Hugh Stevens named executive director to lead the Harvey E. Najim Innovation and Career Advancement Center
Stevens Hugh, Executive Director, Harvey E. Najim Innovation and Career Advancement Center at UTSA
Hugh Stevens has been named executive director to lead the Harvey E. Najim Innovation and Career Advancement Center at UTSA. The new center is made possible by a $3 million gift to UTSA from San Antonio philanthropist Harvey Najim.
“We are excited to welcome Hugh to the leadership team in Career-Engaged Learning to oversee our efforts in providing Roadrunner students with high quality experiential learning in real-world settings,” said Associate Vice Provost Ginnifer Cié Gee. “UTSA has a strong experiential learning ecosystem, and Hugh brings strong expertise in this area; under his direction, the new center will allow us to enhance connection and collaboration across the university and the San Antonio community to support opportunities to prepare our students for careers after graduation.”
Stevens joins UTSA from St. Mary’s University, where he served as executive director of the Harvey Najim Center for Business Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility. As executive director of the Najim Center at St. Mary’s, Stevens oversaw the center’s work in providing knowledge transfer and experiential learning opportunities for business, engineering, humanities and law school students through projects with area businesses, economic development organizations, municipalities and area non-profits.
“I am thrilled to join UTSA and the Career-Engaged Learning team and to have the opportunity to help create a center that realizes Mr. Najim’s vision of students graduating with a ‘degree in one hand and a job offer in the other,’ ” said Stevens.
Stevens has more than 30 years’ experience in the private sector, including as partner and advisor specializing in small-cap manufacturing, environmental technology, and networking organizations. Prior to joining St. Mary’s in 2015, he served in Strategic Planning, Operational and Financial Management roles at Maine Brands LLC. He also served as chief financial officer and executive vice president for a prominent non-profit in western New York, and as a principal partner for a management consultant group.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from SUNY Empire State College and a master’s degree in financial economics from the University of Maine, where he also served as director of the School of Economics’ Knowledge Transfer Alliance.
“Hugh Stevens is a dynamic leader who shares Harvey Najim’s passion for helping students gain marketable skills before they graduate,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “I look forward to working with Hugh to advance the mission of the Najim Center at UTSA.”
Career-Engaged Learning engage students in classroom to career exploration through creating experiential learning opportunities throughout the UTSA campus and within the community. The division supports these activities in developing intentional programming and services while building capacity for the transition from student to career.
