R. Ethan Braden
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Texas A&M
R. Ethan Braden is a nationally recognized marketing and communications executive whose career has focused on helping consequential organizations earn relevance, trust and reputation at scale.
As Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University, he leads the strategy to position, promote and protect one of America’s largest public research universities. His ambition is straightforward: Texas A&M should strive not only to be among the best universities in the nation, but the best for the nation.
Since arriving at Texas A&M, Braden and his team have built a national brand strategy designed to make the university’s extraordinary scale, character and value more legible to the world. Texas A&M has risen from No. 21 to No. 6 globally in university visibility, earned-media mentions increased 83% year over year, and university video content has generated more than 150 million YouTube views since August 2024. Fast Company has recognized Texas A&M as both a Brand That Matters and one of its Most Innovative Companies, and Braden was the only higher education leader named to ADWEEK’s 2026 Marketing Vanguard.
His work is grounded in the belief that great marketing should do more than generate attention; it should make what an organization does and why it matters easier to understand, remember and share. At Texas A&M, that philosophy has shaped Together, We Stand as a Force for Good, an organizing idea and brand platform connecting research, teaching, service, traditions, athletics and the global Aggie Network.
It has also taken Texas A&M into cultural environments where universities rarely compete. Braden and his team have built collaborations across motorsports, media, entertainment and lifestyle with partners including Felix Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank Racing in INDYCAR, NASCAR, Dude Perfect, Poncho, Stetson, and Buc-ee’s. Texas A&M branding appeared on Rosenqvist’s car, helmet and fire suit during his 2026 Indianapolis 500 victory, part of a broader motorsports platform connecting brand building with engineering, innovation, safety, workforce development and storytelling.
Previously, Braden served as Executive Vice President and CMO at Purdue University and Purdue Global and spent nearly a decade at Eli Lilly and Company, leading marketing efforts for billion-dollar medicines including Cymbalta and Jardiance.
He has spoken at Salesforce Dreamforce and Connections, ADWEEK Brandweek, Google Marketing Live and Content Marketing World, where he was named 2023 B2C Content Marketer of the Year by the Content Marketing Institute. The American Marketing Association named him 2020 Higher Education Marketer of the Year.
Braden holds a BA from Willamette University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
As Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University, he leads the strategy to position, promote and protect one of America’s largest public research universities. His ambition is straightforward: Texas A&M should strive not only to be among the best universities in the nation, but the best for the nation.
Since arriving at Texas A&M, Braden and his team have built a national brand strategy designed to make the university’s extraordinary scale, character and value more legible to the world. Texas A&M has risen from No. 21 to No. 6 globally in university visibility, earned-media mentions increased 83% year over year, and university video content has generated more than 150 million YouTube views since August 2024. Fast Company has recognized Texas A&M as both a Brand That Matters and one of its Most Innovative Companies, and Braden was the only higher education leader named to ADWEEK’s 2026 Marketing Vanguard.
His work is grounded in the belief that great marketing should do more than generate attention; it should make what an organization does and why it matters easier to understand, remember and share. At Texas A&M, that philosophy has shaped Together, We Stand as a Force for Good, an organizing idea and brand platform connecting research, teaching, service, traditions, athletics and the global Aggie Network.
It has also taken Texas A&M into cultural environments where universities rarely compete. Braden and his team have built collaborations across motorsports, media, entertainment and lifestyle with partners including Felix Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank Racing in INDYCAR, NASCAR, Dude Perfect, Poncho, Stetson, and Buc-ee’s. Texas A&M branding appeared on Rosenqvist’s car, helmet and fire suit during his 2026 Indianapolis 500 victory, part of a broader motorsports platform connecting brand building with engineering, innovation, safety, workforce development and storytelling.
Previously, Braden served as Executive Vice President and CMO at Purdue University and Purdue Global and spent nearly a decade at Eli Lilly and Company, leading marketing efforts for billion-dollar medicines including Cymbalta and Jardiance.
He has spoken at Salesforce Dreamforce and Connections, ADWEEK Brandweek, Google Marketing Live and Content Marketing World, where he was named 2023 B2C Content Marketer of the Year by the Content Marketing Institute. The American Marketing Association named him 2020 Higher Education Marketer of the Year.
Braden holds a BA from Willamette University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.