Adobe Manager Offers Insight on Artificial Intelligence
Asbury 2020 alumna returns as an adjunct professor to teach Photojournalism class
September 25, 2023
Eliza Tan ’20 works as Partner Manager for Adobe and recently returned to Asbury as an adjunct professor for the JRN 343: Photojournalism class. Teaching remotely from San Jose, Calif., Tan manages partnerships for Adobe video products while sharing her photography expertise with undergraduate students.
“Asbury has been a part of my ongoing narrative wherever I go,” Tan said. “I feel very privileged and honored to come back as an adjunct professor.”
Tan received her B.A. in Media Communication from Asbury and her M.A. in New Media Photojournalism from The George Washington University. In her role at Adobe, she drives co-marketing efforts for strategic technology and video solution partnerships, serving as the first point of contact for the Adobe Video Partner Program.
“What I enjoy most about working at Adobe is feeling empowered to lend a say into what’s happening and to know what’s coming in the technology and media and entertainment space,” Tan said. “I seek to have a futuristic outlook and make a difference in the community through my work.”
A large part of Tan’s job involves partnerships with generative AI technologies. Adobe’s own native generative AI can now be used for free in the recently launched Adobe Firefly. Providing an openly licensed tool with images generated from Adobe Stock, Adobe remains committed to developing creative generative AI responsibly, with human creators at the center. Learn more: https://www.adobe.com/sensei/generative-ai/firefly.html.
“AI seems scary to people because it feels like it happened suddenly,” Tan said. “In my view, generative AI is a tool to master that can help (rather than hurt) jobs, serving as an assistant that supports employees with their business activities.”
Following her time at Asbury, Tan completed two contracts with the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) in Tokyo and Beijing, working in photography, program management and information services.
“I owe the Olympics opportunity to Dr. Jim Owens,” Tan said. “Through his referral, I had the opportunity to work with world-renowned photographers and journalists.”
“Eliza was one of those students who understood how to tell a story with her camera,” said Owens ’79, who serves as dean of the School of Communication Arts. “Early on, I noticed her work. When the International Olympic Committee’s broadcast division asked me if we had a great student photographer, I recommended her.”
Tan discovered Asbury through a Google search for a university with an excellent media program. Her admissions counselor at the time Jarred Miller reached out, and Tan decided to journey from Malaysia to Kentucky.
“I considered two universities: one in California and Asbury,” she said. “I chose Asbury after visiting the Miller Center for Communication Arts.”
The Asbury University School of Communication Arts includes two departments with multidimensional majors: the Department of Communication & Theatre and the Department of Media, Journalism & Digital Storytelling. The School of Communication Arts offers an M.A. in Communication, an M.A. in Digital Storytelling, an M.F.A. in Screenwriting, and an M.F.A. in Film and Television Production. These graduate programs overlap with the undergraduate Media Communication program, allowing undergraduate students to earn an M.A. in one additional year. Learn more: https://www.asbury.edu/academics/schools/communication-arts/.