Perhaps you (like me) recently drove south down University Drive (since going north would be a bad idea), and while you were driving by campus you looked to your left and thought — what is that building called the Harry D. McGovern Alumni Center? Believe it or not, you found the Harry D. McGovern Alumni Center.

I believe that’s what they call frying-pan-to-the-face obvious.

But forgive me. On to the more pertinent question of what goes on at the Alumni Center. The Center is home to the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association, which acts on behalf of the university to raise funds and distribute those funds where they are needed on campus. Additionally, the organization arranges events around the country for alumni to stay connected and stay involved.

“This is the world of philanthropy, really. Our staff and our

business is about building enduring relationships to maximize advocacy and philanthropy to support NDSU,” said John Glover, president and CEO of the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association.

“Our mission is to help NDSU succeed in its mission — we do that by engaging alumni, companies and charitable foundations that want to help out.”

Donors that go through the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association are able to determine where the funds they donate will be utilized.

As the new president and CEO, I asked Glover about the path to his position.

“I went to SDSU for journalism, and thought I wanted to be a writer. I was for a while, until I fell into this field in 1998. It wasn’t until I got into the profession that I realized what a meaningful and rewarding career it could be.”

Glover worked with NDSU until 2002, when he continued his work in the field of philanthropy in Iowa, before coming back to NDSU in October of 2015 as president and CEO.

It all sounds straightforward, but I found an interesting tidbit from Glover’s past — he used to wrestle alligators. Glover worked in Rapid City’s Reptile Gardens during the summers for five years, beginning in 1987.

“Not everybody can say they wrestled alligators, so there’s that. But when I was in the pen, we had anywhere from ten to twenty alligators in there, so you had to constantly be watching your back. So I guess that was a good lesson — to be constantly aware of what is going on around you,” Glover noted.

While being president and CEO of the NDSU Foundation and Alumni Association might not be quite as cool as being an alligator wrestler, it is arguably a position that is more rewarding and beneficial.

“I am a native of the Dakotas, and the mission of NDSU is compelling to me,” said Glover, “I believe in the ideals of what a land-grant university is all about. Being able to make a difference in the Midwest is appealing.

“Also, NDSU and its alums are a passionate bunch — when a person has the chance to work with people who truly have a passion what they care about, that’s a lot of fun.”