UNIVERSITY, Miss. - John Thomas has a passion for students. The passion comes from his experience at Ole Miss as a journalism student. He is currently the vice president of investor relations and public affairs with Abbott, a healthcare company with presence more than 130 countries. John expressed this in his visit to students in Jour 271 recently.

Thomas opened his presentation with a warm, “good morning” and a brief description of who he was and what he did. He went into further detail with a slideshow to narrate his past experience with Ole Miss and journalism ventures. This included Thomas starting the Oxford Times, a paper created to challenge the Oxford Eagle. “I was two days out of college and I wanted some experience,” said Thomas, “But we didn’t have enough money to continue – so the Eagle won”

Thomas’s inspiration for writing came from his father, who was a managing editor. He had a passion for William Faulkner that he passed on to his son. Thomas grew up in Chicago, but when he walked onto the Ole Miss campus, he said he fell in love with the school.

The slideshow continued to Thomas’s present career with Abbott. One of his many roles as vice president is to make sure his company can adapt to the ever-changing world of social media. Younger people who understand these things are needed for older companies like Abbott he said.

Within the year Abbott will separate into two factions, in order to better accommodate clients as well as investors, Thomas said. One faction, Abbott, will handle diversified medical products. The other, AbbVie, in which Thomas will be working, handles biopharmaceuticals. Thomas noted that because of the split, investor relations, which are key, are to be improved.  Through all this he is able to handle stress by regular exercise and a few deep breaths he added.

Thomas passed on advice concerning the importance of writing saying, “When I deal with anything, excellent writing always rises to the top," he said,"Good writing still matters. You will use that no matter what you become in life, I cannot stress that enough.”

In a technology driven world, Thomas has respect for face-to-face communication.“ Whatever Job you have, relationships are still important. Don’t forsake the face to face.”

Thomas and his wife Mary, another Ole Miss and Meek school alum, created a scholarship for students enrolled in Integrated Marketing Communications.