Winner: Philip Nardone, CEO & Founder, PAN Communications
Philip Nardone is a three-year member of the Newhouse Advisory Board at Syracuse University, and pioneered a professional development program with the establishment of the PAN Portal.
The PAN Portal was a result of Nardone’s unique role as an adjunct professor, acting as a liaison between the faculty and the professional world. Nardone helps to update curriculum based on his expertise in digital and social media, measurement, leadership and management. He authors a weekly blog series, ‘Cuse Chronicles, detailing his weekly teachings on campus. Due to Nardone's involvement, Newhouse remains one of the leading PR programs nationwide.
As PAN has grown, Nardone has never swayed from his principles of fostering professional development. Even with over 100 employees across four office locations, he still knows everyone’s personal and professional backgrounds and milestones.
This has impacted Nardone's academic style, teaching from the ground up and serving as a guide to the younger generation. He has a strong connection to students, often serving as a mentor and advisor years after they graduate. His classes are consistently booked at 100 percent capacity, every semester.
Professionally, Nardone celebrated 20 successful years of business with two significant company milestones in 2015: PAN Communications’ most profitable year in its history, increasing revenue by 25 percent, and PAN Communications’ acquisition of Vantage PR. With the acquisition, PAN Communications became a bi-coastal agency of over 100 employees in Boston, San Francisco, Orlando and New York City.
Nardone received the John J. Molloy Crystal Bell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Publicity Club of New England this year for his remarkable success to-date.
Honorable Mention:
- Dr. Robert S. Fleming, Rowan University