JOUR 271
Sept. 20, 2012
Thomas Visit
447 words
UNIVERSITY, Miss. - An Ole Miss journalism graduate spoke with a news reporting class on campus last Thursday about his career. John Thomas, the vice president of investor relations and public affairs at the global healthcare company named Abbott, talked to students about beginning his career and his current position.
"In my business we are protecting the brand and reputation everyday. We are protectors of the brand," Thomas said.
Abbott is a diverse company with eight different business segments. The company has many popular products in the medicine world. Thomas said they were ranked at No. 71 in the Fortune 500.
Thomas is also the president of the Abbott fund, which is the philanthropic arm of the company that deals with issues such as global citizenship. Abbott is on the verge of splitting the company to start another branch in which Thomas will head. It is called AbbVie and will be a research-based pharmaceutical company.
Before Thomas started with Abbott his journalism degree got him jobs with many different companies including Budget car rentals, Meredith Corporations, Better Homes and Gardens and more. He went back to school at one point in his career to receive an MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School near Chicago.
When asked how early he got started in the journalism world he said he wasted no time.
"Graduation was on a Sunday and we started on Monday," Thomas said.
He and a college friend set out to start another newspaper in Oxford that was new and different than The Oxford Eagle. Soon after the two graduated from the UM The Oxford Times was started. They found a printer in the basement of a local home. Thomas said the owner was so proud of what they were doing that he just gave it to them for no price and they kept it going for a year doing all the work themselves.
Thomas sold his share of The Oxford Times to his partner and took the first big opportunity he had. In November of 1986 he was offered a job in New York to be the editorial assistant to senior writers of Metropolitan Home. And, that job led on to the rest.
Thomas is now a corporate officer for Abbott. He is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute and the Arthur Page Society. He and his wife just funded the first Integrated Marketing Communications scholarship at the University of Mississippi. And, good writing is still at the top of his advice list.
"It is a skill that is transferable and it will stay with you for the rest of your life," Thomas said.
"In my business we are protecting the brand and reputation everyday. We are protectors of the brand," Thomas said.
Abbott is a diverse company with eight different business segments. The company has many popular products in the medicine world. Thomas said they were ranked at No. 71 in the Fortune 500.
Thomas is also the president of the Abbott fund, which is the philanthropic arm of the company that deals with issues such as global citizenship. Abbott is on the verge of splitting the company to start another branch in which Thomas will head. It is called AbbVie and will be a research-based pharmaceutical company.
Before Thomas started with Abbott his journalism degree got him jobs with many different companies including Budget car rentals, Meredith Corporations, Better Homes and Gardens and more. He went back to school at one point in his career to receive an MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School near Chicago.
When asked how early he got started in the journalism world he said he wasted no time.
"Graduation was on a Sunday and we started on Monday," Thomas said.
He and a college friend set out to start another newspaper in Oxford that was new and different than The Oxford Eagle. Soon after the two graduated from the UM The Oxford Times was started. They found a printer in the basement of a local home. Thomas said the owner was so proud of what they were doing that he just gave it to them for no price and they kept it going for a year doing all the work themselves.
Thomas sold his share of The Oxford Times to his partner and took the first big opportunity he had. In November of 1986 he was offered a job in New York to be the editorial assistant to senior writers of Metropolitan Home. And, that job led on to the rest.
Thomas is now a corporate officer for Abbott. He is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute and the Arthur Page Society. He and his wife just funded the first Integrated Marketing Communications scholarship at the University of Mississippi. And, good writing is still at the top of his advice list.
"It is a skill that is transferable and it will stay with you for the rest of your life," Thomas said.
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