UW names Thomas Towell as interim licensing director

A retired Madison advertising executive has been named interim director of trademark licensing at UW–Madison.

Thomas Towell replaces Pamela Holt, who resigned Jan. 15 for personal reasons and moved back to Arizona. Towell started his new position Jan. 18.

Towell, who ran Towell Promotional Services for 40 years and has extensive experience in trademark licensing, had been volunteering as a marketing adviser with the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics three days a week. His work included assisting Holt on some marketing projects. When she resigned, Vice Chancellor for Legal and Executive Affairs Melany Newby asked Towell to fill the job until a replacement is hired later this year.

“This was an easy transition to make, because I was already here,” Towell says.

In addition to his experience as a marketing adviser with the athletic department, Towell has lectured on advertising and marketing for the past 10 years in UW–Madison’s Schools of Business, Human Ecology, and Journalism and Mass Communication.

UW–Madison ranks 10th in sales in the Collegiate Licensing Company, the organization that oversees trademark licensing for more than 170 universities. Royalties from licensing totaled almost $1.2 million in 1997-98, continuing a trend of more than $1 million in annual trademark income since 1993-94, when the Badgers won the Rose Bowl.

The royalty income is divided between financial aid for students, called Bucky Badger Grants, and the athletic department. Last year, 107 Bucky Badger Grants ranging from $700 to $10,000 were awarded, mostly to Wisconsin residents, based on need.

The university has licensing agreements with 445 companies to market Bucky Badger, the motion “W” and the UW–Madison name on apparel and other merchandise. Permission to use the university’s trademarks must be obtained through the Office of Trademark Licensing. The trademarks are property of the UW System Board of Regents.