As Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Advancement, Matt Spencer leads a team of 40+ fundraising and alumni relations professionals across the Samueli College of Health Sciences and the UCI Health enterprise. Matt has worked for nearly 25 years in development and alumni relations roles within the public university, private university, community college, and community foundation sectors, most recently serving as Senior Executive Director of Advancement at UC Irvine since 2019.

Prior to his appointment at UC Irvine, Matt was Senior Executive Director of Advancement at University of Utah where he led a 16-person team across the five schools/colleges within the U of U Health consortium and was a part of the $2B “Imagine New Heights” comprehensive campaign. Before that, Matt served as Associate Vice President of Development at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and his leadership was integral to completion of the “Dream 125” campaign which finished 31% over goal. Matt held chief philanthropy officer positions at Colorado Mountain College and the Vail Valley Foundation following a stint as Associate Director of Development for the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. In 2011, Matt was named Most Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Colorado Chapter. 

Matt has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Studies from Willamette University in Salem, OR; where he also played varsity football and spent time studying abroad at both the University of Havana (Havana, Cuba) and the University of San Francisco (Quito, Ecuador).  Matt later earned a Master of Science in Sports Organization from Miami University in Oxford, OH and it was here that he first began his career in development as a graduate assistant within the athletics department.