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Vice President and Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Indiana University
Achievements: In her 2-1/2 years at Indiana University, Nancy Paton has established and launched the first university-wide marketing and communications strategy; modernized and restructured marketing/communications; launched an internationally award-winning brand strategy and national campaign that has resulted in strengthened awareness and reputation for IU; and helped drive increased student applications across all IU campuses and IU Online. “I’m proud that the communications and marketing organization has established an internal and external reputation for high-quality performance that raises the bar for marketing/communications excellence and impact,” she said.
Career track: Paton’s career has included leadership roles in large health care organizations and higher education institutions. She previously served as the inaugural chief communications and marketing executive at the University of Florida and the University at Buffalo.
Influential moment: Being named the Higher Education Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association in 2017. “Achieving national recognition for one’s leadership impact and professional excellence among my peers is an honor I will always cherish,” she said. “What made this award even more important to me was that I was nominated by my team who believed in me as their leader and mentor and were so proud of the impact that we collectively achieved for the University of Buffalo.”
Influential person: Miss Lett, her fourth-grade English teacher. “Miss Lett, to me, was the epitome of a successful career woman—college-educated, holding a professional role as a teacher, owning her own destiny, and being a mentor. Miss Lett nurtured and helped me to strengthen my skills through additional projects, including joining the school newspaper. This was the beginning of a communications and marketing career. Miss Lett demonstrated the power of education, how it impacts lives and provides untold opportunities.”
Advice for young women: “You can’t succeed if you’re afraid to fail. … Failure is power. Errors drive the creation of innovative ideas and approaches to long-held practices. Stumbling from time to time in pursuit of new learning is courageous, and joy results from the wonderment of growth that retrospectively emerges from embracing the unknown.”•
Check out more Women of Influence honorees.
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