Robert B. Cashion ’81, the associate vice president for University development and director of development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), will serve as acting vice president for alumni affairs and development, University President Drew G. Faust announced on Monday.

Cashion fills the vacancy left by Donella M. Rapier, who announced her decision to step down in February after hinting that Faust asked for her resignation.

“I am delighted that President Faust has asked me to take on this role,” Cashion said in a statement released by the University on Monday. “This is a very exciting time for Alumni Affairs and Development at Harvard and I look forward to working closely with Drew as she begins her presidency.”

Jack P. Reardon Jr. ’60, the executive director of the Harvard Alumni Association, said that he welcomes Cashion’s appointment.

“He will do a very good job while the search process is going forward,” said Reardon, who has worked with Cashion several times over the past few years. “This is a great big operation, and he’s going to keep it going.”

Faust will now have to decide how much progress can be made on the University’s multi-billion-dollar capital campaign before the appointment of someone for the permanent position.

The campaign, which began its “quiet phase” in early 2004, was put on hold during Interim President Derek C. Bok’s year in office. Faust also said in an interview with The Crimson earlier this year that the campaign may be delayed until all of the new deans have been appointed to their respective schools.

“You have to decide how much money is reasonable that you think you can raise and what your priorities are,” Reardon said. “With the new president, that’s going to take a little time, but she has it right up at the top of her list of things that she’s working on fast.”

Though administrators have yet to establish a dollar figure goal for the proposed campaign, they expect it to exceed the last capital drive, which raised $2.6 billion when it ended in 1999. A similar seven-year campaign launched this year would raise close to $4.4 billion, assuming a higher-education inflation rate of 3.5 percent.

Cashion earned his master's in business administration from the University of Virginia in 1983 and worked on Wall Street, serving as a senior vice president in municipal finance at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

He has served in his current position since 2005, overseeing numerous projects and areas of funding, including the Harvard College Fund, FAS Capital Gifts, and FAS Operations. He also served on the Harvard College admissions committee for five years.

“Bob has played an important leadership role within Alumni Affairs and Development, especially these past few months, and I am grateful to him now for accepting formal responsibility for guiding our activities in this area during this moment of transition,” Faust said in the statement. “I know he will continue to serve Harvard with his characteristic intelligence, skill and collegiality and I look forward to working with him even more closely in the time ahead.”

—Staff writer Nathan C. Strauss can be reached at strauss@fas.harvard.edu.