Heather Adkins

Heather Adkins, MS

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Heather Adkins serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at The University of Texas at San Antonio. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, Adkins leads an integrated team to support enterprise-wide marketing, branding, communications, public and media relations and strategic engagement initiatives that elevate institutional visibility and support the university’s expansive and ambitious trajectory.

Leading Strategic Transformation

Adkins is a recognized strategy and marketing executive with more than 25 years of leadership in hospitals, health systems, and academic medical centers, and over three decades of experience in consumer marketing and communications. She has demonstrated expertise in integrating brand, marketing, advertising, media relations, and internal communications into strategic frameworks that support institutional growth.

She has served the university since 2015, starting with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and supporting the creation and development of the distinguished UT Health San Antonio brand.

Prior to UT San Antonio

Prior to relocating to San Antonio, Adkins served as Chief Strategy and Mission Officer for a nationally ranked teaching hospital and health system in Cincinnati, Ohio, consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report and named the area’s most preferred health system for 25 consecutive years.

Her background also includes leadership roles in major national media organizations, spanning both newspaper and broadcast journalism. She has received more than two dozen national awards for excellence in health-related marketing and communications and is a recognized expert in brand development and crisis communications.

Education

  • MS in Business Management, Indiana Wesleyan University
  • BA in English with a Minor in Sociology, University of Kentucky

Distinctions

  • Public Relations Professional of the Year, Public Relations Society of America – San Antonio
  • Healthcare Leadership Award, Lead Cincinnati
  • “Forty Under 40” Honoree, Cincinnati Business Journal
  • Recipient of more than two dozen national healthcare brand, marketing and communications awards
  • Member, American Marketing Association
  • Member, American Hospital Association Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development
  • Member, Public Relations Society of America, Counselors of Higher Education and Health Academy