Ann Lewnes, a Bronx Science alumna of the Class of 1979 and both the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Adobe, visited Bronx Science on November 29, 2017 for her induction into the Bronx Science Hall of Fame.

Since her graduation from Science and subsequent enrollment at Lehigh University, Lewnes graduated with Bachelor’s degrees in political science and journalism, later becoming a widely celebrated executive. As a leader and revolutionary in the world of technology marketing, Lewnes was named one of the world’s fifty most innovative CMOs by Business Insider in 2016, and listed by Forbes as one of the world’s most influential CMOs in 2017.

After a short stint as a journalist in New York City, Lewnes moved to Silicon Valley and began her career in technology and marketing at Intel working in corporate communications. Over the course of twenty years, she revolutionized the company’s marketing strategy by developing the iconic Intel Inside tone, an indicator that a computer was using one of Intel’s processing chips. Following her career at Intel, Lewnes became the CMO at Adobe, where she continued her prolific marketing work through the creation of Adobe’s Creative Cloud system and the introduction of new advertising tactics that have thrust Adobe, like Intel, to the forefront of the technology industry. Lewnes’ campaign is responsible for Intel becoming a household name, as well as for the subsequent growth of Intel into a technology company of international prestige.

Lewnes remembers her time at Bronx Science fondly, and noted the influence of her science teachers on her career and success. “[Ms. Frank] was just an incredibly good teacher. She would teach us in a way that was very memorable. Ergo, I know how to sing the periodic table!” Among others, she also adored her physics teacher, Mr. LaManna, whom she said was both engaging and encouraging. 

During her time at Bronx Science, outside of her classes, Lewnes enjoyed participating in the school theater productions, often with her friends. “I loved drama, and I was in the play. It was the worst play ever!” she laughed. She played the part of a witch, and one of her friends produced the play. “My friends from Science are still my best friends,” Lewnes explained, noting that the same friend who produced the play went on to have a renowned career in movie production. Lewnes also worked on the yearbook, an interest that continued on as she pursued a degree in journalism.

“It’s very rare, I would say, especially in the technology field, to be a woman and an executive.”

Lewnes stands out at Adobe, where women only make up 20% of executive positions. “It’s very rare, I would say, especially in the technology field, to be a woman and an executive,” Lewnes lamented. “But personally, I never felt that it was in any way an impediment to my success. The reason for that is I never would take ‘no’ for an answer.” More than anything, she credited her work ethic for this. “Throughout my career, I’ve always had the policy that you advocate for yourself and work your tail off, which I did.” She spoke to her desire for more workplace diversity and inclusion at Adobe and in the technology industry in general.
“Creativity is what feeds me. I’m a little crazy, and I’m always coming up with new ideas – some of them are bad and some of them are good. You’re always going to have failures, but you can’t be afraid to fail.”