Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Corliss.
Paul, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My professional pathway is a unique one …
I spent 20 years building a career in professional sports with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, NASCAR’s Phoenix International Raceway and most recently with the NBA’s Alumni Association. As part of my incredible two decades in sports, I was able to meet many boyhood heroes, I traveled to-and-from games on team planes, I worked several Super Bowls and I even got to turn hot laps on the racetrack with Kyle Busch. This was the career I always dreamed of until my priorities matured.
In 2015, while working as Vice President of Marketing & Communications for the NBA’s Alumni Association, I began looking for a change. I was commuting between Chicago and Dallas, as well as spending a significant amount of time on the road running a traveling Jr. NBA program and the constant travel hindered my ability to spend time with my family. I also had career goals unrelated to sports, including earning a master’s degree and starting my own business, that I hadn’t had time to pursue. So, when I came across an intriguing job post for the University of North Texas System, I decided to “go for it” and applied.
Though my background was a bit unconventional for higher education, former UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson took a chance on me. When Chancellor Jackson retired, former NASA Deputy Administrator Lesa Roe became Chancellor and we immediately clicked. Like me, Lesa comes from a non-traditional background for higher-ed leadership, and she’s full of ideas that go beyond “the same old way we’ve always done things.” I love that, and my role has grown to include oversight of marketing and communications for the UNT System, UNT Dallas and UNT Dallas College of Law.
I love my job. I have the unique opportunity to work at the highest level of strategy for a $1 billion state-funded agency under Chancellor Roe, and I also have the opportunity to “get in the trenches” with UNT Dallas president Bob Mong at a start-up university that was created to help bridge poverty gaps in Dallas through education.
Today, I learn from accomplished leaders like Lesa and Bob, brilliant faculty members and inspiring students in my job. I manage a brilliant team of marketing and communications professionals that I also learn from every day. And because I rarely travel, I was able to earn my master’s degree in organizational leadership in 2016 and start a sports marketing company (Grizzly Sports & Entertainment Marketing) that keeps me connected to the industry I grew up in.
When it comes to career transitions, I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
Has it been a smooth road?
Changing careers after 20 years in one industry is scary. It took me a good six months to even begin to understand the many nuances of state-funded higher education in Texas, and there were times when I missed the rush of a big sporting event. But over time, as I became more and more invested in the UNT System and UNT Dallas, my focus became my new job.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with University of North Texas System – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The University of North Texas System includes the University of North Texas in Denton (UNT), the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth and the University of North Texas at Dallas (UNTD). The UNT System Administration is based in Downtown Dallas. The UNT System also provides high-quality, innovative, and affordable legal education in downtown Dallas at the UNT Dallas College of Law.
The three independent universities of the UNT System have combined enrollment of nearly 44,000 students across five major teaching locations, including each main campus, as well as Frisco and Downtown Dallas. The UNT System has a $1.2 billion annual consolidated budget, employs roughly 10,000 people at its various locations within the robust North Texas Region and boosts the Texas economy by nearly $5.2 billion each year.
UNT System component institutions, responding to demand in the region and the state, are among Texas’s fastest growing institutions of higher education. In Fall 2017, nearly 44,000 students enrolled at UNT System institutions.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I first lived in Dallas in the late 1990s after graduating from Texas Christian University and I didn’t really care for it. I’m originally from Chicago and missed the excitement of an urban environment. I felt like Dallas was a big suburb that lacked culture and personality.
But that was then and this is now. The Dallas of today is vastly different and evolving on a daily basis. Urban areas are being revitalized, public transportation is now available, new arts and culture districts have been created. The Dallas of today offers all the benefits of a world-class city — food, art, music, commerce, diversity — yet it remains friendly, easy to navigate and a heck of a lot cheaper than New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://untsystem.edu
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/untdallas
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/untdallas
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/untdallas
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
