Texas Christian University: From great to the greater good

Author's Biography

Stephanie Barkow With over a decade of experience behind her, the one thing Stephanie Barkow knows for sure is that the best strategy is a constantly evolving one. She is a continuous source of new insights and opportunities for BVK’s clients, guiding clients such as Michigan State University, TCU, Reno Tahoe and Maine Office of Tourism through successful rebranding efforts. Before BVK, she advised brands such as InStyle, Jack Daniel’s, MasterCard, Nestlé, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson as a senior consultant at Brandtrust in Chicago. Highly evolved, highly intuitive human being that she is, Stephanie also uses her insights to help BVK’s non-profit arm, Serve, to combat issues like infant mortality, teen pregnancy and human trafficking.

Gary Mueller arguably one of the Midwest’s most provocative and creative pitchmen. As the Chief Creative Officer at BVK (Milwaukee), Gary has built his career on breaking the rules of healthcare, education and cause marketing. Whether he is putting photos of pregnant boys on the side of buses, creating smoking billboards, placing vending machines selling teen girls on street corners or opening up fake sexually transmitted disease stores, Gary’s bold and surprising work has been lauded everywhere from CNN, BBC and Newsweek to the Today Show, Good Morning America and the New York Times. His writing has won virtually every award imaginable, from the prestigious Cannes Lion to the coveted One Show Pencil. And his bold and inspiring campaigns for universities like TCU, Michigan State, LSU and Concordia are among the most respected higher ed branding efforts in the country. Gary is most proud of his public service efforts, however. As the founder of Serve, the country’s only volunteer, not-for-profit ad agency, he has helped hundreds of non-profits improve the lives of those living in America’s most at-risk populations. Since 2002, BVK has donated over US$17m in time and services to Serve causes ranging from STD awareness, foster care and gun violence prevention to infant mortality, sex trafficking and teen homelessness. Most notably, his decade-long teen pregnancy–prevention campaign in Milwaukee helped lead to an unprecedented 65 per cent decrease in births to teens — a drop so historic; the campaign was honoured by the White House.

Tracy Syler-Jones reports to the Chancellor and sits on the chancellor’s cabinet as the chief marketing and communication strategist. In this role, Tracy is responsible for overseeing the development of integrated, strategic marketing and communication plans for the university that builds TCU’s reputation and position in the marketplace. Tracy and her team also develop communication strategies to manage crises and other sensitive issues, develop social media initiatives, and conduct marketing research. Prior to joining TCU, Tracy was the director of communications for the corporate office of the Birmingham, Alabama YMCA. She received her BA degree in journalism with an emphasis on radio/television news from San Diego State University and her executive MBA from Texas Christian University. She is a graduate of Leadership Fort Worth and is actively involved in CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) and served as a Trustee-at-Large on CASE’s Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the AMA (American Marketing Association).