Robert Morris University (RMU) recently named three new staff members to its department of Institutional Advancement.

As the University’s new major gifts officer, Michele Schmidt will work with the Institutional Advancement team and other University leaders to identify, cultivate, and solicit major donors, as well as assist with government relations. Schmidt, who holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from RMU, joins the University from GSP Consulting Corporation, where she was a government affairs consultant since 2002. She previously served as manager of college relations with the Pittsburgh Technology Council and was a special assistant to Sen. Rick Santorum from 1999 to 2001.

Teresa Gregory was named director for foundation and government grants and will direct the grant-seeking strategies and activities for RMU’s schools, centers, and administrative and institutional areas. Before joining RMU, Gregory was a senior partner for Pinnacle Fundraising Consultants, and has served in development positions with Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance, the University of Washington, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, the Stamford Center for the Arts in Stamford, Conn., and the Yale School of Drama. A member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and vice president of the board and chair of the development committee for Rebuilding Together South Sound, she holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre management from Ithaca College and a master of fine arts degree from the Theatre Producer’s Program at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is also a graduate at the University of Washington’s Strategic Leadership Program.

Effective June 11, Erin Larkin Ramsay will serve as RMU’s director of annual giving, in which role she will be responsible for organizing and implementing strategies and programs for the solicitation of annual gifts to the University. Ramsay will join RMU from Allegheny College, where she was an assistant director of annual giving. Previously, she served as a part-time community organizer for the Oakland Planning and Development Corporation. Ramsay earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Allegheny College and a master of public administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.