Ms. Hough, the school’s lead executive for market<strong>in</strong>g and fund rais<strong>in</strong>g, discussesscholarship fund<strong>in</strong>g dur<strong>in</strong>g a weekly Senior Management Meet<strong>in</strong>g.
She rose to market<strong>in</strong>g director for the StageCompany with<strong>in</strong> her first year, and two years later,she became the U.S. market<strong>in</strong>g director for theSpoleto Festival, a 17-day celebration of the artsheld <strong>in</strong> Charleston, S.C. She later ran the New YorkInternational Festival of the Arts.After a one-year st<strong>in</strong>t with the ManhattanTheater Club, she was recruited to head market<strong>in</strong>gat the New York City Opera at L<strong>in</strong>coln Center. Ms.Hough spearheaded the launch of a series there thatmade tickets for select shows affordable for almostanyone. It was an overwhelm<strong>in</strong>g success, allow<strong>in</strong>gthousands of people to experience opera whootherwise might never have been able to afford it.She became <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the opera’s fund-rais<strong>in</strong>gefforts and led the creation of a new strategic planbefore leav<strong>in</strong>g after n<strong>in</strong>e years to take on one of themost sought-after market<strong>in</strong>g jobs <strong>in</strong> the Big Apple.The New York Botanical Gardens, one of thelargest and most prestigious botanical gardens <strong>in</strong>the world, brought <strong>in</strong> Ms. Hough as vice presidentof market<strong>in</strong>g and bus<strong>in</strong>ess development. That’swhere she was when the opportunity arose to makea difference <strong>in</strong> her hometown by help<strong>in</strong>g its middleagedmedical school grow and prosper.playwith fresh eyes at how it’s operat<strong>in</strong>g has unearthednew ideas.“I th<strong>in</strong>k her depth of experience and the factthat, <strong>in</strong> many respects, she’s new to our organizationbr<strong>in</strong>gs a level of enlightenment that sometimes isn’tother pieces <strong>in</strong> place so that we can move the schoolfurther forward. She’s really become an advocatefor the school.”Community leaders <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the medicalschool also have noticed Ms. Hough’s eagerness to“The school has had some ups and downs overthe years,” Ms. Hough says. “But with Dr. Pepeand President Lester at the helm, the school is <strong>in</strong>a place where it had not been before. What I feltI could offer was to help br<strong>in</strong>g the market<strong>in</strong>g,communications and fund-rais<strong>in</strong>g up to the levelto complement where the school is head<strong>in</strong>g.”So how does a career steeped <strong>in</strong> the arts translateto an academic medical center? They share acommon core pr<strong>in</strong>ciple, says Ms. Hough.“It’s about build<strong>in</strong>g relationships,” she says. “It’scustomer service and stewardship.”The biggest early hurdle was master<strong>in</strong>g the l<strong>in</strong>go.Academia and medic<strong>in</strong>e use a lexicon all their own,and for the un<strong>in</strong>itiated, it takes time to adjust. Be<strong>in</strong>ga relative newcomer to the academic-medical realm,though, isn’t a weakness, says Bob Aston, presidentand chair of the EVMS Foundation. He’s been<strong>in</strong>volved with the school throughout most of its36-year history, and he says hav<strong>in</strong>g someone lookMs. Hough and Dana Dickens, president and CEO of <strong>Hampton</strong> <strong>Roads</strong> Partnership, talk dur<strong>in</strong>g the annual Britt D<strong>in</strong>ner scholarshipfund-raiser.there when people have been around it forever,” Mr.Aston says. “You see th<strong>in</strong>gs differently and <strong>in</strong> a waythat isn’t <strong>in</strong>fluenced by how th<strong>in</strong>gs have been done<strong>in</strong> the past.”It helps that she has embraced the medical schooland its uniqueness. Ms. Hough talks often aboutEVMS’ collegial atmosphere and how <strong>in</strong>spir<strong>in</strong>g itis to work with people who are chang<strong>in</strong>g the face ofhealth care. She can be spotted at scientific lecturesand academic meet<strong>in</strong>gs, gather<strong>in</strong>g nuggets she canuse to help tell EVMS’ story.“She’s dug <strong>in</strong> deep to figure out what the schoolneeds,” says Dean and Provost Gerald J. Pepe, PhD.“The faculty see her want<strong>in</strong>g to get the f<strong>in</strong>ances andunderstand the school, its missions and what sets itapart from others.“She’s taken the time to really learn about eachdepartment and get <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> the school, and bydo<strong>in</strong>g that, it’s obvious that she’s come to have verydeep feel<strong>in</strong>gs about EVMS,” says Rob<strong>in</strong> Ray, a longtimevolunteer fund-raiser for the school, currentmember of the Board of Visitors and Annual Fundco-chair. “She’s effective, efficient and responsive.On top of that, she’s a joy to work with.”Mrs. Ray’s fellow Annual Fund Co-Chair WayneWilbanks, a former rector and current member ofthe EVMS Foundation Board of Trustees, praisedMs. Hough’s energy and leadership that haveFast forward www.eVMS.EDU fall 200931
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