Thomas R. Martin serves as Executive-in-Residence in the Department of Communication at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. He was named to the position, the first of its kind, in 2007. In this role, Martin works with the students, faculty and administration of the College to enhance the relationship between the Communication Department and the business community and to help its students successfully transition into the business world. As EIR, Martin teaches undergraduate classes, conducts graduate seminars, meets with members of the university community—students, faculty, staff, alumni—and works with the Department’s Advisory Council which he chairs. In addition to his role at the College of Charleston, Martin serves on the adjunct faculty of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and is a frequent guest lecturer at other colleges and universities.
Martin retired in 2007 from ITT Corporation, where he served as Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Relations at the $7.6 billion diversified global engineering and manufacturing company. Martin joined the company in September of 1996 and was elected a senior vice president by the board of directors in March of 1999.
At ITT Corporation, Martin was an officer, a member of the company’s Executive Council and was responsible for worldwide brand and reputation management, public relations, employee communications, government affairs, corporate advertising and community relations. Martin served as a management liaison to the Corporate Responsibility committee of the Board of Directors, was a member of the Disclosure Committee and chairman of the ITT Corporation Political Action Committee. In 2005-2006, Martin led the launch of a unified corporate brand identity and advertising program that resulted in the change of the corporate name from ITT Industries to ITT Corporation. The company’s logo and ads feature the tagline, “Engineered for life,” highlighting the company’s strong engineering and manufacturing heritage.
Martin was formerly Vice President, Corporate Communications for Federal Express Corporation where he was responsible for worldwide public relations, investor relations and employee communications for the Fortune 150 Company. He joined Federal Express in 1978 and assumed posts of increasing responsibility in the communication field prior to becoming the chief communications officer in July 1995. In 1988, his department launched FXTV, one of the largest and most successful internal satellite television networks. He was also responsible for the public relations and internal communications efforts for the launch of the FedEx brand in 1994.
Martin earned his BA at Vanderbilt University. He serves as a senior counselor with PulsePoint Group, a management consulting firm working with companies, associations and institutions to maximize their return on investment in the communications function. Martin writes a regular column on communication issues for PR Week magazine. He has served as a trustee of the Arthur W. Page Society, a membership organization for senior corporate communication executives, since 2002, and was President of the Society in 2004-2005. In 2005, he was elected to the Board of Governors of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, and he serves as a trustee of the Institute for Public Relations. In November of 2006 he was inducted into the PR News Hall of Fame. In 2001, he received a New York ADDY award for ITT’s corporate advertising, and in 1999, he was the recipient of a Mobius Advertising Award for ITT’s first television commercial.