When Patricia Nolan came to St. John’s University in 1999, she
brought an extensive array of corporate expertise that would serve
her well as she advanced the mission of the University that now
means so much to her.
“I spent quite a number of years in the communications
industry,” she recalled, “and had a very successful sales and
marketing career with industry giants like NBC Sports, ABC Sports
and ESPN. My specialty in that venue was sports sales and
marketing, and the highlight of my career back then was working on
five Olympic games.”
She decided to leave the corporate world and join the St. John’s
family to lead the corporate relations portion of the University’s
Fulfilling the Dream capital campaign, primarily to secure
corporate partnerships to support a number of major initiatives
being planned by St. John’s The School of Education. At the
conclusion of the campaign she began working with Robert A.
Mangione ’77P, ’79GP, ’93PD, ’99Ed.D., Dean and Professor, St.
John’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Impressed
with Dean Mangione’s strong commitment to the University’s students
and values, she quickly took advantage of the opportunity to add an
additional focus to her professional responsibilities.
“I actually have two titles now,” said Nolan. “I’m the Director
of Development for the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the Associate Director of Major Gifts. I really
drive the mission [of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences] with our alumni and corporate partners. What that
means is that I work to generate support for scholarships that will
provide the best learning environment to prepare our students for
the real world. It really comes down to knowing what we need and
finding the resources to make it happen.”
This devoted professional utilizes the experiences derived from
her successful career in business to enhance her relationships with
alumni and industry professionals. She has been successful in
raising the University’s profile among a variety of constituencies,
resulting in increased support for St. John’s students and
programs.
“One of the great challenges for me is being able to bring in a
check,” she said. “I love knowing that I’m doing something really
great to help our students meet their tremendous needs. It’s really
all about marketing, because if you can identify what your market
is and what opportunities exist that would be appealing to that
market, you can put those factors together in ways that directly
benefit our students.”
Acknowledging that her B.S. in Management and Communications
from Adelphi University prepared her for professional success, it
was her M.A. in Liberal Studies from St. John’s College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences that changed her as a person. “I did my graduate
work in Liberal Studies because I wanted to become more
well-rounded,” she said. “It was an opportunity for me to get away
a little bit from the business model that has always been such an
important part of my life."
Nolan did extensive research on the ways in which maternal
influences can impact the personality of disabled individuals who
have achieved great success in their lives. She found that having a
strong mother was a key factor in allowing a disabled individual to
develop a strong sense of self, and is hopeful that her findings
will help parents of children with disabilities incorporate this
knowledge into their parenting techniques.
Her research and subsequent thesis was simply another chance for
her to reach out and make a difference for others. Not
surprisingly, she is strongly committed to the Vincentian mission
that lies at the very heart of St. John’s, particularly the
University’s commitment to providing opportunities for deserving
students to receive a quality education.
“I came from a very traditional background where my family
thought it was very important for them to educate their sons but
not so important to educate their daughters,” she said. “My path to
higher education meant that I pretty much had to do it on my own,
so I know firsthand what many of our students are going through.
The Vincentian values give me purpose. They give me to chance to
wake up in the morning and feel really good about what I’m doing,
which is helping other people. The basic mission of St. John’s,
which is to educate those who might otherwise not have the
opportunity to get an education, will always be very important to
me.”