Framingham State University has created its first-ever director of external affairs position, naming David Halbert to the inaugural role.
In his new capacities, Halbert has been tasked with creating and launching strategic efforts to deepen the ties between FSU and its community, including local municipalities, organizations, businesses, and residents, according to a Tuesday press release from FSU.
“I’m thrilled to bring David’s knowledge, talent and energy to Framingham State,” FSU President Nancy Niemi said in the press release. “One of our key priorities is to foster more meaningful partnerships with our surrounding community in order to advance our mission to serve the public good. David is going to play a key role in this effort.”
Halbert most recently worked as executive director at Bay State Progress, a Boston-based donor organization focused on progressive power building, policy making, and governance, according to the release.
Previously, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge as outreach manager for The Educational Justice Institute. Before that, he served as deputy director of community affairs at the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, based in Woburn.
Between 2018 and 2019, Halbert ran as a candidate for a city counselor at-large position for the City of Boston, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“As a Framingham native I could not be more excited to come home and support the incredible work taking place at Framingham State,” Halbert said in the release. “Growing up literally down the street from campus I have watched FSU change for the better for decades.”
Halbert graduated with his master’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston and his bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams.
“Having the chance to lift up the Framingham State story – and more importantly its value – to partners throughout the city and beyond is an incredible opportunity. My goal is to do everything I can to help support the Framingham State community and ensure that our students have the kind of transformative experience, academically, professionally, and personally, that I was privileged to have as a Massachusetts’ public higher education student,” Halbert said in the release.
Halbert’s appointment comes a month after the university announced its Alumni Association and Foundation Board had received a $2 million gift from FSU Professor Emeritus Thomas Eames and his wife Joan to establish an endowed fund for its College of STEM.
With 2,752 full-time students, FSU is the eighth-largest college or university in Central Massachusetts when ranked by full-time or full-time equivalent enrollment as of fall 2024 by WBJ’s Research Department.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
