For Jo Nelon, retirement marks the end of a career that came full circle at Texas Tech University.
Nelon first arrived at Texas Tech as an undergraduate in 1974. After building a career in public relations and marketing, she eventually returned to the university and the College of Media & Communication, where she spent 14 years helping prepare students for careers of their own.
From PR Professional to Professor
Before entering the classroom, Nelon spent nearly three decades working in public relations, marketing, and health care communication. Her career included positions at Hendrick Medical Center and Shannon Health System before she returned to Texas Tech in 2005 as director of marketing for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and Texas Tech Physicians.
One of her proudest professional accomplishments came at Shannon, where she helped
establish Children’s Miracle Network, raising nearly $1 million in its first two years
to support children’s health care needs.
In 2012, Nelon took her industry experience into the classroom, joining CoMC as an
assistant professor of practice and later becoming an associate professor of practice.
During the next 14 years, she taught courses including PR Writing, Campaigns, PR for
Nonprofits and Event Management. Her classes were challenging and rooted in the expectations
students would encounter in the industry. Good writing mattered. Spelling and punctuation
mattered. And, as her students learned, AP style was the rule, not an option.
But behind those high expectations was a professor who wanted her students to see
what they were capable of achieving.
“Helping them realize how very awesome they are,” Nelon said of the most rewarding part of teaching. “So many students don’t understand that the awesomeness is there. Sometimes we have to work to find it.”
Finding the “So What?”
Throughout her time at CoMC, Nelon encouraged students to look beyond the assignment in front of them and ask a bigger question: Why should anyone care?
Whether developing a campaign, writing for a client or considering the role of a nonprofit in its community, she pushed students to find the real purpose behind their work.
That lesson remained important as the communication industry changed. During her time at CoMC, Nelon watched the college expand its curriculum to address digital communication, social media and, most recently, artificial intelligence and its ethics.
Through those changes, her focus remained on preparing students to enter the profession as stronger writers and critical thinkers.
“My mantra was that I ushered my students along the path to greatness,” Nelon said. “I succeeded in that endeavor for many.”
Nelon credits the people around her with helping her along that path, too. She recognizes Trent Seltzer for taking a chance on her as she transitioned from industry to academia and continuing to serve as a mentor. She credits Lisa Low with challenging her and helping make her a better teacher through their work together on courses and curriculum. She also recognizes Eric Rasmussen for his leadership and vision during a period of change for the department.
Now, more than five decades after first arriving at Texas Tech as a student, Nelon leaves the university as an educator who challenged generations of students to write better, think deeper, and understand why their work matters.
Her legacy may be best summed up by the question she hopes they continue asking: “Why should anyone care about what you are doing or communicating? What is the ‘so what?’”
