ISSUED: 14 October 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Greg Fields, philanthropy consultant and award-winning novelist, has been named acting director of the Bonnie and Bill Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications at Shepherd University.
“I’m honored to play a role in the continuing emergence of the Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications at Shepherd University,” Fields said of his appointment. “Given the volatile nature of the current political arena, the Institute’s work is vitally important in reauthoring public discourse based on logic, reason, and mutual respect. Its first two years have seeded programs that can change the way we look at the complex issues that surround us while triggering new avenues of civic engagement. Great things lie ahead.”
Fields is president of Philanthropy Directions International (PDI), a consulting firm that has worked with nonprofit clients and their donors across four continents. Prior to establishing PDI, he served as managing director for the Global Fund for Children, where he helped bring a small organization to its current posture as a multimillion-dollar international grant maker with distributions to groups in more than 45 countries.
Fields is also an award-winning novelist; his most recent work, Through the Waters and the Wild, has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Literary Titan Award in Literary Fiction.
Established in 2019, the Stubblefield Institute serves as an active center for the study and promotion of civil political discourse, authentic and constructive debate, and positive civic engagement. The Institute seeks to demonstrate that when opposing viewpoints are respected and legitimized in ways that avoid negative labeling, alienation, and silencing, it can strengthen our nation’s ability to better challenges and solve problems.
The Stubblefield Institute is closely knit to Shepherd University’s world-class faculty in the political science and communications departments, including two Stubblefield Institute Senior Fellows: Dr. Stephanie Slocum-Schaffer, professor of political science, and Dr. Matthew Kushin, associate professor of communication. Drs. Slocum-Schaffer and Kushin conduct research to gain new knowledge pertaining to civic science, political communications, and civil engagement, then release their findings to the media and academic communities.
The Shepherd Entrepreneurship and Research Corporation (SERC) supports the development of projects, partnerships and initiatives at Shepherd University, and oversees the administrative and financial operations of the Stubblefield Institute.
Fields replaces David Welch, who recently stepped down after two years with the Institute.
— 30 —