Yes, Professor Scott, your students were listening closely to those life lessons you doled out on a daily basis in your Women in Advertising class.
The proof is in the last three titles former student Rachel Holbrook has held:
— Global director for content production at the Coca-Cola Co. (2011-14).
— Global head of production for Airbnb (2014-18).
— And now, co-founder and president of Katana, which she describes as a “mission-driven company that leverages technology and community to combat violence and sexual assault.”
Somewhere in the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford’s emeritus world chair for entrepreneurship and innovation — Professor Linda Scott — is smiling.
“Her course brought to life the ways in which images in advertising can have a profound impact on culture,” says Holbrook, named last year to AdWeek’s List of 100 Most Creative People. “More specifically, the ways in which women are depicted can introduce or reinforce negative stereotypes.
“The seed she planted in my mind in that class grew over the course of my career. To this day, my number 1 priority is the advancement of women in the creative and technology industries.
“I credit the beginnings of that personal mission to Professor Scott.”
