Andrea B Thomas portrait
  • Chief Experience Officer, Office of the President
  • Professor (Lecturer), Marketing Department
801-581-6046

Education

  • BS Mass Communication, Public Relations, University of Utah
  • Master's of Business Administration, Marketing, Brigham Young University
  • Doctorate of Education, Higher Education Management, University of Pennsylvania

Biography

Andrea B. Thomas is a Professor (Lecturer) of Marketing at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah and the Chief Experience Officer for the University of Utah. She joined the university in 2016 after a 23-year career in brand management, retail marketing, innovation, and sustainability.   

She spent 8 ½ years at Walmart Stores in a variety of roles including:

  • Senior Vice President of Marketing for the US business where she was responsible for marketing strategy, brand marketing and local marketing
  • SVP of Sustainability which included corporate environmental programs, women’s economic empowerment and the healthy foods initiative
  • SVP of Private Brands where she oversaw branding, packaging, product development and sourcing for the $20 billion portfolio of food and consumable brands

Prior to joining Walmart in October 2007, Thomas was Vice President of Global Chocolate for the Hershey Company where she was responsible for platform innovation for Hershey’s portfolio of global brands.  Previously, Thomas spent 13 years at PepsiCo where she worked in brand management, innovation, and retail marketing at Frito-Lay and Pizza Hut launching Tostitos Scoops, managing the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and coordinating the NFL and Disney relationships.