Linda Carter is associate vice chancellor for alumni engagement at UMSL. (Photo by August Jennewein)

In high school and college, Linda Carter dreamed of, and worked toward, becoming a hymnologist and researching the history of church music. But a career assessment more than 25 years ago helped her discover her true calling.

“I realized that I wasn’t as fulfilled in my career as I could be,” Carter says. “I took an extensive evaluation and counseling assessment over several days, and concluded that I would be a natural in alumni and student relations.”

And a natural she is.

Carter’s first day as associate vice chancellor for alumni engagement at the University of Missouri–St. Louis was Jan. 28. She brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education advancement to UMSL, including the past four years as director of alumni relations at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and executive director of the UNCG Alumni Association. She also served as the director of development at UNCG for seven years.

At UMSL, Carter leads the Office of Alumni and Community Relations, which works with the UMSL Alumni Association to engage and connect the university’s more than 85,000 alumni. The office also supports university fundraising and communication efforts and builds partnerships with municipalities and businesses near campus.

“I’m excited to be a part of UMSL,” Carter says. “I see wonderful changes coming in alumni relations, and I’m happy to be part of it. I’m interested, as is the university, in looking into offering value-added programming in which we create opportunities that add value to the alumni at any point in their cycle of life.”

Before her time at UNCG, Carter worked at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and the University of Chicago.

This story was originally published in the spring 2013 issue of UMSL Magazine.