As vice president for advancement, Leet leads development, communications and trustee relations for The Jackson Laboratory (JAX). Leet comes to JAX with more than 25 years of advancement experience, much of it as a senior leader in large, complex institutions. Prior to joining JAX, Leet served as vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of California, Irvine leading all advancement and fundraising programs and initiatives, including those of the UCI Medical Center and Chao Comprehensive Cancer Center, and oversaw the university's community and government relations programs. Under Leet's leadership, UCI became the youngest university to complete a $1 billion fundraising campaign. He also secured UCI's largest gift ever of $40 million for nursing and allied health sciences. During his tenure, the department recruited nearly 90 advancement professionals globally, and implemented development analytics and a comprehensive donor relationship management system. Leet was formerly vice president at Grenzebach Glier & Associates (GG+A) in Chicago, an advancement consulting firm. There he worked with universities and nonprofits to enhance development program for clients including UCLA Health Systems, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pew Charitable Trusts. While vice president of development at the Arizona State University Foundation, Leet managed the development staff for a then-planned $1.3 billion campaign. He also collaborated on fundraising projects such as the ASU Biodesign Institute and helped with ASU's institutional rebranding initiative and innovative prospect management program. The branding and prospect management efforts both garnered national awards from the Council for Advancement & Support of Education (CASE). Leet previously was at Creighton University, a private comprehensive research and teaching university. He held several major gifts officer and management positions and secured a $50 million outright gift, the largest in Creighton's history. In 2007, Creighton received the CASE Circle of Excellence Award as one of the nation's top 30 development programs. Leet received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Kansas State University and his master's degree in nonprofit management at Arizona State University.

Source: The Jackson Laboratory on 06/15/2018