As most MBA graduates will tell you, the qualification is not worth the parchment it is written on unless it is marketable, writes John McManus.

And the latest recruit to the North American Board of the Smurfit Business School, Tim Healy, should be able to do something to increase the school's marketability in the United States.

During his 30-year career, Mr Healy has worked for most of the big US consumer products companies and managed well-known brands including Kool Aid, Heinz Ketchup and Nutrasweet.

In Dublin last week for his first meeting with the board of the school, he spoke - with the infectious enthusiasm that seems obligatory among US marketing executives - about his role.

He hopes to "generally assist in the development of the school's strategy" and, more specifically, "crafting a marketing strategy that might be more Chicago-centric". The latter objective reflects his own base in the Windy City, with its huge Irish community and numerous corporate headquarters.

Given that Mr Healy is also five months into creating his own $200 million (€163 million) snack food company with venture capital backing, his decision to take on the role with the Smurfit Business School is perhaps surprising.

He attributes his decision to a convergence of factors. He was approached by public relations executive Bob Dilenschneider, head of the marketing committee of the north American board and a friend of 20 years.

The two men worked on the initial branding of Nutrasweet, the ubiquitous artificial sweetener, in the mid-1980s.

"He has always been someone I put a lot of faith in. He explained to me the business school has made tremendous strides in the last 10 years and was interested in continuing to move forward. I have always been interested in transformation as a way of looking at life and business issues and he felt that there might be a role that I could play," Mr Healy says.

There was also the inevitable Irish connection. A third-generation Irish American, Mr Healy is distantly related to his namesake, the former Parnellite MP and first governor general of the Free State. Add to this a few trips to Ireland while he worked for Sir Anthony O'Reilly at Heinz and it all starts to make sense.

"It's the kind of thing I am interested in doing. My heritage is Irish and I would like to contribute in any way I can and it seemed like something that would fit with my overall interest in change and transformation," he explains.