We were excited to host Miami honors alumnus Ken Todd for a visit in the Honors Program office back in February. In Oxford for the opening of the new Armstrong Student Center, Ken was kind enough to spend time talking with current honors students and staff about his education and career. Ken, a 1991 Miami graduate, currently serves as a member of the Alumni Board of Directors for Miami, and during his conversation he spoke about his education and career trajectory, providing his thoughts on how his Liberal Arts background has served him.

Ken currently lives in New York City and works at Showtime in the digital media department. He oversees mobile development and digital content syndication. He is also active in the Television Academy (which gives out the Emmys), and currently sits on the Executive Committee of the Interactive Media Peer Group.

Ken’s passion for his work is evident when he talks about trends and changes happening in the television industry. Exploring the presence of online media and how it is radically reshaping traditional television, Ken shares that Showtime’s approach has long been to cultivate creative shows that draw top talent and devoted fans. It is this work—with its consumer focus—that drives Ken’s enthusiasm. He describes his work as helping people know all the ways they can access Showtime shows for which they’re subscribed, while thinking about how to partner multiplatform content along with linear shows.

But before all of the exciting work Ken is doing now at Showtime, he was once an undergraduate student at Miami. He earned degrees in Economics and International Studies (he also had a minor in French, and was able to study abroad in Dijon as an undergraduate). Ken was a member of the Honors Program, and lived in the Honors residence hall for three years. And he was deeply involved in the Miami Marching Band—an experience he still considers helpful in helping him learn about collaborative teamwork and his work ethic in his current role.

After he graduated, Ken worked for three years at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) before earning his MBA from the University of Michigan. At Michigan, Ken focused on marketing and corporate strategy, determining fairly quickly that he was interested in pursuing work in the entertainment industry. Shortly after he finished his MBA studies, he was able to secure a role at Showtime through both his passion for the television industry and his persistent networking. He has been at Showtime ever since.

These days, Ken notes, his work is fun and engaging: he gets to work on a variety of projects from brainstorming creative ideas to working on business contracts. He also enjoys having the opportunity to interface with a lot of people and in a lot of areas, creating a multidisciplinary experience. Ken shared with us that after all this time, he still draws upon his Miami experience for much of what he does, especially interfacing with different types of people—noting this is a “really valuable skill to develop.”