By Mary Ross Wilson
Hottytoddy.com intern
mwilson8@go.olemiss.edu
Living in New York City and traveling across the world is something that not everyone gets to experience during their lifetime. After 20 years of living in the city, Oxford native Stella Connell returned back to her hometown and give back to the University of Mississippi.
Connell graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in American studies. She then went to Harvard University to attend the Radcliffe Publishing Course. Connell’s next destination was New York City.
While living in New York City, she worked for various publishing companies. She worked as a publicity assistant for Doubleday Publishing, a publicist for Pantheon Books and Random House, and a publicity manager for Putnam Publishing.
In 1998 she founded her own PR agency called The Connell Agency.
Connell said living in New York City for almost 20 years as a single woman was her biggest accomplishment.
“I owned my apartment, had my own business and had a viable and wonderful group of friends,” Connell said.
After living in the city for a while, Connell was ready to come back to the South.
“I love New York, and I miss living there and my friends, but Oxford is affordable and I can do things here that I could not have done in the city,” Connell said.
One example is that she is currently in the process of building a new house that will be ready next summer. She said her main reason for wanting to build her own house in Oxford is for stability in a growing community.
Since her return, Connell has been able to apply her New York City experience to her current work in the UM School of Business. Her job is focused on the school’s marketing efforts.
“In the last three years I re-launched the school’s magazine “BusinessFirst,” helped direct and produce a feature-length video on the history of the school and edited a 100-year history of the School of Business Administration,” she said.
Connell’s efforts to publicize the UM School of Business have not gone unnoticed by the Ole Miss and Oxford community.
“Her work ethic is contagious and you can tell how much effort she puts into something that she cares about,” said Connell’s friend and Oxford Resident Robin Wilson. “I was able to attend the viewing party that Stella put on for the video about the 100-year history of the business school and it was amazing to see the amount of business school alumni that attended the event.”
While Connell is the manager of marketing and communications for UM School of Business, she is also an integrated marketing communications instructor in the School of Journalism and New Media. Connell teaches an IMC 205 course, which is a fundamental writing course for integrated marketing communications majors.
“I enjoy teaching because it allows me to help the students get a little bit better at something that is so important, which is writing,” Connell said.
Connell strives to better student’s writing skills so they can be prepared for writing in the workplace.
“Writing is a commodity these days, and it’s important to be good at it,” Connell said. “It’s often an employer’s first impression upon applying for a job or sending in a proposal for a project.”
Outside of the university, Connell is very involved in the Oxford community.
“I have served as the president of the local arts council, I helped lead a fundraising effort for the local arts council, and I have done volunteer work for my church,” Connell said. “I also write a lot of news releases on behalf of the business school that are published in the local newspaper.”
Connell’s articles allow for public recognition of the business school and the success that has been brought to the school’s name.
“I believe in my efforts to highlight the faculty, staff and students in traditional news outlets and on social media,” Connell said. “People see my stories—or view our various social media platforms—and often have nice things to say about what we are doing at UM.”
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