is more than a homecoming.

“We just added four really strong, stellar people to join our talented team,” said IU Alumni Association Executive Director J Thomas Forbes.

It took months of searching to find the top candidates for the open positions at IUAA.    
“IUAA has not had a staff member dedicated to recent graduates in the past, so we hope that we are going to have the chance to target and engage them with programming specific to their wants and needs,” Alumni Program officer Emili Sperling said.

“Our engagement needs to start when the students are on campus. The IUAA is much more than membership; we are your support and link beyond Bloomington.”

Sperling graduated from IU in 2008 with a bachelors degree in Spanish from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Sperling was a senior admissions director in the IU Office of Admissions before working for IUAA and also worked with student tours around campus.

“I have worked with both students and alumni in two separate positions and thought it was an amazing opportunity to work with those two audiences in one position,” she said.

“As a 2008 graduate, I have been able to remain an active member of the IU community being in Bloomington. I hope to keep those who are active students on campus today as engaged young alumni once they leave campus.”

Sperling said she loves working with this particular audience and plans on bridging the gap between current students and alumni.

On Thursday, Bryan Bradford began his new position as alumni relations officer. He will work with all IU Alumni chapters and school-based groups to really “build a strong alumni network.”

“He’s a strategic thinker,” Forbes said.

Mike Mann, the alumni program officer for spirit, pride and tradition, shared a similar attitude.

Mann has had a passion for IU since he arrived as a freshman in 1987 and said he has always planned on coming back and being a part of the IU community and family.

He graduated from IU in 1991 with a bachelors degree in marketing from the Kelley School of Business.

His job involves planning events like Homecoming, Hoosier Village, the IU Mini Marathon and coordinating the alumni aspect of the home and away football games.

Erin Zody also started her first day with the IUAA on Thursday. Zody, a 2001 Kelley School of Business graduate, will serve as the director of finance, planning and alumni business operations.

Zody said she looks forward to using her expertise to enrich IUAA.

“I’m excited to use my prior experience in education for the benefit of the alumni association and the University,” she said.