Anne Peters, Associate Vice President, University Marketing & Special Projects, The University of Texas at San Antonio

By Sam Boykin

With a career spanning more than 25 years in higher education marketing and communications, Anne Peters has built a reputation for adaptability and embracing change.

“Change is constant,” Peters said. “You can never get too comfortable, because higher education organizations are like living organisms that are always on the move—rethinking, reframing, and revisualizing.”

As Associate Vice President for University Marketing and Special Projects at The University of Texas at San Antonio, Peters is not only keeping pace with that evolution, but helping guide it. She joined UT San Antonio in 2009, and as the institution has grown—now the third largest research university in Texas—so has her role and impact.

Beginning her UT San Antonio career as a communications specialist, Peters has steadily advanced over the past 16 years, taking on a series of new leadership positions along the way.

“I’ve been here long enough to have worked under multiple presidents and through tremendous growth,” she said. “But I’ve also had the opportunity to take on very different responsibilities over time, which has kept the work fresh, challenging, and meaningful.”

Today, Peters helps shape the voice, visibility, and reputation of the university during a period of historic expansion and transformation.

She is playing a key role in one of the most ambitious branding efforts in UT San Antonio’s history in tandem with the university’s merger with UT Health San Antonio. The integration, which became official on September 1, 2025, created a combined institution of unprecedented scale: a Tier One public research university unified with a leading academic health center.

“There’s really no national precedent for a merger of this size where neither institution is absorbed by the other,” Peters said. “Each university brought complementary strengths and respected brands to the table, and now we have this rare opportunity to create a new brand that builds on the legacies of both institutions. We’re something of a unicorn, and a lot of eyes are on us.”

The work has included a comprehensive rebrand and continues with the rollout of a new strategic identity for the university as a national research powerhouse that is fueling the local economy with an expanded downtown footprint, and signature initiatives such as the new College of Artificial Intelligence, Cyber and Computing and Center for Brain Health.

For Peters, helping lead such a pivotal effort is as much about collaboration as it is about strategy. One of her proudest accomplishments has been breaking down silos and fostering stronger partnerships across campus.

Anne Peters, Associate Vice President, University Marketing & Special Projects, The University of Texas at San Antonio

AMA San Antonio

“Large universities naturally tend to operate in isolated units,” she explained. “Early on, I made it a personal priority to bring people together—to understand what everyone was doing, where our audiences overlapped, and how we could collaborate instead of competing. Alignment is critical for reputation, visibility, and long-term success.”

Before arriving in San Antonio, Peters spent 11 years at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, where she ultimately served as director of marketing and communications and joined the president’s cabinet early in her career.

Her path into higher education was largely organic. After earning a communications degree at Stanford University, Peters began her career with The Princeton Review, managing SAT preparation programs across the Mid-Atlantic region. The role introduced her to admissions and enrollment work and sparked a lasting interest in higher education. She later earned an M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration at the University of Vermont.

“I don’t think many of us plan to go into higher ed marketing,” she said. “But once I found it, I realized how fascinating—and how impactful—the work could be. There’s nothing more rewarding than working in a field that’s helping people to make huge leaps in their socioeconomic status and lead healthier lives.”

Beyond UTSA, Peters remains deeply engaged in the marketing profession through the American Marketing Association. A longtime participant and presenter at AMA’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education—an event she describes as the gold standard for the field—she recently became active in the AMA San Antonio chapter and now serves on its CMO Advisory Council.

“I realized I’d never fully plugged into the local chapter, and I wanted to change that,” she said. “It’s been so gratifying to connect with other marketing leaders, share experiences, and learn from the shared challenges across our industries.”

As UT San Antonio continues to grow and redefine itself on a national stage, Peters sees storytelling as both a responsibility and an opportunity.

“When we work together,” she said, “we don’t just tell better stories. We help people understand why our institutions matter—and we build something stronger and more enduring in the process.”