NEW YORK—Kathryn Metcalfe, most recently chief communications officer at CVS Health, a Fortune 4 company, has been named to the newly created role of visiting professor at NYU School of Professional Studies division of programs in business. Metcalfe, who assumes her new responsibilities immediately, joins the faculty of the largest marketing and PR/corporate communications program in the world.

Metcalfe previously served in leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Aetna, Deloitte, Novartis and Pfizer. Earlier in her career, she held senior roles at PR firms, including CEO of WPP’s Cohn & Wolfe’s flagship New York office. Earlier this year, she received PRovoke Media’s Outstanding Individual Achievement SABRE award.

Metcalfe said that after working with CVS chief executive Karen Lynch through her first two years at the company—which included overseeing the continuing post-merger integration of the pharmacy giant and insurance company Aetna—she felt it was time to assess her future plans.

“Thinking about the challenges facing our profession, I wanted to take a bit of a sabbatical from the corporate world and work on re-imagining the curriculum for the master’s program at NYU,” she told PRovoke, citing the importance of a closer connection between academia and the corporate realm.

NYU has about 2,300 students from 45 countries enrolled in its graduate programs and “offering our students exposure to leading professionals in NYC is a key differentiator,” said Martin Ihrig, associate dean and clinical professor at the NYU SPS Division of Programs in Business.

He said that Metcalfe’s “strong reputation as well as her deep and diverse experience across all disciples of communications, public relations, government affairs, crisis communications and marketing will help us ensure we continue to raise the bar academically and provide our students with relevant real-world insights.”

In addition to teaching responsibilities, Metcalfe will help review curriculum, build thought-leadership, and increase the program’s visibility and ties to business globally. She will also focus on bringing industry leaders to the program in a special new speaker series to share insights, intelligence and trends to students.

Earlier in her career, Metcalfe was an adjunct professor for the program.

"There has never been a more critical time for our profession,” she added. “The environment is increasingly complex and evolving rapidly—socially, economically and technologically I’m excited to help ensure that the next generation of leaders is equipped to not just succeed today but to innovate and set a new bar for impact across diverse stakeholders.”