Lisa Dunkley
Advisory Board Member
Born in New York and raised in central new Jersey, Lisa Dunkley’s passion for books and reading was firmly established by the time she went Princeton University, from which she graduated in 1983 with a degree in English, a certificate in American Studies, and a thesis prize. After attending an intensive summer publishing course at Radcliffe College, Lisa decided to pursue a career in book publicity at Dell Publishing, and then at Doubleday. She found enormous joy in reading new books and authors, and helping readers to discover them. Lisa would take advantage of the companies’ continuing education programs,to earn a master’s degree in English from New York University. At that time the publishing industry was being transformed by mergers and acquisitions, and Lisa’s future seemed uncertain. She learned that Princeton’s new admission dean, Fred Hargadon, was looking for recent alumni to join the staff. As a former tour guide chair and student panelist, Lisa was drawn to the opportunity —and was thrilled to be in the newly hired group. She returned to campus in 1988. During the interview process she told Dean Hargadon she could see herself staying at Princeton for as long as five years. It would turn out to be a little longer than that.
In 1994 Lisa would begin a newly created position in the university’s annual fund office, focused on researching and sharing the stories of gifts, donors, honorees and beneficiaries. The projects required significant time in libraries and other collections, and led to a revelation: maybe Lisa should become a librarian—and then she’d have to go there every day! Rutgers University had one of the best programs in the country, and with the unselfish support of her boss, Lisa completed her degree going to school kart-time for three years. She had worked with the University Librarian on several projects through the years, and was surprised and deeply moved to be appointed to a 3-year position, and it was in her dream department: Special Collections. Lisa helped develop exhibitions, processed collections, and worked with the Friends, but her greatest joy was helping students and visitors through public services at the reference desk.
Lisa’s fundraising background helped her create a much-needed database of endowed library funds (about 200 at the time), which she did with assistance from the treasurer’s office. When her library appointment came to a close, she was hired by the same group in the treasurer’s office to continue this work, but now for all of the university’s endowed funds (about 1200). Two years later, as this project neared completio, a new permanent position was created in the donor relations department within University Advancement. Its focus was a nearly perfect blend of the jobs Lisa most enjoyed: she researched the histories of gifts, and created impact reports for donors to understand how their gifts are used. It is the position Lisa would hold for the longest time—15 years—and it would be her last. Lisa retired from Princeton in 2019 after 30 years. She remains in the area, as she plans the next stages of her life, which will include music, sports (MLB and college basketball) and, always and forever, libraries, books and reading.
