Assistant Vice President for University Advancement

Seattle Pacific University 

Vice President and Treasurer

Seattle Pacific Foundation 
206-281-2308
gnygard@spu.edu
Gordon serves as vice president, treasurer, and chief investment officer of the Seattle Pacific Foundation, which he joined in 1988 after a successful administrative career in banking. He has earned both a B.A. in business administration and economics (1973) and an M.B.A. (2005) from Seattle Pacific. In addition, Gordon serves as president of the Seattle Pacific Gift Fund, assistant vice president for endowment and gift planning for SPU, and he sits on the executive advisory committee of SPU’s School of Business and Economics where he is an adjunct instructor in finance.

Melissa Eller
Administrative Assistant
206-281-2993
ellerm@spu.edu
Melissa joined the gift planning team in May of 2008 as an administrative assistant. She earned her B.A. in communications from the University of Washington and came to SPU from World Concern, where she served as the child sponsorship coordinator. Melissa supports our gift planning specialists in their work related to endowments, charitable remainder trusts, and gift annuities.

Doug Bickerstaff
Major Gifts Officer
206-281-2250
dbickerstaff@spu.edu
Doug graduated from Cascade College in Portland, OR with a B.A. in Social Science and from Multnomah Bible College in Portland, OR with a B.A. in Biblical Literature. For three of his college years, he worked as a radio announcer and remained in the field for the next fifteen years, progressing from Assistant Manager in Spokane, WA to Manager of WCRF FM in Cleveland, OH, all with the Moody Broadcasting Network.  His career has also included sales and account management. This diversity of experience equipped him well to serve at SPU in the Office of University Advancement for the last seven years with a recent promotion to the Office of Corporate, Foundation and Major Gifts.

Laura Lundahl
Grant Writer
206-281-2589
lundahl@spu.edu
Laura has been working in the nonprofit industry since 1997. She has experience writing winning grant proposals, teaching the fund development process, and reviewing and scoring applications for private and federal funding, both an employee and as a consultant in Washington, Iowa, California, and DC.  Currently, Laura serves as the lead academic and advancement grant writer at Seattle Pacific University.  Laura is active in her local church, and volunteers as a grant-writing coach for a local nonprofit.

Marlon Sandlin
Senior Gift Planning Specialist
206-281-2257
msandlin@spu.edu
Marlon earned his B.A. from the University of California-Berkeley in 1975 and M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1979, and is a licensed as a certified financial planner.  He has served Seattle Pacific University since 2001. He has over 28 years of gift planning and development experience, including previous years of service at World Vision, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Compassion International, and Fuller Seminary.

Doug Taylor ‘87
Senior Gift Planning Specialist
206-281-2448
dtaylor@spu.edu
Doug earned his B.A. from Seattle Pacific in 1987 and has been the Alumni Director at Seattle Pacific University since 1996. Prior to being at SPU, Doug worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, ran a small manufacturing plant with 50 employees and sold medical/surgical supplies. Doug and his wife Jean have been married since 1992 and have three young children.

John H. West

Executive Director

Corporate, Foundation and Major Gifts

206-281-2528

westjh@spu.edu

John West came to SPU in 2001 and serves Director of Corporate, Foundation and Major Gifts.  Born and raised in Seattle, John started his career in retail with J. C. Penney Co., served as an Executive at Boy Scouts of America in Tacoma, and spent 18 years as a civilian working for the Department of Defense in various Air Force bases throughout the Western United States and Europe. Following this, John served as COO and General Manager for Northwest Etch Technology and as a consultant with an international ministry in Kirgizstan. Immediately prior to coming to SPU, John served as Development Director, Vice President and Director, and Breakthrough Ambassador with Interdev (an international ministry working in Muslim parts of the world) for a total of six years. John has been an active leader in Tacoma Rotary Number Eight for many years.