Wesley A. Nichols '86 Receives Distinguished Alumnus Award

Wesley A. Nichols ’86 Receives Distinguished Alumnus Award

Wesley A. Nichols was the recipient of the Society of Alumni’s Distinguished Alumnus award for his support of Randolph-Macon College in a presentation on October 14, 2011 during R-MC’s Homecoming Awards Luncheon.  Robert Lambeth ’71 presented the award.

The Society of Alumni created the Distinguished Alumnus Award to honor those alumni who have achieved wide recognition through contributions made to society through their chosen professions.

Nichols earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from R-MC in 1986.

At R-MC, he played golf, tennis, and soccer, and was a member of Theta Chi fraternity.

Nichols went on to earn his MBA from Johns Hopkins University and did postgraduate work at Harvard Business School in entrepreneurship and management of service firms.

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In 1994, Nichols founded Direct Partners, a direct-marketing agency responsible for building DirecTV, EarthLink, Palm, Disney and other growth brands. The company was sold in 1999 to Omnicom. He then became president and CEO of Tequila\North America, an Omnicom company.

Nichols is also a co-founder and managing partner of MarketShare Partners, a strategic marketing firm focused on demand creation for global brands. The company is based in Los Angeles and Toronto and was established in 2003.

Nichols and his wife Julie live in Pacific Palisades, California and are the parents of a son, Alexander.

Nichols has been supportive of the college, both in terms of financial gifts as well as gifts of his time.  Just this past spring, he flew from California to speak to our business students as part of the college’s Executive Speakers Series.  Nichols spoke on the relevancy of micro and macro economics in today’s business world, but more importantly he served as a prime example of the value of a liberal arts education.  Although he majored in psychology and minored in studio art, he used his broad-based liberal arts education to successfully compete in a global marketplace of ideas. 

Randolph-Macon is grateful to Nichols for his generous support of the college.