History of VCU Brandcenter

HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL

1995: The Beginning - After years of planning, founder and original managing director Diane Cook-Tench received approval from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to open Adcenter. The first four board members to accept seats were Harry Jacobs and Mike Hughes of The Martin Agency and David Martin and Tim Finnegan of Arnold Finnegan Martin. Shortly thereafter Dan Wheldon of Coca-Cola, Jay Chiat and Dan Wieden also joined the board.

1996 - With ten days until the arrival of the first class of students the school moved into its space in Richmond’s Shockoe Slip. Just as the last plug was plugged and the final wall painted, VCU Adcenter opened its classrooms to 51 students in three tracks – copywriting, art direction and strategy. Along with Diane Cook-Tench, VCU Adcenter was led by Roger Lavery (strategic planning), Tim Chumley (technology), Coz Cotzias (copywriting) and Jerry Torchia (art direction). Immediately the school garnered interest from the advertising community. The Wall Street Journal, Adweek and numerous local media outlets ran coverage of VCU Adcenter.

1997 - Another 50 students began the fall semester, bringing the total student population of VCU Adcenter to 101. The school expanded its faculty to include Jelly Helm for the creative students and Peter Coughter to teach second year strategists. The school’s work became a staple on the awards circuit. In this year alone, VCU Adcenter was recognized by D&AD, ANDY’s, Clios, The One Show and the Cannes Festival.

1998 - The first class from VCU Adcenter graduated with master’s degrees. John Adams presented each student with a green beret as a symbol of the training and mission of the school. Within six months, each of the students had a job in the industry. Two new traditions began this year: the annual Adcenter Prom and Adcenter couples - as two members of the class of 1998 married prior to graduation.

2000 - Mark Fenske, formerly of Wieden + Kennedy and The Bomb Factory, began teaching at VCU Adcenter. He brought his unique perspective on the business as well as a wicked curveball. The first school softball game, pitting art directors versus writers, took place. These games became an annual affair, but shifted to rival class against class. The school also welcomed a new managing director, Patty Alvey, to lead the program. The work coming out of VCU Adcenter continued to impress, and helped to bolster the school’s industry credibility.

2003 - Rick Boyko, former Chief Creative Officer North America and Co-President of Ogilvy & Mather, became VCU Adcenter’s managing director. Drawing on his agency experience and industry involvement, Boyko began directing the school toward a truer reflection of the current and ever-changing advertising business. The curriculum began to focus on more holistic problem-solving and incorporated media planning in campaign development. Planning for the Creative Brand Management track began. Along with Boyko, Cabell Harris (TBWA/Chiat/Day, The Martin Agency and WORKLabs) became a professor. VCU Adcenter held a roast of Joe Pytka in New York to raise funds for scholarships. The chicken was reported to be delicious.

2005 - In March, VCU Adcenter was named the top advertising school by Creativity Magazine based on surveys of creative directors and hiring managers of the industry’s leading agencies. In the fall, the Creative Brand Management track was introduced. The goal of the track was to train brand managers how to think creatively and better work with agencies. Adweek and Fast Company both featured the track and the school. Wayne Gibson (longtime creative director and commercial director), Don Just (former CEO of The Martin Agency) and Donna Spurrier (Spurrier Media Group) joined the faculty, further solidi-

fying the creative and business facets of VCU Adcenter. Another toast to benefit the school’s scholarship program was held in New York. This year the partnerships of Lee Clow/Steve Hayden, Andy Berlin/Jeff Goodby, and David Kennedy/Dan Wieden were honored. The chicken was a little dry.

2006 - In the fall, two teams placed in the top ten at the Innovation Challenge hosted by University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, besting 440 MBA teams representing such schools as Yale, Harvard, University of Chicago, Duke and Georgetown. The school swept the student competition of the Athenas and received a $50,000 grant from the Newspaper Association of America to build newspaper advertising into VCU Adcenter’s curriculum. VCU Adcenter held its first Executive Education series for creative directors and faculty members journeyed to Japan to teach agency professionals at Dentsu.

2007 - The number of full-time faculty tripled. In the spring semester Charles Hall (creative; Wieden + Kennedy, NY and TBWA/Chiat/Day, NY), Caley Cantrell (strategy; The Martin Agency), and Scott Witthaus (film/technology; Greybox) joined the faculty. More instructors were necessary because student enrollment increased from 110 to 178 over the past five years. Kelly O’Keefe (O’Keefe Brands) was hired as the Executive Education Director and managed three series for creative brand managers, strategic planners and creative directors. Construction of the school’s new building began. The Interpublic Group (IPG) generously donated a million dollars to the VCU Adcenter, making the agency holding company a lead donor. “The VCU Adcenter is one of the leading advertising schools in the country,” said Michael I. Roth, Chairman and CEO of Interpublic. “We commend the school on its ambition of bringing into our industry young people that are prepared to raise the standards of performance

in every facet of the business. That’s consistent with our stated goals of developing our talent base to meet the increasingly complex needs of clients in today’s marketing environment. We also share with our new partners a commitment to the importance of increasing diversity for the long-term good of our industry.”

2008 - VCU Adcenter became VCU Brandcenter and moved into a new building at 103 South Jefferson Street which was originally the carriage house for The Jefferson Hotel. The building was designed by world-renowned architect Clive Wilkinson. The school launched the Creative Technology track and welcomed the first class of CT students.

2010 - The building was formally named Mike Hughes Hall, after the President and Co-Chief Creative Officer of The Martin Agency and Chairman of the VCU Brandcenter board of directors.

2012 - A group of first year students won the Innovation Challenge a global competition for graduate business schools, beating teams from Harvard, Darden, and Wharton. Not only did they win the title of “World’s Most Innovative Team,” they also won $20,000 in prizes and got to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Rick Boyko retired as director of the Brandcenter, and Helayne Spivak became the new director.

2013 - The VCU Brandcenter moved from the College of Humanities and Sciences to become part of VCU’s School of Business. Brandcenter students now earn a Master of Science degree in Business/Branding. 2014 - Andrew LeVasseur transitioned from adjunct professor to full-time professor leading the Creative Technology track.