Updated: Friday, June 16, 2023, at 3:32 p.m.
Aristide Collins Jr., the University’s vice president, chief of staff and secretary will leave his position at GW next month after serving nearly six years in the role, according to a University release Tuesday.
Collins will depart from GW in July to become the executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief of staff at the Strada Education Foundation in August, a nonprofit organization working to “strengthen” the connection between postsecondary education and opportunity in the United States, according to the release. Former University President Thomas LeBlanc appointed Collins as vice president, chief of staff and secretary of the University in 2017, where he led the offices of the Board of Trustees, Government and Community Relations and University Events and Venues, according to the release.
Collins, who has worked at GW for 13 years, oversaw the University presidential transitions of LeBlanc, Mark Wrighton and incoming president Ellen Granberg, including chairing the presidential transition team in 2017 for LeBlanc.
“GW is a part of my DNA,” Collins said in the release. “I am very proud of the faculty, staff, students, alumni and administrators that I have worked with, and am excited about the growth of the institution during my time here.”
The release states Collins first worked for GW in the late 1990s in the Office of Alumni Relations as director of development for University projects and later returned to the University in 2010, serving as the vice president for development and alumni relations from 2014 to 2017. In the role, Collins oversaw a University fundraising campaign that ran from 2014 to 2017 that funded programs like student aid, athletics and academic and construction projects after reaching its $1 billion goal in May 2017.
Collins also helped oversee Mike Milken and Sumner Redstone’s $80 million donation to the public health school in 2014 while working in the Office of the Board of Trustees, which renamed the School of Public Health and Health Services to the Milken Institute School of Public Health.
“Aristide has been a valued and trusted colleague in support of GW and the Board for many years, and I am grateful to him for his service,” Board of Trustees Chair Grace Speights said in the release. “He has worn many hats at our university, and he has been instrumental in advancing the university’s mission for over a decade.”
Collins begins his new role at the Strada Education Foundation in August. The University has not yet named his replacement.
This post has been updated to reflect the following:
This post was updated to include that Collins has worked at GW for 13 years. The Hatchet incorrectly reported that Collins was serving as the vice president for development and alumni relations when Mike Milken and Sumner Redstone donated to the public health school. Collins was working in the Office of the Board of Trustees when the school received this donation. We regret this error.
