Stephanie Swindle Thomas has made a career out of combining communications experience and multimedia skills with her passion for arts advocacy. Thomas joined the Department of Advertising/Public Relations with almost 20 years of experience in higher education and nonprofit communications roles.
As a professor, she emphasizes experiential learning, emerging technology and engaged empathy. Above all, she values mentoring students and supporting their professional development. Thomas is also a photographer and published fiction writer, who leads writing and storytelling workshops. Her photographs have been featured in various exhibitions, and she has collaborated with artists, musicians and directors on arts-related projects around the world.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she is a third-generation musician who worked for The Blues Foundation and The Metal Museum before returning to Penn State. Her roles at Penn State have included: communications assistant with the College of Arts and Architecture at the Palmer Museum of Art; marketing and exhibitions coordinator in the Stuckeman School; director of social media and visual assets for the Office of Communications; adjunct faculty for the School of Visual Arts Professional Photography Department (fashion photography and photography internship); a multimedia consultant for Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology; and remains the multimedia internship supervisor for the Penn State Blue Band.
She is also affiliate faculty in the Department of Art History, teaching a course on museum marketing and virtual reality exhibition design for the museum studies certificate.
Thomas is a faculty board member for the Penn State Center for Pedagogy in the Arts and Design; co-lead of the IT Student Technology Advisory Representatives group; and the inaugural faculty member for Teaching and Learning with Technology’s Dreamery classroom pilot program for her COMM 471 course (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025). She is currently researching and developing a course on augmented reality and virtual reality advertising.
