APS welcomes Jason LeGrand as global director of development

The American Physical Society has appointed Jason LeGrand to lead the organization’s development and fundraising efforts as Global Director of Development. Since the fall of 2025, LeGrand has led the association’s comprehensive fundraising strategy.

LeGrand is an experienced development leader with more than a quarter-century of experience at some of the world’s leading institutions, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, the University of Maryland College Park, and Cornell University.

LeGrand will spend significant time traveling to meet APS donors around the country and world. In his first few months on the job, he has visited members on the East and West Coasts, met with physics industry leaders, and attended several APS meetings.

“Together, we are excited to strengthen relationships with donors and expand the impact of generosity in the years ahead.” said Francis Slakey, APS chief external affairs officer. “Jason’s expertise will enable us to use the power of philanthropy to expand access, support emerging scientists, and deepen public engagement with science — directly supporting the programs and initiatives that sustain APS’s mission year-round.”

LeGrand says he was drawn to the APS position because of the organization’s global reputation and reach, and its potential to address some of the world’s most serious problems. He has also been inspired by the organization’s ground game in advocating for the funding of federal science agencies.

Physics was already an important part of his life: LeGrand’s husband Eric Burkholder, an assistant professor of physics at Auburn University, is an APS volunteer leader, serving on the Executive Committee for the Topical Group on Physics Education Research, as an APS advocacy volunteer, and as a member of the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) Editorial Board. As a result, LeGrand has attended multiple APS meetings over the past decade, including the 2025 Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, California.

In 2023, the couple established the Jason LeGrand and Dr. Eric Burkholder Endowed Scholarship for Physics Education — inspired in part by Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) research — at LeGrand’s alma mater, Southeast Missouri State University. At the university, LeGrand serves as a member of the university foundation board of directors and campaign steering committee.

LeGrand began his career at Cornell University in the late 1990s, and later led fundraising programs at the University of Denver, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and University of Maryland College Park.

More recently, LeGrand served as Senior Director of Principal Gifts and Strategic Initiatives in a role focused on transformational gifts of $10 million or more at UC Berkeley, which recently completed a $7.3 billion campaign. His Berkeley stint included work as a senior strategist for gifts in support of numerous departments throughout the university.

His time with the University of California also included three years with UC Davis during the first few years of the university's $2.25 billion campaign. LeGrand served as a major and principal gift fundraiser for the Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, which ranks as the #1 veterinary school in the country.

When at home in Auburn, Alabama, the couple enjoys spending time with their eight pets, including an energetic Shih Tzu/Schnauzer mix who has a human pediatric pacemaker implanted by the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.