Sean Burnett

Senior Vice President for Integrated Marketing Communications and Chief Marketing Officer

Sean Burnett leads Pepperdine’s Integrated Marketing Communications team, which shares the University’s brand story through signature events, publications, and emerging technologies. Burnett also works directly with leaders around the University to shape the school’s vision and advance its mission by illuminating them for a variety of audiences. 

Before joining Pepperdine in 2022, Burnett served for five years as vice president of marketing and corporate affairs for HCA Healthcare’s Gulf Coast Division in Houston, Texas, where he led the launch of the organization’s rebranding initiative. He previously held advertising, branding, and marketing roles in the healthcare and hospitality industries, including as vice president of sales, marketing, and training at Covia Health. Burnett also served as director of MBA programs at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University. During Burnett’s tenure, the university’s ranking went from 49th to 22nd in two years, and the business school’s entrepreneurship and finance programs rose into the top 10 internationally. 

Burnett holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Management. 

Phone: 310.506.4413
Email: sean.burnett@pepperdine.edu