Virginia Tech announced Brad Bell as its new head of the Hokie Club on Tuesday afternoon. His official title is executive associate athletics director of advancement and executive director of the Hokie Club.
"Brad Bell is exactly the type of leader we wanted to bring to Virginia Tech," Tech athletic director Brian White said. "His track record of elevating fundraising operations, securing transformational gifts and building trusted relationships speaks for itself. Brad understands the opportunities in front of us and shares our vision for what's possible at Virginia Tech. As we continue investing in the future of VT athletics, there is no one better suited to lead the Hokie Club into its next chapter."
Bell will "jointly report to the senior vice president for advancement and the vice president and director of athletics," per the release. That's Tom Wamsley and White, respectively. His first day at Tech will be Aug. 1.
He comes to Blacksburg from Athens, Ga., where he spent the last dozen years as the associate athletic director for major gifts with the Georgia Bulldog Club.
He was hired as the organization's major gifts officer in 2014 and received three promotions â in 2015, 2017 and 2021. Before that, Bell was the director of private gifts for student affairs at Georgia from 2012-14.
"As a Power Four, Division I university, we know that athletics fundraising is a high-stakes, high-visibility operation that has only become more complex and demanding with all of the changing rules and opportunities of recent years," Wamsley said. "Brad was an important player on Georgia's championship-caliber fundraising team. We're excited to have him draw from that experience and help us elevate our work with the Hokies' thousands upon thousands of generous, passionate alumni and fans."
He has a background in banking, serving as the branch manager and assistant vice president at Athens First Bank & Trust from 2007-12 â now called Synovus.
Bell played football at Furman and majored in business administration, graduating in 2007. He also received his MBA from Georgia's Terry College of Business in 2011.
"I'm incredibly honored to join Virginia Tech and become part of Hokie Nation," Bell said. "I want to thank Brian White, Tom Wamsley, and the search committee for this tremendous opportunity. The passion and commitment surrounding this university, its alumni and its fans are evident across the country.
"I look forward to building strong relationships with our donors, supporters, and campus partners while helping position the Hokie Club for continued growth. Through our shared commitment, we'll compete for championships, empower our student-athletes and strengthen Virginia Tech athletics for generations to come."
He's the first head of the Hokie Club solely dedicated to fundraising since Bill Lansden, who was the executive director from 2015-19.
Over the last seven years, those duties fell on the shoulders of two different executive associate athletic directors: Brad Wurthman (2019-25), the chief revenue officer who oversees external operations, and Danny White (2025-26), the recently promoted chief operating officer.
Bell is technically the second hire for Brian White, who was hired as AD in late June. White brought Ryan Gottlieb from Florida Atlantic to be the Hokies' deputy AD and chief strategy officer, which was announced on July 1.
Virginia Tech received positive news on the fundraising front in June with the formation of Hokie Ventures and an anonymous $75 million donation, the largest in university history.
"This role is so important to the future of Virginia Tech athletics," said Horacio Valeiras, a Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board member who served on the hiring committee for the position.
"Brad stood out due to his enthusiasm for our commitment to winning, his energy and his firsthand insights on what it takes for programs to compete at the very highest levels today. We welcome him to Hokie Nation and are delighted to have him lead the team responsible for securing the resources it takes to be champions."