Dr. Mary Bane Lackie, vice president of University Advancement at the University of Central Arkansas
Dr. Mary Bane Lackie, vice president of University Advancement at the University of Central Arkansas and president of the UCA Foundation Inc., has been named the 2025 Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). She will be recognized Nov. 6 at the 43rd annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon.
With 39 years of experience in higher education, Lackie began her advancement career in 1996 in alumni affairs and has since built more than 16 years of expertise in fundraising. Her career includes leadership roles at two other Arkansas universities as well as eight and a half years abroad before returning to UCA in 2018 as assistant vice president for Development. She had previously served at UCA in the 1990s in Student Affairs. In 2020, she was named vice president for Advancement and president of the UCA Foundation, which today manages a $66 million endowment and oversees more than $96 million in net assets.
Under her leadership, UCA launched the public phase of its first $100 million campaign in 2021. The campaign concluded 10 months early in 2023, raising more than $109 million. Its impact includes 114 new endowed scholarships and 15 new faculty and programmatic endowments. Today, an average of 900 students receive $1.5 million in assistance from the UCA Foundation each year.
Lackie has strengthened UCA’s fundraising infrastructure by updating policies, implementing best practices and creating the Office of Legacy Planning in 2022. This office educates donors, collaborates with development officers and has already tripled annual planned gifts.
To expand alumni outreach in Northwest Arkansas – which is home to nearly 4,000 UCA graduates – Lackie established a director of Northwest Arkansas Engagement position in 2024. Earlier this year, a four-day alumni and community blitz in the region drew nearly 800 participants. This effort has already yielded an increase in alumni engagement in these counties by 38 percent.
Additional accomplishments under her leadership include modernizing the Foundation’s scholarship application and awarding process, dedicating staff to donor relations, and launching UCA’s first comprehensive donor stewardship plan, which provides individualized endowment reports with student thank-you notes.
Lackie’s professional influence extends globally. She has presented at higher education conferences in Pakistan and has contributed her expertise through pro bono consulting with the Pakistan Higher Education Commission and one of the country’s leading universities. This international engagement not only reflects her personal commitment to advancing higher education worldwide, but also enhances UCA’s reputation as a university with global reach and impact.
Beyond UCA, Lackie is active in Rotary Club 99 of Little Rock, the Kiwanis Club of Conway, PEO International, the Arkansas Women’s Leadership Network, and is a founding board member of the Vilonia Community Development Corporation and the Arkansas Hats & Gloves Society. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the National Cold War Center and engages with AFP, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the Association of Governing Boards, and the Education Advisory Board. She is a graduate of Leadership Arkansas Class XII and was named the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2023 Outstanding Woman in Nonprofit.
Lackie is also personally generous, having established a UCA nursing scholarship in memory of her sister, Vicky Bane Malone, a 1975 graduate of the university’s nursing program. She and her husband Bill reside in Conway and have four grown children and three grandchildren.
About the UCA Foundation
The University of Central Arkansas Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit organization existing solely to benefit the University. Its mission is to fund the margin of excellence at UCA by securing and stewarding private gifts. This includes providing support for things not funded by the state of Arkansas or any other resource, but which make a difference in the quality and impact of UCA.