Caption: College of Communication and Information alumnus Andrew Foust, left, accepts the 2025 Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award.
If you ask those who work with Andrew Foust (‘04) what his personal brand is, the president Americas of McCormick & Company has no doubt that “the University of Tennessee” would be a top response.
This passion for his alma mater, his success at McCormick, and his commitment to embody the Volunteer spirit through service work made Foust an ideal candidate to receive the 2025 Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award. This award is the College of Communication and Information’s highest alumni honor that recognizes those who have made notable contributions to the fields of communication and information.
“Andrew’s dedication to his profession and his community reflects not only his exceptional leadership but also his unwavering commitment to serving others. He exemplifies the Volunteer spirit in every way, and we are deeply grateful for his longtime support of our university and college. His achievements—and the way he champions those around him—embody the very essence of the Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award,” said Joe Mazer, dean of the College of Communication and Information.
Giving His All at Rocky Top
Foust graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2004 with a major in advertising and dreams of getting a creative career in the field.
“I wanted to write commercials and not shave and tuck my shirt in,” he said with a self-aware laugh because, as he spoke, he sported a smooth face and sharp, business professional attire.
As a native of the one-stoplight town of Claxton, Tennessee, Foust said he wasn’t exposed to the corporate world and didn’t know what a career in that environment would be like. What he did know was that UT had an excellent advertising program, campus was only 25 miles away from the home his family had owned for 200 years, and he was already a Vol for life, so why not make it official?
“When you grow up in the South in a small town, your favorite thing is watching college football. And specifically, my dad and I would watch it together, even though my whole family were fans, that’s what I really remember,” Foust said. “If we won, it was a huge celebration. If we lost, I cried. I got into different colleges, but my heart was in UT, and at the time we had the eighth-ranked advertising school in the nation, and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Once Foust was accepted to UT, the next step was figuring out a way to pay for it. He said UT gave him a job to help pay tuition by refereeing intramural games, and he became the advertising director for The Daily Beacon—a position he held for two and a half years, possibly the longest run anyone had had in the position at that time. During his tenure as ad director, he gained business experience, helped oversee the paper’s transition from black and white to color, and oversaw record-breaking advertising sales.
He still needed more help with board and rent, and when he discovered that becoming a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon offered one of the largest scholarship foundations in the nation, he happily joined. What was initially a financial decision turned into a great opportunity to learn leadership skills that Foust would later draw from in his career.
“I don’t think many people can appreciate what it is like going to school full time, working full time, and leading a fraternity as a president. It taught me a tremendous amount of leadership and how to be transparent,” he recounted. “Just hard work can beat skills day in and day out, and there was something in that Volunteer spirit of just working hard and helping one another.”
As a student, Foust was getting solid grades as he pursued his advertising major and psychology minor. One of his courses, taught by Margie Morrison, culminated in the class presenting at a regional advertising competition. His fear of public speaking was so strong that Morrison literally pushed him on stage to present, ultimately helping the team proceed to nationals.
“It is teachers like that who were both empathetic but saw more in me than I saw in myself, and that extra push went a long way,” he said.
Of all the great things that Foust experienced at UT, none can truly top meeting his wife, Summer, there. She sat in front of him in astronomy class and, when he spotted her at a party, he took the opportunity to say hi and point out they took a class together. While she had no clue who he was or that he sat behind her—and Foust’s retelling of the meet-cute has him bumbling through their initial conversation—a spark was lit that night that has carried on through the years. Today, they have three children together: a 15-year-old daughter, Ella; a 13-year-old son, Landon; and a 6-year-old daughter, Leila.
A Creative in a Corporate Career
Meeting his wife also changed the trajectory of Foust’s career. She graduated a year before he did and was offered a job in Maryland. She asked if Foust would follow her and he said he would; so, when he graduated, he set about looking for a job in the same area where his future wife was living and working.
“I went to the head of alumni affairs at my fraternity and asked if he knew anyone I could interview with. He gave me a list of alumni to write to, and Alan Wilson was the first person to write me back,” Foust said, referring to the CCI alumni and Board of Visitors member who was president of McCormick & Company before Foust, and who eventually became the company’s CEO. Wilson also established the Alan and Wendy Wilson Communication and Leadership Academy at the college in 2024.
Foust told Wilson he really wanted to get a job in advertising, but the elder alum encouraged Foust to come in for an informational interview anyway. Foust agreed and, while he really liked the company and was offered a job there, he ended up taking a position at an advertising agency.
“Six months later, McCormick called again about a different position, and with my wife’s urging, I took the job thinking that we would move back to Knoxville in a few years,” he said. “So here I am, years later, I’m still shaving and tucking my shirt in. Alan was a tremendous role model and someone I would emulate my own style and work ethic after in many ways. I also wanted to live up to the fact that he opened a door for me, so I made sure to deliver.”
As he entered the unfamiliar corporate environment, Foust discovered the skills he’d gained in courses for his advertising major and psychology minor could be put to good use in his new position.
“Advertising is all about being creative and having a tangible output, absorbing a lot and distilling it down to a 30-second story or print ads. It’s both an art and a science; people think it’s all art, but it starts with the science. At CCI, I saw both the art side and the science side,” he said.
His knowledge of psychology helped him be empathetic and understand that people all come from different backgrounds and with varying perspectives. He used that insight to help cut through the noise and better understand how to reach consumers.
Combining everything he learned helped Foust work his way up through the company, and he said he uses those skills every workday.
“It was that art of storytelling, and I can’t stress it enough. We’re in a more global and more matrixed environment than we’ve ever been in, and when you think about the communication someone hears every single day, you have to cut through it all,” he said. “Great advertising is having a committed team that is focused and going after the core strategy of whatever business you’re in. I use my art of storytelling and my ability to distill complex ideas down to something simple all the time.”
Carrying on the Torch
The skills he learned through academics and extracurricular activities aren’t the only positive attribute Foust took with him after he left Rocky Top—the Volunteer spirit took root during his time at UT and has flourished within him ever since.
“As a board member of the Ed Reed Foundation, we work with Baltimore city youth on a one-to-one level. I brought 25 kids up to tour McCormick for a career day last year, we do several camps where kids learn skills needed in life, and we’re handing out 10,000 meals for Thanksgiving. I’m literally helping load the meal into a car for kids and family at a local school,” he said. “So, it’s things like that that are just inherent. It’s part of your value system at UT, and we were very philanthropic at the fraternity. We learned to do what’s right and to have a strong value system, that’s the Volunteer spirit.”
He also enjoys mentoring others and giving them opportunities just as Alan Wilson did for him so many years ago. Foust is currently a mentor to five students in the very program his own mentor established at CCI, the Alan and Wendy Wilson Communication and Leadership Academy, and that has been a particularly fulfilling experience for the corporate leader. He recalls what it was like to be from a small town and not have a real understanding of all the career paths there are, and that is something he now enjoys passing on to students who are finding their way in the world.
“Mentoring has been an awesome experience. It is probably the most rewarding thing, to give a little bit of advice, and one thing resonates,” he said. “For me, it’s a great opportunity to say, ‘This is what it looks like if you chose to go in a direction like this, here’s what works.’ It matters to get exposure.”
His love for UT and his embrace of the Volunteer spirit have only grown over the years, but he was still shocked when he learned he was the next recipient of the Donald G. Hileman Distinguished Alumni Award.
“When you think about your career and a career-distinguishing award, you think of it at the end of your career, but Joe [Mazer] pointed out how much I’ve accomplished at the age I am. So, I think shock is a good word, and an enormous amount of pride that I would be selected for something from a school, a place, I care so deeply about,” he said.