Tommy Joe Payne

1957 -

Tommy Joe Payne
Image source: Buccaneer, 1979

A native of Greenville, Tommy Joe Payne earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from ECU in 1979. While an undergraduate, Payne was active in student government, serving as speaker of the SGA legislature his junior year and then, his senior year, as SGA president. Payne also chaired the Media Board, created in 1978 by the ECU Board of Trustees, to coordinate and oversee the Buccaneer, the Fountainhead, Ebony Herald, and the Rebel. While on the Media Board, Payne supported WECU‘s drive to obtain an FM license. As a student, Payne encountered occasional controversy due to his emphasis on fiscal accountability for clubs, organizations, and publications receiving SGA and/or Media Board funding. His tenure as SGA president and Media Board chair established, however, new levels of integrity and service to the student body.

Payne was closely allied with another student leader, Kieran Shanahan, the SGA attorney general. Payne and Shanahan were responsible for several initiatives meant to make student government at ECU both more professional and more relevant to student interests and activities. In his capacity as SGA president, Payne also worked closely with the ECU Board of Trustees, the new chancellor, Thomas Brewer, and the Greenville City Council.

Following graduation, Payne earned his law degree from Wake Forest University in 1982. He then served as legislative counsel for Congressman Walter Jones and practiced law with Murray & Associates in Washington, D.C. Payne also worked as a legislative representative for the Tobacco Institute in Washington.

In 1988, he joined the Washington, D. C. office of R. J. Reynolds as a manager in government relations. The following year, he was promoted to director of federal government affairs, and then, in 1995, to vice president of federal government affairs. In 1999, he was appointed senior vice president of external relations for R. J. Reynolds and its parent company, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc., a position he held until 2004. When RJR became a subsidiary of Reynolds American in 2004, Payne was appointed executive vice president of public affairs.

In 2010, following Reynolds American’s acquisition of Niconovum, a Swedish company focused on marketing nicotine substitutes, Payne was named president of Niconovum USA, Inc. The company’s main product, Zonnic, a nicotine gum, has been described by Payne as “a very beneficial step” for “individuals who desire to stop smoking.”

An exemplar of the ECU motto, Payne has served on the board for the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation, Inc., and is past president of the board of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts, and a past member of the board of trustees of Winston-Salem State University.

Sources

Citation Information

Title: Tommy Joe Payne

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 2/17/2020

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