Maren Gaughan, MSOD
Associate Dean for Leadership Giving
University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine
Maren has over 30 years of experience organizing, planning and executing programs to generate philanthropic support for the organizational mission. A good communicator who is consistently successful in establishing and expanding relationships with individual, corporate and foundation donors for a variety of heathcare and research organizations.
Maren is a graduate of Gettysburg College where she received a BA in International Studies and earned her MSOD (Masters of Science in Organizational Dynamics) from the University of Pennsylvania. In her career she has worked for such prestigious organizations as The City of Hope Cancer Center and Beckman Research Institute, Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center, Coriell Institute for Medical Research and Penn Dental Medicine.
Early in her career Maren was deeply involved in volunteer management and large scale event production. As her career progressed Maren became more involved in Major Gift Fund-Raising and Corporate partnerships, leading to the title today of Associate Dean for Leadership Giving.
In 2010 when Maren joined Penn Dental Medicine in the role of Associate Dean for Development and Alumni Relations the development program had been largely abandoned due to administrative and staff turnover. Maren has worked consistently with Alumni and Corporate leaders to re-build the profile of Penn Dental Medicine and transform the culture of partnership. Special initiatives in which Maren was a key facilitator were: the complete renovation of the historic Thomas Evans Building (2013-2019), a $15Million dollar effort to rejuvenate the infrastructure of the school; establishment of the PDM Design and Milling Center bringing digital dentistry to all of the students; growth of the volunteer boards and a consistent increase in philanthropic funding; and collaboration with key industry leaders to help advance care in the oral health community.
In addition, Maren has been a member of the Committee for Cultural Growth and is engaged in various activities that establish a positive work environment at Penn Dental Medicine.