UT’s Haslam College of Business and College of Communication and Information have worked with Scripps Networks Interactive to establish an executive-in-residence program.
The program aims to encourage students to think more strategically and to grasp the big picture through interactions with top executives from Scripps Networks.
The first two executives in residence will be Mark Hale, executive vice president of global operations and chief technology officer, and Lori A. Hickok, chief financial officer.
Hale will be on campus on Tuesday, March 31, to have lunch with a group of communications and business students and tour both colleges’ facilities. He also will speak to students in the Media Business and Future of Journalism class and business Senior Capstone Leadership Seminar.
Hale has responsibilities over Scripps Networks’ internal production unit, Scripps Productions, broadcast origination, transmission, information technology, property development, and facilities management. He is an executive officer of the company and a member of its management and diversity committees.
Hale has more than thirty years of experience leading, developing, and overseeing media-related organizations, and supporting technologies. He was a member of the original management team that oversaw the launch of HGTV. Subsequently his team has orchestrated the company’s launch and support services across its expanding portfolio of lifestyle media networks—Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, and Great American Country—both domestically and internationally. His team has received numerous industry recognitions for its technical facility designs and a technology and engineering Emmy award for pioneering innovations in media delivery confirmation systems.
Previously, Hale was senior vice president of technology operations for the E. W. Scripps Co. and executive vice president of operations for Scripps Networks.
Prior to joining Scripps Networks in 1994, he was a member of the start-up management team for the Movietime cable television network and held subsequent operational executive positions with E! Entertainment Television.
Hickok will visit campus in the fall.
She has been with Scripps since 1988. In her present role, Hickok leads Scripps Networks Interactive’s global financial and accounting functions, including reporting, tax, treasury, risk management, and planning and analysis. Hickok previously served as Scripps Networks’ executive vice president of finance, and as vice president and controller for the E. W. Scripps Company.
She also has worked with Scripps as a financial analyst in the corporate finance department, chief analyst for corporate development, controller for the company’s new media operations and divisional controller for the company’s former cable television systems division, which merged in 1996 with Comcast Corporation.
Outside of Scripps, she’s worked as vice president of finance for Paramount Kings Island in Cincinnati and as a certified public accountant with the accounting firm of Ernst & Whinney.
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CONTACT:
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)