Fred Poust's professional career has taken him to some impressive positions, including senior vice president of corporate sales and marketing for Time Inc., chief marketing officer at the Clinton Global Initiative, and senior vice president of conferences and business development at Forbes Media.

As an active professional and philanthropist in New York City, Poust maintains a full calendar, but throughout his career he's always carved out time for his alma mater, the University of Oregon.

Poust, the son of a Duck and a 1982 Clark Honors College graduate in economics, served on the UO Alumni Association Board of Directors for eight years, and spent the 2010-11 school year as UOAA board president. His association with the UOAA board began after a chance meeting with a former UOAA executive director in the Big Apple.

"They had an event which I decided to attend,” he said. “[Former alumni association executive director] Dan Rodriguez and I met and talked, and he said they needed more East Coast representation. He asked if I would join, and I said yes and never looked back.

During Poust's term as president, the Ford Alumni Center opened and the board focused on becoming a more active body.

"The board wanted to have a bigger impact on the university," he said. "We switched our focus to task-oriented groups, and everybody felt like they made a tangible contribution by the end of the year. We each had goals, and we were able to change our focus to support the mission and goals of the UOAA."

While no longer a member of the UOAA Board of Directors, Poust is still heavily involved with the UO on the Clark Honors College advisory board and as one of the 15 members of the Capital Campaign Cabinet, assisting with the university's $2 billion fundraising campaign.