UF names associate vice president for marketing, public relations

June 30, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Joe Hice, a former Harley-Davidson marketing executive, has been named the University of Florida’s new associate vice president of marketing and public relations.

Hice is responsible for public relations and employee communications at the university, said Jane A. Adams, vice president of university relations. He also will direct the university’s news bureau.

Hice joins UF after a long career with some of the nation’s most respected and well-known recreational product brands, including Harley-Davidson, Segway, Sea-Doo Watercraft and others. Prior to joining UF, Hice was chief marketing officer of Segway LLC in Bedford, N.H. Segway manufactures the Segway Human Transporter, a self-balancing, two-wheeled transportation device.

He also served as director of corporate communications for Harley-Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee, Wisc., and as director of marketing communications for Bombardier Inc.’s Marine Products Division. At Harley, Hice was responsible for all corporate communications activities and employee communications. He helped form the company’s Disclosure Committee and was involved in the planning of Harley-Davidson’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

Bombardier Recreational Products is the manufacturer of Sea-Doo personal watercraft and Sea-Doo jet boats. Hice managed the development of the Sea-Doo brand and implemented marketing communications programs that helped the company grow from the smallest company in the industry to the industry leader in just five years.

He also served as director of marketing for Wellcraft Marine and Donzi Marine in Sarasota.

Prior to entering the corporate world, Hice was co-owner of his own public relations and marketing firm in Tampa. He also was business editor of the Tampa Times and a staff writer with Florida Trend magazine and the Tampa Bay Business Journal. He is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America.

Hice has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in communications, both from UF, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.