Thomas Jankowski, who completed his master’s degree in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sunderland in 2007, has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at one of the biggest Canadian newsmedia companies, Postmedia Network Inc.
The company, which represents more than 200 brands across multiple print, online, and mobile platforms, describe Thomas as “an innovative executive with extensive hands-on experience in all facets of digital strategy, a future-focused thought leader and self-professed R&D aficionado.”
The Sunderland graduate will lead their product, digital technology and research and development teams with his first focus on rapid deployment of their new B2B portfolio.
Prior to joining Postmedia, Thomas was Chief Digital Officer at Flight Network, one of Canada's largest online travel websites, where he managed the company's marketing technology, customer acquisition, revenue management, product strategy and analytics divisions.
During his tenure he was recognized with one of the travel industry's most coveted rising star awards, Phocuswright's Top 35 under 35.
He said: “I'm deeply honoured to be named to The Class of 35. It is very exciting to be recognized in such a fast-paced, competitive industry.”
Thomas, 35, from Ontario, completed a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto and came to the University of Sunderland to complete his Master’s degree.
Asked about what attracted him to the University, he commented: “I was at the time residing in France, teaching there and also working for a Canadian company.
“I still wanted to have the time to work full-time on my emerging start-up and for an employer in Canada, and live somewhere I hadn't yet.
“I also wanted to work on one of the topics I felt like pursuing, and do it as an MA, not an MSc as I'm incredibly technical and wanted to connect technology to humanities and do it all under 12 months.
“It was a very tall order and I started my search with almost 70 schools on six continents. Eventually, the University of Sunderland prevailed.”
After a careful consideration Thomas decided to pursue his masters at the University’s Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies.
“It was an interdisciplinary degree with a wonderful assortment of taught courses to choose from with a very flexible schedule that worked around my other commitments,” he said. “Clarissa Smith, then Head of the Department, was fantastic to work with, and one of my favourite industry leaders, Professor Shaun Moores agreed to take me on as an MA supervisor, despite it being his year off.”
Thomas admitted he loves people who have a keen, critical eye and are not afraid of challenging the status quo.
He added: “At the University of Sunderland, both Shaun and Clarissa fit that bill for me. Shaun, through his sheer domain knowledge and unwillingness to let me take an easy way out. Clarissa, through a completely different perspective on a lot of topics that forced me to sometimes step back and gain distance that I thought I already had.
“At the end of the day, when I think about how the University of Sunderland connects to my career, it's all about how naturally it handles interdisciplinary studies, at all levels.
“We live in a world that's incredibly interconnected and where it's difficult to truly succeed without having to wear many hats and operate outside of one's frame of comfort.
“Interdisciplinary studies teach one to borrow ideas from all walks of life and to be comfortable dipping into that proverbial think outside of the box cliché. They make people better communicators and collaborators.”
He concluded: “I also rather enjoyed exploring Northumberland, Scotland, and being so close to Newcastle Airport where I'd regularly take planes to see my clients in Europe.”
Thomas can be always contacted directly through his LinkedIn profile at https://ca.linkedin.com/in/thomasjankowski
Sources: Business Wire and Finance Yahoo.