An exceptional businessman and advertising strategist,” “a real gentleman”… these are expressions used to describe Thomas H. Carey, whose career reflects extraordinary leadership in the advertising industry. At Holy Cross, Tom spent time publishing The Crusader, the student-run newspaper, and the Purple Patcher, the College yearbook, before graduating with an English degree in 1966. After graduating, he attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he earned a master’s degree in journalism in 1967. Just one week later, Tom began his remarkable career in the advertising industry as an account manager at Benton & Bowles, now known as D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). Over the next 23 years, Tom led the agency to unprecedented growth through mergers, creative innovations and major client acquisitions, including Burger King, Maxwell House and Norelco, eventually becoming international executive vice president. Tom continued his career serving as the president of the New York office of advertising agency BBDO Worldwide, followed by becoming co-CEO and then president of BBDO North America. He made immediate and significant impacts on BBDO, installing new management teams in the U.S. and Canada, overseeing aggressive acquisition programs and netting the corporation new high-profile
THOMAS H. CAREY ’66 clients, including AT&T, Bayer Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels. In 2000, Tom moved on to BBDO’s parent company, Omnicom Group Inc., a strategic holding company specializing in advertising and marketing, where he served as the executive vice president before retiring. Tom led the strategic development, networking, resourcing and integration of Omnicom companies for the benefit of major clients, including Daimler Chrysler, Mars and PepsiCo. Throughout his professional career, Tom has been a wise advisor and generous supporter of the College. He has served on the Alumni Marketing Advisory Group, helping to steer our most recent marketing and branding efforts, and as a member of the Board of Trustees, serving as vice chair of the Board and as chair of the Institutional Advancement
2 6 \ H O LY C R OS S M A G A Z I N E \ W I N T ER 2 017
Committee. Tom was the founding member and chair of the New York Leadership Council, which works to promote friendships, encourage mentorships and create partnerships between Holy Cross community members in New York City. The Holy Cross network in New York would not be what it is today without Tom, and our students would have many fewer internship opportunities if not for his efforts. Tom remains closely connected to the Medill School at Northwestern. He was awarded the Medill Hall of Achievement Award in 1997 and co-chaired the first Medill board of advisors from 1999 to 2003. Tom has also served on the Big Agency Management Committee of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents and on the boards of
the Advertising Education Foundation. Often praised as someone you can rely on to always give intelligent advice, and who never gives anything less than his best, Tom continues to offer his skills and leadership to the many communities that have shaped his life. For his commitment to excellence, innovation and ingenuity; for modeling leadership for Holy Cross students and alumni alike; for his willingness to use his expertise to serve the College and other communities; and for his extraordinary professional achievement, the College of the Holy Cross presents to Thomas H. Carey the Sanctae Crucis Award.
A CONVERSATION WITH TOM
HCM Congratulations on receiving the highest nondegree recognition bestowed by the College! What does
tom rettig