(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY) Veronica Fitzgerald has accepted the role of vice president for advancement and executive director for the Empire State University Foundation. Fitzgerald has served as interim vice president for advancement since September of 2024 and is now settling into the role long-term.

A seasoned communications and advancement professional, Fitzgerald has proven to be successful in fundraising and management–her areas of expertise. Before her service to Empire State University, she worked as vice president for Institutional Advancement at The College of Saint Rose. Her previous experience also crosses over into holistic care and medicine, with prior roles as chief development officer at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, as well as vice president for development at the Albany Medical Center Foundation. She held several other advancement roles at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Growing up, Fitzgerald was an avid reader and recalls constantly having her head angled into a book. This is an interest that continued growing through time, with English being a subject she excelled at in school. Later on, she completed a liberal arts degree at Dutchess Community College, where her father was a professor. “It gave me exposure to an excellent variety of subjects… they were fascinating courses because they were so interdisciplinary,” she shares.

Following her associate degree, she pursued a bachelor’s degree at SUNY Plattsburgh, where she majored in communication arts. She jokingly adds that at this point, she was able to overcome her dread of public speaking, which has been a helpful skill throughout her career. Moving to the Capital Region, Fitzgerald pursued her master’s degree in English at the University at Albany — a program that allowed her to indulge her lifelong love of literature and hone her writing skills.

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