SCOTT MEYER ENDS HIS CAREER WHERE IT STARTED
The Hubbard School alum retired after a varied and illustrious career, which ended with him serving as the chief marketing officer for the College of Liberal Arts. BY LAUREN BORCHART
LIFE OFTEN HAS A FUNNY WAY OF COMING FULL CIRCLE;
sometimes you end up right where you started. For Scott Meyer, his journey began in 1967, as a journalism student at the University of Minnesota. Now, he’s ending his career in the same place. Meyer retired in June, wrapping up an impressive career in advertising that shaped the local industry. For many years, he worked for several esteemed businesses both big and small, like Weber Shandwick, Liberty Diversified International, and Lawson Software. Eventually, Meyer returned to the University of Minnesota, working as the chief marketing officer for the College of Liberal Arts and creating the student-run communications agency, Backpack. He’s been a mentor to many Hubbard School students and has left a lasting impression on those he met along his remarkable career.
ACHIEVEMENTS IN ADVERTISING
When Meyer started at the University of Minnesota, he aspired to be a high school journalism teacher and 32
MURPHY REPORTER ❙ Summer 2020
a basketball coach. He was working part-time in the mailroom at what is now Piper Jaffray, an investment bank, when an advertising executive told him to go into marketing, as it was a flourishing field. This one moment convinced him to change his career ambitions, altering the course of his life. “It was just that moment of serendipity. It happened for a reason. And I just decided, ‘OK, this sounds like it’s right for me,’” Meyer said. He graduated with a degree in journalism with an emphasis in advertising and public relations, and spent the first 10 years of his career working in the corporate side of public relations at places like Piper Jaffray, First Bank Minneapolis, and Control Data Corporation. Meyer then shifted over to the agency side of advertising, going from working for a small agency of 19 people to becoming the chief executive officer of Shandwick International, which he eventually helped merge to become Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading public relations firms.
