Diane Gu

Dr. Diane Gu is the inaugural Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. In this role, she serves as the chief fundraiser for transformational gifts to expand IHME’s innovative, global, and interdisciplinary projects. Dr. Gu is also a faculty member at the University of Washington College of Education.

Previously, she led the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)’s principal and major fundraising strategies while serving as a faculty member. She was the senior advisor of interdisciplinary, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Asia Pacific philanthropy to the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and Deans on key UCLA and UCLA Health initiatives. Dr. Gu’s ongoing social science research, which she began during her PhD work at UCLA, is on how philanthropic motivations, culturally specific education practices, and other social forces (e.g., gender, geography) within educational systems factor into success in university and health care fundraising. Dr. Gu applies the latest philanthropy and cross-cultural research results to creating high-impact programs for organizations to attract, retain, and secure high-impact donations.

Dr. Gu has extensive experience living and working across Europe, Asia, and North America. She has published and taught courses on philanthropy and nonprofit management, women in leadership, science and engineering education, and transnational collaborations, and gives frequent invited talks at national and international conferences. Dr. Gu has served as a member and faculty of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). She is a board member for the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and a senior fellow at the Millennial Presidential Leadership Initiative at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.