Auburn University promotes Rob Wellbaum to senior vice president for Advancement

Rob Wellbaum has been promoted to Auburn University’s senior vice president for Advancement, President Christopher B. Roberts announced today.

Wellbaum, whose appointment is effective immediately, has served Auburn as the vice president for Philanthropy in Auburn Advancement since 2022 and previously served as the senior associate athletics director for Development from 2016-2022. Wellbaum has more than 25 years of development experience at Auburn, beginning in 1998 as a development officer in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.

“I am impressed with the breadth and depth of experience that Rob brings to this important position coupled with his enduring commitment to Auburn,” Roberts said. “I am highly confident that he will provide strong leadership to all elements of our advancement enterprise and continue its upward trajectory as we work toward better serving our university and our alumni.”

Wellbaum currently leads principal and major gift fundraising teams and initiatives for Auburn. In this new role, he will oversee Auburn Advancement, which includes communications and marketing, advancement operations and strategy, engagement and philanthropy. Wellbaum stated that he is committed to the advancement model and believes in the vision Roberts and Provost Vini Nathan have set for the university.

“A few years ago, university leadership brought Alumni Affairs and Development back together, along with the Office of Communications and Marketing, to establish Auburn Advancement,” Wellbaum said. “Great strides have been made, and we are now better and stronger than before. A lot has changed in our organization during the past 25 years, but our purpose has remained rock solid — to support Auburn University’s efforts to educate students, drive innovation and discovery and improve the lives of citizens of our state, region and the nation.”

Additionally, Wellbaum will oversee the Auburn University Foundation and the Auburn Alumni Association. Through Wellbaum’s tenure at Auburn, he served the central development office as the senior associate vice president, the interim vice president for Development and president of the Auburn University Foundation.

His responsibilities included planning and managing Auburn’s $1 billion “Because This is Auburn” campaign. Prior to working at Auburn, Wellbaum served in development for the Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center Foundation, now Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Auburn.