For years, Mary Baglivo committed to over a 2 hour commute time to work, not by car, but by plane. Although she did not travel daily, the trip from New York to Chicago was made multiple times a week.

Her passions for family and work were evident as she held the first chief marketing position at Northwestern, which she explains was a “fantastic experience.” However, the job was based in Illinois, but her family was living in NYC at the time. Eventually, Baglivo decided she wanted to maintain employment within higher education, but in a location closer to home. In addition to working at Northwestern, Baglivo has been employed by universities such as Rutgers and NYU. 

Prior to working in higher education, Baglivo has held experience in working with global companies. In fact, she has served as the CEO of major corporations such as Saatchi & Saatchi. Her involvement in higher education stemmed off of her experience with President Morton Schapiro at Northeastern University during a development call. Baglivo was then asked to join the Northwestern board of directors. Her experience on the board expanded her knowledge of higher education. Baglivo stated that she enjoyed seeing students and faculty present their research and work. 

Baglivo joined the Pace administration on Jan. 6th, 2020 and was named the Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President for University Relations at Pace. Her role will involve working amongst all three campuses on Pace’s branding, community relations, government affairs and special events. Furthermore, she will oversee all marketing and communications for the university. 

Pace is different from the previous universities Baglivo has been involved with since it is not a mainstream research college. However, the experienced administrator says she was inspired by the university’s mission of opportunitas.

Furthermore, Baglivo believes the location of Pace, as well as the commitment the university has to its students provides favorable chances for all students. 

“The greatest talent in every field in the world is right here,” she exclaimed. 

Along with other university administration, Baglivo is utilizing her experience to work on the storytelling and messaging of Pace internally and externally. 

Currently, Baglivo is working on a new marketing plan for the university, which will feature new video content, new social content and a brand new website. 

Research for this relations campaign has been done through surveys and other platforms amongst students, staff, prospective students and other members of the population. The strategic aspect of the project is complete, as qualitative and quantitative data has been collected,  and now the new Chief Marketing Officer is working towards framing the storytelling of Pace in a cohesive way. 

“This spring we will be working with an agency department to look at the brand new platform which will start to appear.” The expectation is that the new messaging of Pace will begin to take place over the summer and the fall 2020 semester. 

Overall, Baglivo is hoping the new marketing tools will lift the reputation of Pace and build awareness of what Pace has to offer through the optimization of brand marketing and design. 

“If we do a good job of developing clear-cut messages to tell the stories we need to tell, that do so in a manner that all adds up, that is ideal for the perception we would like people to know us for.” stated Baglivo.