2017 Men of the Year: Brent Dunn

Motivating Factors

Family: My wife, Jennifer, is a speech-language pathologist at Nixa Public Schools, where our son, Dalton, just graduated.
Childhood dream: I wanted to play professional baseball and golf. I also wanted to be a physician, dentist, attorney, conservation agent, and several other careers, including a TV and radio reporter, which I did for six years.
Advice for other men: Be yourself. Give back.

Brent Dunn bleeds maroon and white. As the vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Missouri State University Foundation, Dunn is responsible for MSU’s largest fundraising campaigns in its history.

The team set a $125 million goal for its first comprehensive campaign. When completed in 2012, the campaign exceeded its goal by 33 percent to bring in $167 million total.

“Not only did our unit celebrate the results, but the entire university community did as well,” Dunn says. “In fundraising, a private donation is usually the result of several people’s efforts and not just one person in our unit.”

The team has gone on to set fundraising records in eight of the past nine years. In fiscal 2017, the foundation raised $19.5 million – its second-highest total to date – with 21,992 donors contributing to scholarships and programs, faculty research and facilities enhancement projects.

After a six-year career in broadcasting for local stations such as KWTO, Dunn first joined the university in 1985 as its director of annual giving. Over the next 32 years, he’s worked his way up the ladder, filling the roles of associate director of development and director of athletics development, among others, along the way.

“He is unbelievably loyal to his alma mater,” says former MSU co-worker and Springfield City Manager Greg Burris. “Brent stood out as a young professional on the move. He’s smart, articulate and immediately likeable.”

During his tenure at the school, Dunn also has been responsible for launching a handful of new programs designed to stimulate buy-in from other areas of campus and recognize his team members. The Performance Society recognizes donors to Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts and The BAY Program – Bears Assisting Youth – helps underprivileged youth attend concerts. There’s also the Atta-Bear program, where employees can nominate other employees who go above and beyond the call of duty.

“Our success is determined by the success of everyone in the MSU Foundation,” Dunn says. “The more experience I have as a leader, the more I learn the importance of making sure each individual succeeds.”

Dunn also has led the reorganization of volunteers, going from a 20-member board of directors to a 250-member board of trustees with members nationwide and beginning networks internationally. He also started a volunteer leadership program, which hosted the first MSU Volunteer Leadership Conference this June to educate volunteers and seek input on issues.

Dunn is just as active off campus as he is in his day job. He’s currently serving his third elected term on the Nixa Public Schools Board of Education for the more than 6,000-student district. He’s also a longtime Rotarian, serving the Springfield Southeast Rotary since 1986, including president of the 240-member club in 2002. He’s been elected to two separate three-year terms at Twin Oaks County Club, chairing the 50th anniversary celebration, and currently serves as a trustee at Wesley United Methodist Church.