Jim McDonald to Receive Outstanding Alumnus Award

Jim McDonald, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising for RadioShack, will receive the College of Communication 2002-2003 Outstanding Alumnus award. This distinction is bestowed upon alumni who have excelled professionally and have dedicated service to the College of Communication.

Jim graduated from the University of Texas with Honors in 1975 with a Bachelor of Journalism, and he completed a Master of Arts in Advertising in 1980. Professionally, he is a 27-year veteran of the advertising and marketing world, with agency experience at Young and Rubicam and client-side experience with his current position at RadioShack. Over his career, Jim has worked on well-known brands including Pizza Hut, Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Chevron, The Westin Hotels, Gulf, IBM, Stouffer's, Wurlitzer, Homart Malls, Compaq, RCA, Sprint, MSN and the Texas Commerce banking network. While at Young & Rubicam in San Francisco, he led Chevron's advertising and its "Simply Smarter" Techron additives-focused advertising, some of the best work done in the gasoline industry.

Jim moved from San Francisco to Fort Worth to take on the roles of Senior Vice President of The Lord Group, a subsidiary of Young & Rubicam, and Account Director for RadioShack. During this time, he was an integral part in RadioShack's repositioning advertising and in the introduction of the tagline "You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers." His mission was to turn one of the most loved brands in America into a Superbrand leading the digital revolution and home and personal connectivity. He spent four years as head of this start-up agency.

In January of 1998, Jim joined RadioShack and has since risen to his current position of Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. He instigated celebrity advertising campaigns to contemporize the RadioShack Brand. "Our family of spokespersons began with Howie Long and Teri Hatcher, but we've since added Vanessa Williams and Ving Rhames, and most recently Shaquille O'Neal, to keep the three-year-old, highly successful campaign fresh and unexpected. Adding The Shaq for The Shack will provide new impetus for the campaign into 2003," said McDonald.

Jim has used his professional success as a means to give back to the University of Texas. He shows his commitment to the University through his efforts as a repeat volunteer client for advertising classes. He goes to great lengths to provide valuable agency assignments, involve senior staff members, travel to Austin, and consistently offer positive and stimulating feedback to the teams he reviews. He has even hosted the winning team at RadioShack to present to Tandy's senior management.

Jim demonstrates his loyalty to the University by hiring Advertising undergraduates. McDonald stated, "Over the years, my staff has been studded with UT graduates. My involvement with College of Communications' advertising campaign classes has both generated some great work for RadioShack and served as a pipeline for top talent." Jim sets a wonderful example of staying connected with the University, and like Jim, his UT hires have maintained close ties with the University.

2/13/2003