Jon Denney
Jon Denney is vice president for development at Stanford University, setting the development agenda, establishing goals, and overseeing the fundraising operations across the university.
An alumnus of Stanford University, Denney served in the office of development from 2002 to 2013 in a variety of roles including senior associate vice president for development. He played a key role in the success of The Stanford Challenge, a five-year campaign generating support for developing solutions to complex global problems and educating the next generation of leaders, along with the Campaign for Undergraduate Education.
In 2013, Denney left to launch the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation. He served as the foundation’s president and as chief development officer for the United States Olympic Committee until March 2019, overseeing all organizational fundraising initiatives.
As an undergraduate at Stanford, Denney earned a degree in industrial engineering and was co-captain of the 1985 men’s swimming NCAA Championship team. From 1988 to 1999 he served in Stanford’s athletics department, first leading annual giving programs, then overseeing all fundraising activities, and finally as assistant athletic director for external relations.
From 1999 to 2002, Denney was general manager of group sales and director of business development for Fogdog Inc., a sporting goods e-commerce company, and then as vice president of Inworks, an early-stage subsidiary of the investment manager Commonfund.
Office of Development
The Office of Development works with alumni, parents, and friends to support the university’s mission of excellence in teaching, research, and patient care, and to help accelerate Stanford’s purposeful impact in the world.
Philanthropic gifts—including major gifts, annual funds, and planned gifts—make amazing things possible at Stanford. The generosity of Stanford donors enables the work of students, faculty, and researchers through undergraduate financial aid, professorships, and graduate fellowships; advances groundbreaking discoveries in science, engineering, and medicine; and fuels the social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Together, these donations help build a diverse community of scholars that are driven by curiosity and intellectual rigor—and empower them to address the most complex of global challenges.