Monday, March 18, 2002

WILMINGTON – Following conference call consultation and approval by the executive committee of the UNC Wilmington Board of Trustees, Chancellor James R. Leutze today announced the selection of former Wilmington City Manager Mary Gornto to become interim vice chancellor for university advancement effective April 1, 2002.

The interim appointment recommendation will be forwarded to the UNC Board of Governors for consideration for full appointment at its May meeting. She fills the position vacated by Patton McDowell who resigned to become vice president for institutional advancement at Queens College in Charlotte.

Mary Gornto is a Wilmington native who served as Wilmington city manager from July 1993 to December 2001. She had previously served as deputy county manager for New Hanover County and as executive director of the Downtown Area Revitalization Effort, Inc. (DARE).

She received a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Sweet Briar College in 1969 and completed the executive development program and the School of Government (formerly the Institute of Government) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also completed the senior executive institute at the Center for Public Policy at the University of Virginia. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina City and County Management Association.

Active in community affairs, Gornto served on the Board of Directors of the J.W. Murchison Company Inc. In 1998, she was named to the UNCW Cameron School of Business Executive Board and she is currently serving as president of the board of visitors of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has been on the Lineberger Center Board of Visitors since 1994.

Chancellor Leutze noted that Mrs. Gornto brings vast experience as a manager in the public service and non-profit sector, and she is well known across the state in municipal affairs. “While she has not had direct experience in a paid role as a fund raiser,” Dr. Leutze said, “she has been very successful in leading fund raising efforts as a volunteer. Her professional experience and network of friends in the community and across the state equip her well for this critical position at UNCW.”

Mrs. Gornto’s fund-raising activities include her current work with the Lineberger Center; the board of visitors is a development board. For St. John’s Museum of Art in 1991-92, she co-chaired an endowment fund and capital campaign that had a $3 million goal. For her alma mater Sweet Briar College, she has served as alumnae class president (1981-85) and chaired the 20th reunion fund in 1988-89. She has also served as president of the Junior League of Wilmington (1980-81) and currently is president of the Oakdale Cemetery Board of Directors. She is active in St. James Episcopal Church, having served on the vestry from 1984-87 and as senior warden in 1987.

As interim vice chancellor for advancement, Mrs. Gornto will supervise the university’s fund-raising efforts and alumni relations and work with the UNCW Board of Visitors and the UNCW Foundation.