Long-time fundraiser Beth B. Raffeld will take the helm of the development office for Harvard College and the Graduate School of Arts Sciences, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) William C. Kirby announced yesterday.

In her new role as Associate Vice President and Dean for Development for FAS, she will direct the fund-raising program, run the development office and foster collaboration between FAS and other development offices.

“When this opportunity opened up in the premier institution for higher education, I found it a very exciting prospect,” Raffeld said. “I’m thrilled to be in a senior position where I can be in a position to help President Summers and Dean Kirby.”

Andrew K. Tiedemann, director of communications for the Development Office, said Raffeld has “an incredible wealth of experience,” especially in terms of fundraising for institutions of higher education.

Raffeld, who was contacted by a firm Harvard had hired to conduct the search for a new administrator, most recently directed the $330 million community and capital campaign for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) of Greater Boston.

That experience follows a long career in development, which Raffeld became involved in through the arts.

After graduating cum laude from Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in English and music, Raffeld started at an ensemble called Music of the Baroque in Chicago. From there, she directed the annual fund for the Chicago Historical Society. She then directed development at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Mass.

She was also the associate director of major gifts for the Campaign for Smith at Smith College before moving on to Williams College—where she held every major fund-raising position from director of development to director of principal gifts—where she remained for 13 years before starting at CJP.

“I soon realized that working in support of the arts means raising money to keep the arts alive,” Raffeld said.

Raffeld’s position was created following the 1997 arrival of Thomas M. Reardon, vice president for alumni affairs and development, and the reorganization of the development office.

It has been empty since Susan K. Feagin, the first person to hold it, resigned in 1998.

During that time, Roger P. Cheever ’67, associate dean for development for FAS, has shouldered both his senior management role, focusing on raising principal gifts and working with top alumni leaders, and the job being taken over by Raffeld.

“We are enormously grateful to him for his willingness during the last five years to take on this administrative role in addition to his already demanding fund-raising duties,” Reardon said yesterday.

Trained as a classical singer and oboist, Raffeld maintains her role in the musical community as a lay leader for The Center for the Arts in Natick.

She also sits on the board for the Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro.

Raffeld lives with her husband and two children in Newton, Mass.

“It’s an educational process and I look forward to learning and growing with the community,” she said.