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Office of Alumni & Development
Advancement Services
Lori Russek
Executive Director
Lori became Executive Director of the Office of Alumni & Development in January 2012. Prior to that role she served as interim Executive Director from July to December 2011, while also leading the Advancement Services Office in processing gifts. She has been an employee with Texas A&M University-Kingsville since 2006. In addition to her role as Executive Director, Lori provides strategic leadership, planning, oversight and support of the university's Alumni & Development activities through management of the central database, reporting mechanisms, prospect research and management, gift and pledge processing and business services.
Prior to joining the alumni & development staff, the Riviera native was a self-employed business owner for over 20 years. She then enrolled at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in business administration/management. Enjoying her experience at the university, she immediately accepted a position working with the Development staff.
Russek resides in Kingsville and has three children, Michael, Christopher and Ashley and two grandchildren.
Cecelia Gonzales
Advancement Services Coordinator
A Texas A&M University-Kingsville alumna and Kingsville resident, Cecelia Gonzales has been serving as Advancement Services Coordinator since May 2012. She was previously the Specialist of Advancement Services from January 2011 through April 2012. She provides support in the areas of data management and business operations with a concentrated focus on accounting, depositing/receipting and reporting. She also helps coordinate the acknowledgement for gifts received.
Gonzales received her bachelor's degree in business administration/management from Texas A&M - Kingsville in 2009.
Administrative
Carol Jones
Administrative Assistant III
Carol Brooks Jones joined the Office of Alumni & Development in August of 2004 as the Administrative Assistant. In this position, she works for both Alumni Affairs and the Office of Development welcoming alumni and friends and assisting with the administrative needs of these offices. Prior to joining this office, she began working at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in July 2001 assisting the Chair and faculty of the Department of Human Sciences for three years. Her experiences ranged from direct assistant to the chair, support for the faculty with their preparation for classes, management of the building, event planning and assisting students from class enrollment to processing for graduation.
Jones moved to Kingsville, TX in July 1999 following her husband, Dr. Kim D. Jones, as he began his career at Texas A&M University-Kingsville as an Environmental Engineering professor at the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering. Prior to this move, her experience grew from being the Administrative Secretary with the Office of Media and Communications to the Administrative Assistant for the Dean of Engineering and lastly the Administrative Coordinator for the Office of the President at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Each of these offices allowed her to coordinate events, travel and communication with alumni.
Jones, a native of the state of Virginia, has been married for 37 years. She and her family have moved frequently around the country and overseas as well.
Relationship Management
 Erin Paige de Vaudrecourt
Annual Giving Programs Coordinator
Erin Paige de Vaudrecourt, a native of Lufkin, TX, joined the Development staff at Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 2008 and serves as the Coordinator of Annual Giving Programs in the Office of Alumni & Development. She manages direct mail appeals and communications with our alumni and friends in an effort to generate support for the university.
She is a graduate of the College of Business Administration at Texas A&M University-Kingsville where she received her BBA in marketing in 2006 and her MBA in 2007. She has served as the President of the American Marketing Association at TAMUK, an Associate Justice for the Student Government Association and as a member of Delta Mu Delta, an academic business fraternity.
de Vaudrecourt has lived in Kingsville since 2003 and is active in the community as a part of Kingsville's Next Generation. She is also a member of St. Gertrude's Catholic Church where she serves on the stewardship committee and choir.
Alumni Affairs
 Yvonne Lichtenberger Trachta
Director of Alumni Affairs
A Freer native who graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University-Kingsville in 1994 with a degree in international marketing, Trachta joined the Alumni & Development staff in September 2010 as Director of Alumni Affairs and liaison to the Javelina Alumni Association (JAA). She has been a member of the JAA Board of Directors since 2008 and is a 2009 graduate of the North Chamber Leadership Lab in San Antonio. She is also active with the Star Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association by serving on its Board of Directors and chairing several events.
Trachta previously worked for The Spahn Law Firm in San Antonio where she was the Executive Director of Operations and was responsible for providing leadership experience in marketing, client and community relations and event management. Prior to that, she was an Inventory Supervisor with Coca-Cola Enterprises and a Logistics Manager at TecStar.
She and her husband, Jay, have three children: Marissa, Alexandra and JJ. |