Patrick Whittam \u201993 did not anticipate a career in corporate communications; it was not even in his plan to study broadcasting. You might even say that his Montclair journey began at another college entirely. \u201cI had enrolled in the elementary education program at a university in Philadelphia, but it wasn\u2019t the best fit for me,\u201d he says. \u201cBut while I was there, I got involved with a group reviving the on-campus radio station. That\u2019s when I started thinking about switching my major to broadcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whittam\u2019s sister, at the time a dance major at Montclair, told him about the new broadcasting facilities being built at the University. He decided to come home to New Jersey to finish his college education. \u201cI fell in love with television broadcasting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He found additional inspiration \u2013 and gained valuable experience \u2013 through the University\u2019s theater department. \u201cI had an on-campus job as a stagehand at Memorial Auditorium working on Theatre Department shows as well as external productions. I made a lot of friends in the theater department and got involved with the student performance group Players. I even got to play a role in their production of Pippin.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduation, Whittam launched a New Jersey-based multimedia production company. \u201cWe did a lot of corporate work and local cable broadcasts,\u201d he says. \u201cWe also produced documentaries, including one about a ship that went down during World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newly married with his first child on the way, Whittam took a role as a senior communications specialist, and later as manager of Internal Communications with the business unit then known as Prudential Investments. After a brief stint at JPMorgan Chase & Co., he rejoined Prudential\u2019s captive distribution channel, then known as Agency Distribution, as a director of Internal Communications. Along the way, he earned a master\u2019s degree in media studies from The New School, and in 2018, was named director of communications for Prudential\u2019s International Businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI partner with the communications teams across our international markets to make sure they have the information they need to tell Prudential\u2019s story in the markets,\u201d Whittam explains, \u201cand I make sure their unique stories are amplified throughout the rest of the Organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than ever, Whittam appreciates the universal skills his Montclair professors emphasized. \u201cNo matter what you do, relationship building, clear communication and project management are important,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I started at Prudential, I ran a multimedia production team. Now that my role is client-facing, I am often required to communicate between the client and the production side. The skills I learned at Montclair, along with my production experience, have allowed me to be a more effective leader in this role.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a demanding career and a growing family, Whittam hadn\u2019t considered becoming involved in alumni activities at Montclair \u2013 until he connected with Michele Ansbacher \u201980, former corporate vice president at Prudential, who is the executive-in-residence at the Feliciano School of Business and current chair of its advisory board. The two have been instrumental in developing MSU + Pru, an alumni affinity group at the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have about 125 members, and we are working to connect with more,\u201d Whittam says. \u201cSince 2019 we have hosted an annual site visit for Montclair MBA and undergraduate students. For some, it is their first experience in a corporate setting. We organize a half day of activities including tours and presentations from Montclair alumni who work at Prudential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Planning for the site visits can sometimes start months in advance. Whittam helps coordinate with Montclair faculty teaching consulting classes to create fictional case studies based on Prudential for students to develop as part of the curriculum.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students meet with Prudential leaders a couple times over the course of the semester to ask questions and get feedback on their progress,\u201d he says. \u201cDuring their visit to Prudential, the teams present their findings to the alumni, leaders and faculty in attendance where they are asked some really challenging questions. Not only do they get real-world experience, they also get credit toward their degree.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whittam has since joined, and now chairs, the Feliciano School of Business\u2019s MBA Advisory Board. His mission for MSU + Pru and the MBA Advisory Board is twofold: to increase Montclair graduates\u2019 visibility within the corporation, and to help students appreciate the range of career opportunities available at Prudential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have gotten more out of my alumni involvement at Montclair than I could ever have expected,\u201d Whittam says. \u201cThere are so many wonderful opportunities to engage with students \u2013 and they are more impressive than you can imagine. In addition, I get to think about long term value of a Montclair MBA and how we can help influence the curriculum, as well as how alumni like me can use our corporate roles to spread the word about the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe side benefit is that I also enjoy networking through my involvement,\u201d he continues. \u201cRecently I met Oscar Munoz, retired chairman and CEO of United Airlines, who was part of the MBA program\u2019s fall 2025 executive lecture series. It was an exciting opportunity that I would not have had otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have a lot of friends from my student days,\u201d Whittam adds. \u201cAnd now I am making new ones as an alumnus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Patrick Whittam \u201993 began his career in broadcasting, but it wasn\u2019t long before he was rising the ranks withing Prudential Financial. Now the communications director for Prudential\u2019s Global Retirement and Insurance businesses, Whittam is helping build the Montclair alumni network there and sharing his expertise with the University\u2019s MBA program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":443,"featured_media":216317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216316"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216321,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216316\/revisions\/216321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}