Dave Fujimoto ’17

David Fujimoto currently serves as the Chief Development Officer for the Bush School of Government and Public Service. In this role he leads the fundraising efforts for the school by matching donor passions to the academic mission of the school while being a strong advocate for the ‘Noble Mission” of Public Service espoused by President George H.W. Bush. Previously, Dave held a variety of positions with the Texas A&M Foundation including: the Assistant Vice President for Training, Assessment & Performance Optimization, and as the Director of Development for Veteran Affairs in the Don & Ellie Knauss Veterans Resources & Support Center (VRSC). Prior to working at the Foundation, Dave served as the Director of Strategic Engagement at The Association of Former Students where he ran Texas A&M’s Legislative Advocacy program. “Fuji” is also active in community serving as the Past-President of the Brazos County A&M Club, as a county Precinct Chair, as a volunteer parent with Allen Academy, mentoring high school candidates to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and as a leadership instructor at Texas A&M’s Hollingsworth Center for Ethical Leadership.

Over the course of a 22-year Air Force career, Dave served in a variety of operational, staff and leadership roles bringing him to ten states and 50 countries around the world. Lt Col Fujimoto retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2015 as a Senior Pilot which included 12 overseas deployments, and one assignment to Headquarters Air Force (Air Staff) at the Pentagon. Ten of these deployments were after September 11th, 2001, where he served in multiple combat roles flying the AC-130H Spectre Gunship and other special operations aircraft…eventually serving on the four-star general’s Commanders Advisory Group (CAG). Over his flying career, Lt Col Fujimoto logged nearly 3,000 flight hours, including 695 combat hours across 138 combat missions over the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq. A first-generation college student, Dave was awarded an undergraduate degree in 1993 from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and holds graduate degrees (with distinction) from both American Military University and The Bush School of Government & Public Service.