One To Watch

Charles Rasberry becomes Florida State University Foundation’s new president and has big plans for the future.
Charles Rasberry – Building a New Foundation

By Erica Bailey

 After a visit last summer, Charles Rasberry and his wife, Helen, were so impressed by the excellence of Florida State University’s educational programs and its leadership that he took the job as president of the FSU Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that helps raise funds to support the university.

“(I was) very excited at the opportunity to come to an institution that’s really trying to improve its standing amongst universities, particularly major research universities, in the country,” Rasberry said.

Since coming to Tallahassee in October, the North Carolina native has been working on getting the foundation ready to start a new fundraising campaign, a daunting task because the university’s last campaign raised $630 million.

“We are now trying to ask ourselves questions of what kind of organization we need to become and how we need to think about ourselves if we want to go after a number as large (as the last campaign),” he said.

“You’ve got to have a lot of philanthropic support (to) help Florida State become that great university – even better than it is today.”   
Rasberry held a similar position at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.