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Mary Hills, MA, IABC Fellow, ABC, Six Sigma

Hall of Fame | 2022

Mary Hills, MA, IABC Fellow, ABC, Six Sigma, serves as a Professional/Scholar in Residence in Loyola University Chicago’s MS Global Strategic Communication program and as Professional and Organizational Development Faculty for the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence. She is co-founder of HeimannHills Marketing Group, Chicago and Phoenix, a strategic marketing and communication firm dedicated to serving large, complex organizations in their drive for excellence and sustainability in a dynamic marketplace.

Mary’s professional career includes serving large corporations such as First Wisconsin National Bank – Milwaukee, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Whiteco Advertising, NiSource, Northern Trust, Unilever and Zebra Technologies. As a member of senior management, her work included research, risk analysis and strategic planning for product launches, market expansion, and change and crisis management.

A believer in life-long learning blended with practical experience, Mary serves academia and organizations in her educational career. She holds certifications in MBA coursework including marketing management, research, advertising, consumer behavior, new product development, distribution channels, sustainability marketing and sales management. She served on the graduate capstone panel.

In global strategic communication, her subjects include campaign development, corporate communication, foundations of global strategic communication, global multinational audiences and stakeholders, organizational leadership and change management, strategic communication ethics and law and graduate capstone.

Utilizing her expertise in business management and communication, she published, in 2020, the Business of Business for Communication Professionals on-demand course to upskill communication professionals as they pursue communication management positions.

Mary holds a BS/Marketing-Finance, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI and an MA Communication – Organizational, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN. She holds certifications in Quality Online Course Development, Ignatian Pedagogy and is completing a refresher in experiential teaching for diverse learning modes. Recognition for her industry leadership and work in marketing and strategic communication includes the IABC Rae Hamlin Award (2021), Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - Fellow (2018), IABC Fellow (2016), IABC Chicago Karen Utterback Award (2015), IABC Chairman's Award (2012).