Gabe Cagwin, who joined the Sun Devil Athletics leadership team on Dec. 5, 2012, serves as the Chief Business Development Officer. In his current role, Cagwin works directly with fundraising initiatives within Sun Devil Athletics, oversees the $268 million Sun Devil Stadium Campaign, manages capital campaigns, and assists with the development of ASU’s 330-acre Athletics District to monetize ASU land and provide assets for the community.
Cagwin also has sports-specific responsibilities with administrative management, program development, and operations oversight for two of ASU’s newest programs, Ice Hockey and Men’s Tennis. As a member of the Senior Management Team, Cagwin participates in department-wide policy decisions ranging from web design, season ticket prices, Campaign planning, media relations efforts, academic benchmarks and the multi-year strategic plan for Sun Devil Athletics and the athletics facilities advancement.
In his previous role as Associate Athletic Director for Development, Cagwin helped lead the Sun Devil Club to record fundraising numbers, surpassing $46 million each of the last three years, including $86 million in 2014-2015 (compared to $7.47 million in FY11). Memberships have also grown from 8,500 to over 16,000, which leads the Pac-12. In addition to overseeing the Sun Devil Stadium Campaign, he also helped with the annual fund, major gifts, planned & estate giving, building young alumni and volunteer programs, and implementing sport-specific outreach programs for ASU. Cagwin also oversaw regional development, prospect management database, and development officer metrics, as well as guiding the design of the new SDC logo and Sun Devil Club rebranding initiative.
Before joining Sun Devil Athletics, Cagwin served as Assistant Athletic Director for Development at UCLA, where he helped lead a $135 million campaign to renovate Pauley Pavilion. Recognized as one of the top development officers at UCLA, Cagwin assisted in revamping the department's Annual Giving Fund, established regional fundraising strategies, aided in UCLA’s first priority point system for basketball, and initiated a number of highly successful events for former letterwinners. Before joining UCLA in 2008, Cagwin was the Associate Director of Development at Penn State University, where he was responsible for assisting in the development and operation of fundraising programs designed to secure major gifts for both the University and the Smeal College of Business. He also had stints at Tulsa University and was the Assistant to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at St. John Fisher College while finishing his graduate studies.
Cagwin played basketball at the University at Buffalo where he was selected to the Academic All-District I Basketball team as well as receiving the “UB Distinguished Athlete Leader of the Year Award.” He graduated Magna Cum Laude with his bachelor's degree in 2002 and his master's degree in higher education/student affairs in 2004. He also earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Buffalo in 2006.
