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School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Board of Advisors: Gail Thornton

Founder, Worldview Communications

Photo of Gail Thornton

Ms. Gail Thornton, MA '03, is founder of Worldview Communications, a global communications consultancy which partners with clients in pharmaceuticals, health care and biotechnology, such as Merck Animal Health and IM HealthScience, among others. 

Previously, she was vice president/head of communications for the Emerging Markets Region for Merck, where she built and led a team of regional and country communicators, developed internal and external communications and provided strategic counsel and support to senior executives. Previously, at Schering-Plough, she was vice president, International Communications, responsible for building a team of communicators in all international markets, and handling internal and external communications, product communications and advocacy development, and company image and reputation. 

Ms. Thornton was senior director, public relations and advocacy development, at Pfizer, Inc., senior director, public relations and advocacy development at Pharmacia Corporation and spent 20 years Bristol-Myers Squibb in positions including international product relations, brand image and reputation management and global employee communications. 
 
Ms. Thornton holds a B.A. in Journalism from Rider University, an M.A. from the Whitehead School, and is completing a Ph.D. in Health Sciences at Seton Hall. She is a member of the Foreign Press Association and the International Public Relations Association. She was awarded the 2007 Distinguished Alumna Service Award for Leadership from the Whitehead School and was awarded the 2018 Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in Public Relations by the Public Relations Society of America. She is the past recipient of the Tribute to Women in Industry Achievement Award. 
 
She is a published author on topics relating to health and wellness, international communications, and emerging markets in the Journal of International Relations and Diplomacy, Global Health Governance online journal, PR Strategist, Frontline magazine of the International Public Relations Association and Pharmaceutical Executive magazine, as well as the Huffington Post and Thrive Global. She authored a book chapter on the value of employee engagement in a Portuguese communications textbook, Ensaios Comunicaҫão com Empregados (2014). 

She co-edited and authored The Voices of Patients, Hospital CEOs, Health Care Providers, Caregivers and Families: Personal Experience with Critical Care and Invasive Medical Procedures, an e-book on patient-centered medicine offered on Amazon/Kindle Direct (2017). She co-edited and authored a communications textbook, Strategic Employee Communication: Building a Culture of Engagement by Palgrave Macmillan (2018).

Education:

  • M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
  • B.A. in Journalism, Rider University

Academic Distinctions and Scholarship:

  • Distinguished Alumna Service Award for Leadership, School of Diplomacy
  • 2018 Atlas Award for Lifetime Achievement in Public Relations, the Public Relations Society of America.
  • Tribute to Women in Industry Achievement Award.