Looking back over Steve Goldstein’s long and diverse career in advertising and marketing, radio and television, and venture capital, it might appear as if his new position as president and CEO of the University of Minnesota Foundation is a bit of a non sequitur. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“As a student, the U changed my life forever,” Goldstein says. “So I’ve always had a passion for my university. That’s why I’ve stayed involved.”
Goldstein graduated from the university with a history degree in 1973. For more than 20 years, he has offered his services as a volunteer in various areas, particularly fundraising. In 2000, he became a trustee of the University of Minnesota Foundation, which helps the U of M commercialize its intellectual property and generate revenue from gifts and investments. Five years later, he was named the foundation’s vice president of strategic initiatives. In August, he was named its president and CEO.
As head of the U of M Foundation, Goldstein will draw on his years of professional experience to continue to develop new revenue streams that will support the U’s ambition to be one of the world’s top three public research universities.
In addition to 13 years in account management at Minneapolis-based ad agency Carmichael Lynch, Goldstein served as vice president and general manager of WCCO Radio. In 1992, he founded Colfax Communications, through which he acquired and ran 17 radio stations, mostly Midwest based (including a couple locals—remember “turn your knob to BOB” in the mid-’90s?). In 1997, after selling the stations, he became chairman of St. Paul–based Internet Broadcasting, which develops and manages Web sites for television stations, before launching the Quatris venture capital fund in 2000.
Goldstein’s number-one priority as foundation head is to plan for the university’s next capital campaign. “It’s definitely a challenge in this economic environment,” he concedes. “Our job is to make certain donors understand fully the kind of impact they need to have so their university can continue to be healthy, thriving, and growing.”
Even in brighter economic times, organizing a campaign of such magnitude would be challenging. “When you think that there are 460,000 living alumni of the U, and last year we received $289 million in gifts from 90,000 donors, you can see how mind-boggling this is,” Goldstein notes. Still, he is far from daunted by the task; he sounds invigorated about “all the intriguing possibilities” that technology may bring to his fundraising efforts.
In any case, he does seem to look upon his new position as an entrepreneurial opportunity. “I’ve had a lot of experiences over the years in traditional and entrepreneurial businesses,” Goldstein says. “But the one constant in my life has been the University of Minnesota.”
