text:
McCombs Home ·
Giving to McCombs ·
Our Donors ·
Advisory Council ·
George Ackert is a Senior Managing Director in Evercore's investment banking business in New York City. He is an internationally recognized advisor to companies in the transportation and infrastructure space, as well as to leasing/rental and business services companies. George also heads Evercore's sports advisory practice.
Mr. Ackert began his career as an Associate Attorney in Mergers & Acquisitions and Structured Finance at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. George moved to investment banking in 1997 and joined Merrill Lynch as an associate, rising to Global Head of Transportation & Infrastructure, before joining Evercore in 2009. He holds a J.D. with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law, an M.B.A. from Baylor University, as well as a B.B.A. with High Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
He is a former chairman and a founding member of the New York for McCombs Board. He is the Chairman for the Advisory Board of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin for the 2018-19 school year. He is also a member of the UT Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, The UT Development Board, the UT System Chancellor's Executive Council, and serves on the Board of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT.
George is on year twenty-two of his two-year plan to "work in NYC for a few years and then come back to Texas."
McCombs has had numerous leadership roles in national, state and local civic organizations, including the United Way, the Chamber of Commerce and San Antonio's World's Fair. He has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern University and chairman of the Board of Visitors of Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and remains active in the local and statewide charitable communities. He is a member of the National Auto Dealers Hall of Fame, National College Football Hall of Fame, Texas Business Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame and San Antonio Business Hall of Fame.
McCombs is the former owner of the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL and the NBA's Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs.
McCombs has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Southwestern University and The University of Texas at Austin. He has been honored with the Presidential Citation from The University of Texas at Austin and received an Honorary Ph.D. Letter from Southwestern University.
In addition to managing traditional Cost P&L, Gary and team of 60 finance associates are also responsible for developing and executing the Company's capital spending strategy, Total Company Productivity, as well as supporting its Growth and Capacity agenda to deliver America's most loved snacks to consumers across the country.
Gary joined PepsiCo in 1990 as a Credit Analyst for Cash Flow Forecasting. Prior to joining PepsiCo, Gary worked at Big Eight Accounting Firm Arthur Young for three years. Gary has a master's degree in Finance/Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Accounting from Penn State.
In addition to his executive career, Gary serves on the advisory council at McCombs School of Business in Austin, Texas.
Gary currently resides in Plano, Texas with his wife Robin, daughter Macy and son Greyson.
George Ackert is an internationally recognized investment banker and advisor to companies in the transportation and infrastructure space, as well as leasing/rental and business services. Mr. Ackert is Global Head of Transportation and Infrastructure at Evercore Partners, which he joined in 2009.
Mr. Ackert's advisory assignments at Evercore have included advising Burlington Northern Santa Fe on its $44 billion sale to Berkshire Hathaway; advising AMR on the strategic alternatives for American Eagle; the $500mm investment in PAL (Philippines Airlines), the $1.4bb sale of Coinmach/concurrent merger with Airserve; Carlyle's acquisition of Landmark Aviation; the acquisition of LINC by Universal Truckload, the Sale of RMI by Carlyle to GE Transportation, the sale of 50% of Volaris to a consortium (including Indigo); the USPS on its restructuring, advised the creditors of YRC Worldwide creditors in connection with strategic alternatives and restructuring; The Carlyle Group on its $600 million venture with RPK, and advised AFL on its sale to FedEx Express. Previously, he was the Global Head of Transportation & Infrastructure at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. While at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Ackert also advised on a number of other significant transactions including: the merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, the sale of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Corporation to Canadian Pacific Railway; the sale of Pegasus Aviation Finance Company by Oaktree Capital Management to Terra Firma; the SkyWest Airlines acquisition of ASA from Delta Air Lines; the sale of Spirit Airlines; and on private equity transactions for Hertz and PODs. George was also instrumental in the merger/IPO/Chapter 11 re-emergence of America West Airlines and US Airways, as well as the full recapitalization of AMERCO (U-Haul).
Mr. Ackert began his career as an associate attorney in Mergers & Acquisitions and Structured Finance at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He holds a J.D. with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law, an M.B.A. from Baylor University, and a B.B.A. with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
George has been married to Pamela Ackert for 21 years, and they have two children: George and Victoria Ackert. They live in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
John C. Bass is a Principal in Chase Capital, the junior capital financing unit of JPMorgan Chase that supports its middle market client base. He is based in Houston, Texas, and has geographic responsibility for the Southwest region of the U.S. He has been with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors for 26 years; after working 13 years in New York City, John relocated to Houston in 2000.
His career spans a variety of roles within the firm's principal investing and investment and corporate banking business segments. Prior to his current role in Chase Capital, John was in JPMorgan's Natural Resources Investment Banking Group and prior to that in its Global Mergers and Acquisitions Group. His experience includes a wide range of financial advisory and corporate financing activities, including private debt and equity investing, merger and acquisition transaction work, and public and private debt and equity securities offerings and placements. John has extensive experience in leveraged finance, has worked with both large and middle market public and private companies, and his engagements have involved both domestic and international corporations. While primarily an industry generalist, he has spent much of his career in the oil and gas and energy services sectors.
John has served on a variety of corporate and community boards. He is the past board chairman of the YMCA of Greater Houston (where he also has chaired the Finance, Board Development, and Executive Compensation Committees), currently serves on the board of DePelchin Children's Center (where he is chair-elect and chairs the Advancement Committee), and served on the Board of Trustees of the Houston Ballet (where he chaired the Institutional Giving Committee and co-chaired the Capital and Endowment Campaign for the Center for Dance).
John received a BBA in Finance (1985) and an MBA (1987) from the University of Texas at Austin. Since receiving his degrees, he has remained engaged in a variety of activities at the University of Texas. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance (since 1998), was an Advisor to the Center for Energy Finance Education and Research (2007-08), has been as guest lecturer at the McCombs School of Business, is a member of The Chancellor's Council, is a Life Member of Texas Exes, was a past President of New York Texas Exes (1988-89), and was a co-founder of the New York City Alumni Club (1993). John is NASD Series 7, 24, and 63 certified.
A native Texan, John and his wife Ellen (BS in Education from UT - 1987; MA in Educational Psychology from NYU - 1994) reside in Houston and are the parents of three children, Gardner, Sarah, and Margaret.
Brett Biggs is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Walmart. He is responsible for Walmart Enterprise Solutions, which includes all finance functions as well as Global Business Services.
Brett held the roles of Chief Financial Officer for Walmart International, Walmart U.S. and Sam's Club.
He has also served as Senior Vice President, International Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions and Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance. Brett was also the Senior Vice President, Operations, for Sam's Club.
Prior to joining Walmart in 2000, Brett held various M&A and corporate finance positions with Leggett & Platt, Phillips Petroleum Co. and Price Waterhouse.
Brett is involved in various civic functions including serving on the Board of Directors for MANA, a nonprofit group focused on acute malnutrition in African children, and he serves on the Walton Arts Center Board. Brett recently joined the Board of Trustees of the National Urban League and also serves as Walmart's corporate representative on the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council at The University of Texas. Within Walmart he serves on the Walmart Foundation Board as well as being an executive sponsor for the Hispanic/Latino Resource Group.
Brett graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harding University with a bachelor's degree in accounting and received a MBA with Honors from Oklahoma State University. He serves in various advisory roles at Harding University.
Brett and his wife, Kara, have two daughters and live in Rogers, Arkansas.
Michael has over 30 years of experience serving high growth, technology companies, from venture backed start-ups to multinational public and privately held companies with a focus on the semiconductor, software and biotechnology industries. He has extensive expertise in SEC reporting, corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as international accounting and auditing, and strategic transactions.
His clients have included National Instruments, Cree, Inc., Silicon Laboratories Corporation, Cirrus Logic, Luminex, GenSet, Whole Foods, Business Objects, Epicor, Websense, SAS, and Xilinx.
Michael has a BBA in Accounting in 1985 from the University of Texas at Austin.
Shane Brisbin is a Managing Director for Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in San Francisco. For more than 20 years Shane has served as a financial advisor exclusively for families of significant wealth. His team manages in excess of $4 billion on behalf of Corporate Executives, Entrepreneurs and Private Investors who require comprehensive and sophisticated investment advice. Shane has been recognized by Barron's magazine's 2016 ranking of America's Top 100 Financial Advisors. MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, BS from the University of Southern California.
R. Scott Dennis is the Chief Executive Officer of Invesco Real Estate. He is responsible for the day-to-day strategy execution and management of the global real estate business. Mr. Dennis has been with Invesco for 25 years. Prior to his role managing the global real estate group, he was co-head of IRE's North American group and head of the U.S. acquisitions team. Over his career, Mr. Dennis has been involved in more than $25 billion of real estate investments, covering a broad range of property types and investment structures.
Before joining Invesco, Mr. Dennis worked at Bankers Trust Company, where he was responsible for structuring equity and debt investments on behalf of Bankers Trust and other institutional clients. Additionally, Mr. Dennis was with Trammell Crow Company, where he was responsible for investments on behalf of their commingled funds.
Mr. Dennis earned a BBA in Finance and Real Estate from The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Dennis has 36 years of real estate investment experience.
John D. Harkey, Jr. has over 25 years of experience as a private investor, chief executive and director of both public and private companies. He has merged, acquired, operated and/or served on the board of directors of eight public companies in energy, technology, aerospace, telecommunications, biotech and restaurants, and private companies in real estate, healthcare, farm and ranch products and software development.
Harkey is the founder of Consolidated Restaurant Companies, Inc. (CRC) and its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. CRC operates full-service restaurants and employs more than 5,000 people in 18 states and in the United Kingdom, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. CRC currently operates and franchises the casual-dining restaurants Cantina Laredo, El Chico, Black Oak Grill and Lucky's, and fine dining steakhouses III Forks, Cool River Café and Silver Fox Steakhouse.
Mr. Harkey is also the Co-Founder and past Executive Chairman of AveXis, Inc., a clinical stage Gene Therapy Biotech Company focused on developing gene therapy for patients with rare and life-threatening neurological genetic diseases like Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). (NASDAQ:AVXS).
He is formerly the Chairman of the Board of Regency Gas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:RGP, sold to Energy Transfer) has served on the Board of Directors of Energy Transfer Equity, LP (NYSE: ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners, LP (NYSE: ETP). He currently serves on the Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of Loral Space & Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LORL), and on the Board of Directors of Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:EMIS). He formerly served on Board of Directors of Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), which was recently acquired by AT&T.
Philanthropically, Mr. Harkey serves on the Board of Directors of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, The University of Texas System Chancellor's Council Executive Committee, the President's Development Council of Howard Payne University, the Executive Board of Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the CEO Advisory Board of Dallas Arboretum and is chapter chair of the Dallas YPO-Gold Chapter.
Mr. Harkey obtained a B.B.A. in the Business Honors Program and a J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.B.A. from Stanford University School of Business. During his time at UT, he was actively involved in the University and recognized with the Outstanding Student Award.
Marty Kaplan has served as the President of Nalpak Ventures, a family investment office since January 2017. Previously, Marty worked at Mesirow Financial, Inc. from April 1995 until his retirement from the firm in December 2016. Marty served in several management capacities at Mesirow Financial, Inc.; a diversified financial services firm based in Chicago. Marty started his career working in the Advanced Strategies (hedge fund of funds) group where he served as the director of research from 1995-2006. He then served as chief executive officer of the Advanced Strategies group from 2006 through 2014. He then became director of corporate strategy for the parent company where he was responsible for developing and implementing key strategic business initiatives and enhancing the firm's institutional investment management capabilities. He also served as chairman of Mesirow Advanced Strategies, and was a long-standing member of its investment and executive committees. Marty also served on the Board of Directors of Mesirow Financial from 2006 -2016.
Prior to his tenure at Mesirow Financial, Marty was an attorney with the law firm of Katten Muchin & Zavis, where he specialized in matters involving securities, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and sports law. Marty is involved in a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations and serves on the Investment Committee for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Marty resides in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife and 3 daughters.
Marty earned a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin in Finance and Real Estate in 1990 and a JD from The George Washington University in 1993.
Steve LeBlanc is the Founding Partner of CapRidge Partners, a fully integrated real estate operating company focused on value investments in commercial properties in the growth markets of the US.
Steve LeBlanc is the former senior managing director of private markets, overseeing the real assets, private equity and principal investments portfolios at the $110 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas ("TRS"). LeBlanc's team was responsible for managing the more than $45 billion real estate and private equity portfolio exposure for the fund. His team made 116 investment commitments around the globe of nearly $30 billion in equity from 2008 to 2012. LeBlanc led the creation of the $ 6 billion private markets' strategic partnership network at TRS.
An experienced leader of investment professionals and assets in the real estate industry, LeBlanc was president and chief executive officer of NYSE-listed REIT Summit Properties in Charlotte, N.C. Summit had 500 employees, 18,000 apartment homes and $150-300 million of annual development and acquisitions. From 1998 to 2004, Summit increased its equity market cap from $0.5 billion to $1.1 billion (225 percent) and the total market cap from $1.26 billion to more than $2 billion (176 percent). The total rate of return for shareholders was 144 percent and averaged nearly 20 percent a year. Summit Properties merged with Camden Property Trust on Feb. 28, 2005.
LeBlanc also served as president of Urban Growth Property Trust in Chicago, Ill., where he developed the company's strategic business plan, orchestrated the transition to REIT status and recruited, hired and trained the team, which initiated more than $250 million in acquisitions and developments.
Prior to that, LeBlanc served as the executive vice president for Archstone Communities Trust in Santa Fe, N.M. Initially, he was head of acquisitions of existing communities, then promoted to head of land acquisitions, then promoted to head of development, then promoted to head of development for Security Capital Atlantic and helped take it public and subsequently merged into Archstone. He was responsible for the development, acquisition and management of 11,000 apartment homes and the purchase of land for an additional 10,000 apartment homes.
Prior to that, LeBlanc was a senior partner at Lincoln Property Company where he was initially the partner for Austin/San Antonio (1984-1987). He was then promoted to senior partner for all of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma (1987-1989). He was then promoted to open the office in the northeast (1989-1992). He was responsible for the management of 17,000 apartments, as well as the firm's acquisition and development activities.
LeBlanc was a member of the Private Capital Research Institute, and the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies. He is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), and on the Editorial Advisory Board of The Institutional Real Estate Letter – North America.
LeBlanc is a trustee and governor of the Urban Land Institute and formerly served as chairman of the District Council in Austin. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the Real Estate Roundtable, the Investment Advisory Board of the Employee Retirement System of Texas and the Penland School of Crafts and Charlotte Latin School.
In 2011, LeBlanc was invited to testify in front of the Congressional Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises on the "Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act of 2011." He has been on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smarts" and "Money Moves," as well as a guest host on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
LeBlanc has a Bachelor of Business Administration in real estate/finance from The University of Texas at Austin where he is the Associate Director of the Real Estate and Finance Council and a professor at the McCombs School of Business where he led the creation of the Real Estate Certificate Program for Undergraduate Students at The University of Texas at Austin.
Clement Marcus is Partner of MIMCO, Inc., a commercial real estate management and investment company based in El Paso, Texas.
Clement also serves as trustee of the over 40 year old company, which provides real estate investment opportunities in El Paso and includes over 320 properties throughout Texas and New Mexico.
Clement began his career while he was a student at The University of Texas at Austin by starting up LALA Imports, which he continued to run as CEO post graduation. He then joined forces with his brother to start up EP Marcus Investments, which led to the creation of MIMCO, Inc.
Clement is actively involved in numerous non-profits and serves as an Ambassador of the Woody Hunt Gift Challenge, which provides scholarships for El Paso students at the McCombs School of Business. He is an involved member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and has served on a number of boards over the years, including: UTEP Centennial Commission, El Paso Center for Children, El Paso YMCA Metro, Wells Fargo Advisory Committee, University Medical Center Foundation as Chair, and UTEP Rebounders as President.
He and his wife of 28 years, Amy, permanently reside in El Paso and have three children: Troy (BBA in Finance 2010), Paige, and Mitchell. Clement earned is BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Amy also attended The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso.
Prior to forming Blue Sage, Jim spent over a decade as the senior, non-family executive of The LBJ Holding Company, a private investment holding company of the family of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson.
Jim currently serves on the boards of C&M Conveyor, Inc., Gatti's Pizza, Parker School Uniforms, and Cobalt Environmental Solutions. In addition, he is an advisory director for Frost Bank Austin and on The University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. He is the past president of Caritas of Austin, and continues to serve on its Community Advisory Board, and is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church-USA.
Jim received his BBA in Finance (1982) and his MBA (1990) from The University of Texas at Austin.
He was also Co-Head of Bank of America and of Merrill Lynch's Energy & Power practice. He received his MBA in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and BA from Southern Methodist University.
Niloufar Molavi is a Vice Chair, U.S. Energy Leader and Market Managing Partner (MMP) for Greater Houston for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Niloufar leads a practice comprised of 920 professionals serving U.S. energy clients in the oil and gas industry and is responsible for all client services – assurance, advisory and tax – for the geographic markets of Houston, Tulsa and New Orleans.
She previously served as energy leader within PwC's Tax practice and as the firm's U.S. Chief Diversity Officer, overseeing the firm's diversity strategy and all of its related programs and initiatives. With over 20 years experience with PwC, Niloufar has served a wide range of energy companies both in the U.S. and abroad, advising clients on international and U.S. tax structuring, mergers, acquisitions and potential public offerings.
Niloufar served on the firm's national tax Sarbanes-Oxley task force and co-developed the PwC Sarbanes-Oxley 404 tax training program. She serves on the national Tax Accounting Services Task Force and served as the local Houston office FIN 48 & FAS 109 technical leader. Niloufar also led the Tax IFRS efforts for the Energy sector.
Niloufar began her career with PwC in 1991 and was promoted to partner in 2001. She joined the firm's U.S. Leadership team in 2009. She earned her degree in Accounting as well as a Masters in Professional Accounting with a concentration in Taxation from the University of Texas at Austin. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and also serves on the non-profit board of Dress for Success Houston. She is a licensed CPA in Texas and resides in Houston with her husband and two children.
Jimmy is also the owner of Greystone Realty, L.P. Greystone is a Texas based real estate company focused on commercial investment and brokerage. Investments primarily include raw land and commercial assets.
He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the UT Chancellors Council, The Strake Jesuit Foundation Board, and The Yellowstone Academy Mentoring Program and is a Texas Children's Hospital Ambassador.
Jimmy graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Economics in 1986 and an MBA in 1991. He also holds his Texas Real Estate Broker's License.
Jimmy is married to wife Alix and they have three children: James (16), Ellie (14), and Will (12).
Early in her career, as a forward-thinking and creative innovator at J.P. Morgan Chase in Dallas, Texas, Ms. O'Neal presented an unsolicited proposal outlining a specialized technology group, which she eventually led as vice president. Her group marketed financial services to technology companies with annual revenues of $10 million to
$1 billion. Not only did she close ten new client relationships in six months, she exceeded all sales goals and achieved unit profitability goals within four months.
Additional banking experience during her 12 year tenure in the industry includes positions as a private client advisor, J.P. Morgan Dallas and as vice president, Business Development Officer for the trust department at U.S. Bank, La Jolla. New to U.S. Bank/Scripps La Jolla and the Community, she personally sourced and closed ten accounts of which seven were fully managed trust accounts within the first six months and identified and qualified an additional $50 million of new business opportunities.
Ms. O'Neal did work for a combined six years in the Corporate Finance departments of American Airlines and Texas Instruments. At American Airlines she streamlined reports generated for the Department of Transportation saving over 100 analyst hours monthly and was promoted to a supervisory position after six months of employment. At Texas Instruments she was elected as team leader for People and Asset Effectiveness Programs and received multiple Method Improvement Recognition Awards from executive management.
Mr. Rowe is a member of the Investment Committee at Texas Health Resources, a former trustee of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, and a former chair of the Texas Pension Review Board where he served for 12 years. Mr. Rowe co-hosts the annual Great Investors' Best Ideas Foundation symposium which he co-founded in 2007, serves as president of the Investors for Director Accountability Foundation, is a member of the Executive Committee of Texans for Lawsuit reform and is on the board of directors of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Mr. Rowe's articles have appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Barron's, Grant's Interest Rate Observer, Texas Monthly, and D Magazine. His comments have appeared in The New York Times, Bloomberg Markets, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, and on CNBC and Bloomberg Television.
Mr. Rowe graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in History. After serving on active duty as a Junior Officer in the United States Navy, he earned an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Rowe and his wife of 40 years, Michele, live in Dallas. They have four grown children.
Gretchen Frary Seay is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Clearsight Advisors. Clearsight focuses on M&A and Growth Equity capital raise advisory in the technology and business services markets. Gretchen leads the firm's initiatives in Data Analytics and Public Sector Technology and recently opened and manages the Texas office in Dallas.
Prior to joining Clearsight, Gretchen served as a senior investment banker on the M&A teams at Agility Advisors and Updata Capital where she executed over 30 M&A and financing transactions for software and IT services clients. Additionally, Gretchen led the Price Waterhouse Coopers ("PWC") federal transaction team spearheading the U.S. government's asset divestiture initiative following the end of the Great Recession. Gretchen began her career with Arthur Andersen in the Global Emerging Markets group, executing privatization (divestiture) programs in both post-Soviet Russia and Egypt.
Gretchen's experience includes nearly 20 years of structuring and executing sell-side, buy-side, divestiture, recapitalization and growth equity transactions for private and public companies. She possesses extensive investment banking experience across business services and technology sectors including software, data analytics, cybersecurity, public sector technology, as well as other professional services.
Gretchen serves as an Advisory Board Member for the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business and is an active member of the Association for Corporate Growth, Northern Virginia Technology Council, and Technology Titans of Texas. Gretchen earned a B.A. in International Studies from the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and an MBA from the Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. She is also the very busy, proud mother of three energetic kids.
Andrew Vo is Managing Director and Head of Human Resources Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Turkey at Accenture and responsible for leading the company's Global Trading Operations practice which provides strategic and transformational commodity trading and risk management solutions for Fortune 500 clients. He also serves as the North America offering lead for Accenture Management Consulting's Tax, Liquidity Management, Finance Process Led Transformation, and Real Estate services.
Outside of his primary roles, Andrew oversees all North America Management Consulting undergraduate and MBA/Advanced Degree campus recruiting. Andrew also serves on Accenture's North America Advisory Council where he helps shape strategic growth and operational initiatives.
Prior to joining the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, Andrew was an active member on the McCombs BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board for five years. He is also a Texas Venture Labs Advisory Board Member and responsible for the Accenture Venture Partners Skills to Succeed program.
In 1995, Andrew earned his BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, the Texas Exes Alumni Association honored Andrew with an Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award based on his service to the University. Andrew is the founder and senior advisor of UT's Texas Iron Spikes service organization which has actively supported Special Olympics Texas and the Texas Longhorns Baseball program for two decades. He and his wife, Sophie, reside in Houston.
Shawn has been in the investment management industry for more than 20 years, holding several senior positions in firms including hedge funds, investment banks and multi-national mutual fund firms. Most recently, Shawn served as Managing Director and General Counsel of Roc Capital Management, a long-short equity hedge fund based in New York City. Prior to Roc, Shawn was Senior Managing Director of Sterling Stamos Capital Management in Menlo Park, CA and also served as General Counsel of Merrill Lynch's hedge fund division in New York City. In addition, Shawn was Senior Associate General Counsel of Franklin Templeton Investments, where he headed up the firm's international and alternative strategies legal teams.
Shawn is a Certified Public Accountant, and received his BBA in Finance (1986) and Accounting (1987) from The University of Texas at Austin. Shawn received his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1992.
Shawn is married to Kara Nordstrom Wells, a 1991 graduate of the McCombs School of Business and a member of the Development Board of The University of Texas. They live in London and enjoy supporting the Longhorns from across The Pond.
Sarah West is owner of Sarah West & Associates, LLC in Houston, Texas. She specializes in architectural consulting and finish out of residential properties throughout the United States. She also serves as a liaison between clients, builders and architects throughout the building process. Sarah's work has been published in many publications.
Sarah currently serves on the University of Texas President's Development Board and is a member of the School of Undergraduate Studies Advisory Board. She is also one of the founders of the McCombs Texas BBA Parents Council and is involved with UT System. Sarah has also served on the Advancement Committee for Episcopal High School in Houston, Texas and has been recognized in H Magazine for her philanthropic efforts in education and the community.
Sarah and her husband Larry have three children. Dillon West graduated with a BBA from McCombs in 2015. Harrison is completing his Master of Science in Finance degree through McCombs. Cameron is junior in the McCombs School of Business.
Sarah graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1987 with BFA in Communication Arts-Public Relations.
Les L. Allison is president of Allison Interest Inc., a private investment company founded in 1981 with interest in real estate, healthcare, banking, technology and energy.
Allison serves as an advisory director of Amegy Bank of Texas, Episcopal High School Board of Trustees, Boys and Girls Country Board, Texas Wildlife Association Foundation Board, and The University of Texas Chancellor's Circle Executive Committee.
Allison received a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Preston Butcher is Chairman and CEO of Legacy Partners, in Foster City, CA and a manager and developer of property in the western United States. In 2002, Legacy Partners was honored as Builder of the Year by Multifamily Executive Magazine and the National Association of Home Builders. Butcher co-founded the National Multi-Housing Council and California Housing Council and continues to serve as director for each.
Butcher is a member of the Policy Advisory Council of the Center for Real Estate at UC-Berkeley and was a founding board member of BRIDGE, a non-profit housing corporation created to provide low to moderate income housing. He is currently a director of the Charles Schwab Corp.
Butcher is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Urban Land Institute, a former director or BRE Properties, Inc; former director of NorthStar Realty Finance Corp; and past Overseer of Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.
Carpenter has been active in the Dallas community, serving on the boards of the Trinity River Improvement Association, The Texas Horse Park, Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation, State Fair of Texas and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He served on the Highland Park Independent School District Board from 1998 to 2004 and is on the board of the West Dallas Initiative. John and his parents, Ben and Betty Carpenter, recently donated funds to create the Carpenter Family MBA Leadership Center in the McCombs School to provide MBA students and organizations a space to gather and conduct business.
Carpenter holds a BBA from Texas Tech and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Scott Caven - Bio coming soon.
Eugenio Clariond Reyes-Retana is Chairman of Grupo Cuprum SA, Grupo Cleber SA and Grupo Fultra (Companies involved in the production of aluminum and the distribution of automobiles and trucks). He also serves as Independent Director for Mexichem SA, Pochteca SA, Banco BX+, Fibra Monterrey, Grupo Industrial Saltillo SA, Exel del Norte and Energex.
In non for profit organizations, He is Honorary Consul of Brazil in Monterrey. He serves on the Advisory Council for the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. The Harte Research Institute (Gulf of Mexico Studies) and the School of Engineering at UC San Diego.
Mr. Clariond formerly was Chairman of the Board and CEO of Grupo IMSA, Director of Texas Industries Inc. , Navistar International Truck & Engine Corp. and Johnson Controls, Inc. Vice-Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Chairman of Mexican Fund for Nature Conservancy (FMCN), Chairman of the Mexican Council of Businessmen (CMHN), Chairman of Parque Fundidora Trust, Chairman of the USA-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Camara de Industria de Transformacion in Nuevo Leon (CAINTRA), Chairman of Ciudad de los Niños Trust, Chairman of National Council of Business Trade (today COMCE), Chairman of COMCE Noreste, Chairman of US-Mexico Business Committee, Chairman of the Latin American Business Council (CEAL), Director of Bats Conservation International (BCI). Chairman and founder of Fondo de Agua Metropolitano de Monterrey and Director of the Monterrey Tech (ITESM).
He has a BBA and MBA from the Monterrey Tech (ITESM).
J. Coley Clark is retired Chairman and CEO of BancTec, Inc. He initially joined BancTec in September 2004 as President and CEO and in June 2007, he was appointed Chairman and CEO.
Clark retired from EDS in 2004 as Senior Vice President and head of the Financial and Transportation Industry Group. Clark's long career with EDS began in 1971 when he joined the Systems Engineering Development Program and later progressed through a variety of technical, sales and management roles related to the financial and insurance industries. He assumed responsibility for the Financial Industry Groups in 1986 and was named a corporate officer in 1989. He was appointed a Senior Vice President in 1996 and served as a member of the Global Operations Council, EDS' senior executive team.
Clark currently serves on the boards of MoneyGram International and Docupace Technologies, a premier provider of secure and federal and state compliant electronic processing platforms for financial institutions and the wealth management industry. He previously served on two public company boards, Carreker Corporation and i2 Technologies, Inc. Active in his community, Clark is a life member of the Salesmanship Club and is on the Executive Committee of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees. He was former chairman of the Financial Services and Insurance Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce and former president of the Dallas Theater Center. He also served on the boards of the Dallas Regional Chamber and the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and was a member of the Dallas Citizens Council. He is a lifetime member of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council and a member of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, the University of Texas President's Associates and the Executive Committee of the Chancellor's Council for the University of Texas system.
Clark is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He served three years in the U.S. Army attaining the rank of captain and served as a company commander in Europe and Southeast Asia.
Coneway is currently a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts – Houston, a member of the board of trustees of the Texas Heart Institute, and continues to serve as a member of the M.D. Anderson Board of Visitors, having previously served as chairman. He has served on the National Board of the Smithsonian Institute, served as chairman of the Stanford Business School Trust, director of the Greater Houston Partnership, and chairman of the Houston/Harris County Sports Facility Public Advisory Committee.
Coneway earned his BBA from The University of Texas. He received the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award in 1983; was appointed to the UT System Board of Regents in 1993; was named a Distinguished Alumnus in October 2003; and was inducted into the McCombs Business School Hall of Fame in 2004.
Catherine P. Crain is a Vice President at Fayez Sarofim & Co. and a co-manager of the mutual funds that Fayez Sarofim & Co. manages for The Dreyfus Corporation. She is also a portfolio manager for a variety of institutional and high net worth clients. Ms. Crain joined the Firm in 1993 as a Research Associate. Over the years, areas of research responsibility have included the transportation, media and entertainment, and consumer products sectors.
Ms. Crain received a M.B.A. from the University of Texas in 1993 with a concentration in Finance and a B.A. with Highest Honors in the Plan II Liberal Arts Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin in 1989, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to joining Fayez Sarofim & Co., she was employed at Merrill Lynch & Co. as a Financial Analyst in the Investment Banking Division in New York and Houston.
Ms. Crain is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the CFA Institute. She is a life member of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council and served as an investment counselor to the McCombs School's MBA Investment Fund from 1994 to 2003. She is a past trustee of The Joy School and is currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of Presbyterian School.
Gary T. Crum is president of the CFP Foundation, and a founder and former director of AIM Management Group, Inc. He served as president, CEO and director of investments for AIM Capital Management, the investment advisory subsidiary of AIM Management Group and director of parent company AMVESCAP PLC, after AIM Management Group's merger with INVESCO in 1997. Prior to founding AIM Management Group, Crum gained valuable industry experience as portfolio manager and head of fixed-income investments for American General Capital Management.
Crum is on the Board of Directors for the McCombs School of Business MBA Investment Fund, L.L.C. at The University of Texas at Austin. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University (SMU) and on the Executive Board of the Cox School of Business at SMU, and is a trustee of the AIM Foundation. He was formerly a member of the Boards of Trustees at Episcopal High School and the Memorial Endowment Fund for St. John the Divine Church in Houston. Crum was inducted into the McCombs School Hall of Fame in 2004 and is the former chair of the McCombs School Advisory Council.
Crum received a BBA from SMU and an MBA in finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
He has been active in the Austin community for many years and is a member of the University's Development Board. He was also past chairman of the McCombs School Advisory Council. DeAngelis was actively involved, for many years, with the local PBS affiliate, KLRU-TV, and is a past board chairman. Currently he serves on the Board of Governors for Hyde Schools, headquartered in Bath, Maine.
DeAngelis received his B.A. from Harvard University and his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
James R. Elliott III is global head of the Mergers & Acquisitions with JP Morgan.
Elliott joined JPMorgan in 1997 as a senior member of the M&A Department. He began his career at the First Boston Corporation in 1976 and spent ten years in the Mergers and Acquisitions department specializing in energy sector takeovers. He was appointed head of Risk Arbitrage Department in 1986 and managed a $500 million portfolio until his departure in 1989. In 1990, he started and managed a hedge fund, which invested in M&A Risk Arbitrage and Special Situations.
Elliott received a BBA and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Tony joined a predecessor of Deloitte & Touche in 1974 after graduating from Emporia State University and became a partner in 1984.
Jake Foley III is a Managing Director in Houlihan Lokey's Financial Sponsors Coverage Group. He focuses on large-cap private equity, hedge fund, and multi-strategy funds. In addition, Mr. Foley focuses on transaction development and idea generation with an emphasis on key trends and transaction catalysts for the benefit of the firm's clients. He is based in the firm's New York office.
Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Foley led the Deutsche Bank's transaction origination group for five years after doing the same for Banc of America Securities. In both cases, he was the corporate client-facing M&A partner for clients seeking to work with private equity investors and the deal origination officer. He began his career as an associate in the corporate finance training program of First Chicago, with a brief stint in PaineWebber's high yield group before joining Morgan Stanley for nearly 10 years, first in high yield, then in the business development group. He has worked on restructurings, complex capital structure based M&A, and as an advisor to various companies, funds, and sovereign entities.
Mr. Foley is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he received both his Bachelor of Business and Master of Professional Accounting in 1988. He is a member of the University of Texas Chancellor's Council, the University Development Board, the Littlefield Society, President's Associates, and the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, and he chaired the Commission of 125's Finance and Resources Committee.
Jack D. Furst is a distinguished private equity investor. He manages his own capital making investments in real estate, oil and gas, fixed income securities and public and private equities. Jack is an Adjunct Professor at The University of North Texas and The University of Texas at Dallas (the Harvards of the Southwest) where he teaches finance and investments. He has over 33 years of private investment experience completing over $75 billion in transactions which resulted in attractive returns for investors.
Jack was a founding Partner in HM Capital Partners (formally Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated). The Firm, established in 1989, specialized in private investments of companies primarily serving the energy, financial services, food, manufacturing and media sectors of the economy. Prior to founding HM Capital, he was a partner at Hicks & Haas Incorporated (a private investment firm) from 1987 to 1989. From 1984 to 1986, he was a merger and acquisition/corporate finance specialist for The First Boston Corporation in New York. Before joining First Boston, Jack was a financial consultant at Price Waterhouse in Phoenix. He received his BS degree with honors from the College of Business Administration at Arizona State University and his MBA degree with honors from the Graduate School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.
Jack serves on the board of directors for several companies. He also serves as an officer and executive board member of Circle Ten Council (Dallas)-Boy Scouts of America, an advisory board member of Longhorn Council (Ft. Worth)-Boy Scouts of America, an executive board member of Boy Scouts of America (National Council), a member of The University of Texas at Austin Mc Comb's School of Business Advisory Council and a founding Advisory Council Member of the MBA Investment Fund, a founding family and recent board member of Cross Timbers Community Church (Argyle, Texas), an advisory board member of Christian Community Action (Lewisville, Texas), and a former trustee and board member of The National Safety Council (Chicago). Jack is a 1998 Henry Crown Fellow, a fellowship of leaders that is administered by the Aspen Institute. He was inducted into W. P. Carey School of Business Hall of Fame at Arizona State University in 1999. Jack is also the recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award and the W.P. Carey School of Business 2008 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. Recently, Jack was honored as Arizona State University's Philanthropist of the Year 2017.
Jack, and his wife, Debra, have two children; son, Jackson (21) and daughter, Jordan (18).
Brian Gladden serves as senior vice president, Chief Financial Officer for Dell. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the finance function including accounting, financial planning and analysis, tax, treasury, audit, and investor relations. Before joining Dell in May 2008, Brian was president and CEO of SABIC Innovative Plastics, the former General Electric Plastics.
Before joining SABIC Innovative Plastics, Brian spent nearly 20 years with GE in a variety of financial and general management leadership roles. During his career with the company, he served as vice president and general manager of the resin business for GE Plastics, CFO of GE Plastics, and vice president and CFO of information technology for GE Medical Systems Healthcare. He was named a GE corporate officer in 2002 and had formerly served on the corporate audit staff for GE.
Brian earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Millersville University.
Ms. Goodwin earned a bachelor's degree in politics, cum laude, from Princeton University, and two master's degrees from the University of Texas at Austin - one in public affairs from The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and an MBA specializing in finance from The McCombs School of Business. Goodwin is a life member of the Texas Exes, as well as a former member of the UT System's Chancellor's Council, the UT Development Board and the MBA Investment Fund Advisory Board. Ms. Goodwin currently serves on the board of directors for Akamai Technologies and on the advisory council for Correlation Consulting, specialists in socially and environmentally conscious investing. She is now a consultant for a range of clients, with a primary focus on business restructuring, talent management, and investment performance.
Sue E. Gove is an international retail senior executive with extensive experience as a CEO, COO and CFO. She is a thoughtful leader achieving consistent results in consumer- facing multi-channel retail companies while driving market share growth. Known for leading successful turnarounds, strategic differentiation, and recruiting best in class talent- her strengths are in strategy development, management, marketing, merchandising and supply chain, finance and IT, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, she has public and private company board experience and has provided boards with strategic planning and advisory services while significantly enhancing shareholder value.
She joined Golfsmith International (GOLF) in 2008 as Chief Operating Officer and became President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors in 2012. She led market share growth in the US and Canada, was instrumental in improving the firm's revenue in a declining market , tripled the profit of the web channel, enhanced operations and improved profitability. She led the Golfsmith-Golf Town merger (finalized in 2012), and as Chief Integration Officer integrated the two firms, and positioned the company for growth.
Prior to Golfsmith International, Ms. Gove worked as independent consultant for Alvarez and Marsal, serving specialty retail and private equity clients.
Ms. Gove began her career with Zale Corporation (ZLC), America's largest specialty jewelry retailer. Her 25-year tenure spanned private and public ownership, and her roles evolved from accounting to operations, serving as VP of Operations, SVP of Strategic Planning, Treasurer, CFO, and EVP and COO. She brought significant value to the firm utilizing her operations, strategic planning, financial and management skills. As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, she successfully drove the firm's strategic efforts of growing market share, enhancing the customer in-store experience and improving profitability by refining the supply chain function.
Ms. Gove has been an Independent Director of AutoZone Inc. (AZO) since 2005, and also serves as the chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and is a member of the Audit Committee. Sue joined the Board of Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (ICON), in October, 2014, as an Independent Director, and serves on the Audit Committee. She served on the Board of Golfsmith International and Zale Corporation and has been actively involved with trade and industry associations in the golf and jewelry industries. She is currently on the Advisory Board of the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.
Ms. Gove graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Accounting. She is an active supporter of Sky Ranch, a Christian camp for children with locations in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. She has four children, enjoys golf and entertaining.
Greer is former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Business Administration at The University of Texas at Austin, member of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council and member of the Development Board of The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He also serves as a Life Member of both the UT Health Science Development Board of Houston and the Texas Medical Center Board.
Greer received his BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Bill Gurley has spent over 10 years as a General Partner at Benchmark, joining in 1999. Before entering the venture capital business, Bill spent four years on Wall Street as a top-ranked research analyst, including three years at CS First Boston.
Bill also maintains a blog on the evolution and economics of high technology businesses called Above the Crowd.
Over his venture career, he has worked with such companies as GrubHub (IPO: GRUB), Nextdoor, OpenTable (IPO: OPEN, Acquired by Priceline), Stitch Fix, Uber, and Zillow.com (IPO: Z).
Education: BS in computer science from the University of Florida, and an MBA from the University of Texas. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Barbara Sublett Guthery is general partner of Sublett Partners, Ltd. After 30 years in the New York metropolitan area, where she was a vice president with Prudential Securities Inc., she returned to Texas in 1991. Prior to the formation of UTIMCO, she served as one of the five investment advisors to the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System.
Guthery was a member of the first Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the UT College of Pharmacy and the McCombs Advisory Council. Active with the Texas Exes, she currently serves on the Public Affairs Committee, the Scholarship Committee and the Investment Committee. Guthery has donated a Presidential Scholarship in Entrepreneurship Education to the McCombs School of Business and a basketball scholarship to the Longhorn Foundation. She is also chairman of the Neighborhood Longhorns Board and on the Caritas Community Advisory Board. She is a member of the board of the Colorado Chautauqua Association and the VP of the Colorado Chautauqua Cottagers.
Katherine J. (Kathy) Harless has had significant success leading growth, turnaround and IPO for several multi-billion dollar businesses in consumer and B2B markets as CEO/President. She is currently active on multiple boards of directors, corporate and non-profit.
She served as President and CEO of Idearc Media Inc. from 2006-2008. She led the successful spinoff of Idearc Media from Verizon Communications and navigated the company from print centric to a multi-platform media company. Idearc brands include the second largest national yellow pages directory and Superpages.com among the top 50 most accessed websites. Idearc renamed itself SuperMedia Inc and listed with NASDAQ in 2010.
Previously, she served as President of Verizon Information Services, the nation's most advanced provider of yellow pages and related shopping information, from 2000-2006. Before that (1996-2000), she was President of GTE Airfone, where she directed overall operations, and pioneered the expansion of air-to-ground public telecommunication services in the United States and other countries.
Harless worked for GTE from 1973 to 2000, starting in her hometown of San Angelo, Texas, and carrying out assignments of increasing responsibility in finance, sales, marketing and operations. She was appointed Regional President for GTE Telephone Operations in Texas and New Mexico in 1994. At GTE she was the first woman President of a GTE subsidiary company and first woman Vice President in GTE Telephone Operations.
Harless serves on the board of directors for the Toro Company, on its Audit Committee, Compensation and Human Resource Committee, as well as the Nominating and Governance Committee. She was a member on the Idearc Media board and Verizon Foundation board. She is a lifetime member of and serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. She twice served as Chairman of the Yellow Pages Association board.
Harless is a Director and member of the North Texas Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), a member of the Women Corporate Directors (WCD) and Committee of 200. She was featured in the September 2010 issue of The Agenda Diversity 100 as "Top Diverse Board Candidates You've Never Heard of" and also in the November/December 2005 issue of Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of the "Women Worth Watching in 2006."
In 1998, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the University of Texas at Austin, the business school's highest honor for outstanding achievement.
Harless earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
Frederick B. Hegi Jr. is the founding partner of Wingate Partners and former chairman of United Stationers, Inc. Previously, he was chairman of Loomis, Fargo & Co. and Kevco and lead director of Lone Star Technologies. He also serves on the boards of Hallmark Cards, Texas Capital Bancshares, Drew Industries and Austin Industries, among others. Prior to forming Wingate, Hegi was president of Valley View Capital Corporation.
Hegi has co-chaired Southern Methodist University's (SMU) annual fund campaign and Harvard Business School's major gifts campaign, and is active in several Dallas-area philanthropic organizations. He is a member of SMU's board of trustees, a trustee of UT Southwestern Medical Foundation, a member of the Board of Visitors of UT Southwestern University Hospitals, former Chairman of UT Southwestern's Presidents Research Council, a trustee for the AT&T Dallas Center for Performing Arts Foundation, a member of the Chancellor's Council Executive Committee of The University of Texas System and immediate past chair and trustee of The Communities Foundation of Texas. At The University of Texas at Austin, he is former chair of the McCombs School of Business Foundation, is a member of The University of Texas at Austin's Development Board and served on the Commission of 125. Hegi is a former chairman of the McCombs School Advisory Council. He has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from both SMU and its Cox School and has been inducted into the McCombs School Hall of Fame.
Hegi has a BBA from Southern Methodist University, an MBA from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the The University of Texas at Austin.
Gilbert A. Herrera founded Herrera Partners in 1992. It is a private investment banking firm that provides merger & acquisition advisory, fairness opinions, SEC compliance, expert testimony, valuations, bankruptcy-related restructuring and related services. He formerly served as director of Coopers & Lybrand's Southwest region corporate finance group. Previously, he was the senior investment banker for Underwood, Neuhaus & Co.
In 1995, Gilbert received the Outstanding Young Texas-Ex award from the Texas Exes. In 2001, he was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve as chair of the General Services Commission and by appointment from the Supreme Court of Texas he served as a member of the Commission for Lawyer Discipline from 1993 until 1999. He currently serves as Chair-elect of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and CHRISTUS Health Gulf Coast, Vice Chair of Business and Financial Affairs for UTMB's Development Board and on the Executive Committee of Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
At The University of Texas at Austin, Herrera serves on the Advisory Council for the Ex-Students' Association, the MBA Investment Fund and the Executive Committee of Chancellor's Council of The University of Texas System. He is also a member of the Littlefield Society and previously served on the University's Commission of 125.
Gilbert earned a BBA in finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
Richard S. Hill is co-founder and partner of HPI Real Estate Services & Investments founded in 1992. Richard's real estate career has drawn strength from a background in accounting. After earning a business degree at the University of Texas in 1976 and an MBA in 1978, Richard served as senior accountant at Arthur Young & Co. in Dallas for two years then joined Trammell Crow Company in 1980. During his tenure at Trammell Crow Company he became partner in charge of the office and industrial divisions at the Austin office as well as the industrial division in San Antonio. HPI Real Estate Services & Investments operates and develops office, retail and industrial properties in Austin and San Antonio. HPI Residential operates and develops multifamily projects in Texas. Additionally he is involved in Cavender-Hill Properties in San Antonio, which is a Real Estate Services business focused in office and industrial properties.
Richard also serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Wildlife Association, Sovereign Bank, and Community TechKnowledge Inc., Executive Committee Member, University of Texas Chancellor's Council, Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, past President, Greater Austin Crime Commission, past President, Real Estate Council of Austin, past President. Richard is married to Rae Hill and has three children.
Charles Holley retired from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. January 31, 2016 after more than 21 years with the company. From November 30, 2010 until his retirement, Charles was the executive vice president and chief financial officer for Walmart, responsible for accounting and control, corporate strategy and development, business planning and analysis, internal auditing, investor relations, treasury, tax, and several other key areas of the company. The lead financial executive in each operating segment of the company (Walmart U.S., Sam's Club and Walmart International), as well as Global eCommerce, reported to him. Charles also served on the Walmart executive committee, the Walmart real estate committee and chaired the company's executive finance committee.
Before being appointed CFO, he was executive vice president, finance and treasurer, responsible for corporate strategy and planning, tax, investor relations, financial support of corporate overhead functions, corporate mergers and acquisitions, risk management, and treasury operations, which includes capital markets and cash management. Charles also served as the company's chief risk officer.
Previously, Charles was senior vice president of finance with responsibility for the company's accounting, tax, financial reporting and investor relations areas. From 2003 to 2005, he served as senior vice president and controller. From 1994 through 2002, Charles held several roles in Walmart International, including senior vice president and chief financial officer for the division. He helped pioneer the company's international expansion efforts, which included leading Walmart International's merger and acquisition activities.
Before joining Walmart, Charles worked for Tandy Corporation as managing director for its European Memorex consumer product division (Memtek International) and served as director of finance for its international operations. He also spent more than 10 years with Ernst & Young.
Charles served as a member of several financial organizations, including Financial Executives International, the CFO Board Academy and The Conference Board Council of Financial Executives. He serves on the Dean's Advisory Board for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Presidents' Development Board.
Also an active volunteer, Charles was a board member for the Cancer Challenge of Northwest Arkansas and has recently served on the national board of trustees for The First Tee. He was awarded the 2013 Outstanding Corporate Champion award by the McCombs School of Business.
Charles received his BBA in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and earned his MBA in finance at the University of Houston. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Ralph T. Hull's professional career involved investing in and supervising small, Houston-area banks, and he is presently a full-time investor.
Hull has served on numerous Houston civic organizations and is currently a member of the UT Austin Development Board and the UT Health Science Center Advisory Council. He is a life member of the UT College of Natural Sciences Advisory Council and is also a member of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council.
He earned a BBA and a J.D. from The University of Texas at Austin.
Ronald Hulme is the Chief Executive Officer of both Bluescape Energy Partners and Parallel Resource Partners, two private equity firms that are focused on North American energy. These firms have combined assets in excess of $1 billion and Mr. Hulme serves on the Boards of several portfolio companies.
From late 2008 until early 2011, Ron served as the Chief Executive Officer of Carlson Capital, an $8 billion AUM multi-strategy hedge fund and co-sponsor, along with Bluescape Resources, of Parallel Resource Partners.
Alfred Jackson is the founding partner of the Inroads Group, Ltd. Mr. Jackson has over 22 years of investment experience. He is also a founding partner of Capital Point Partners, a mezzanine investment fund. He spent 21 years as a principal with Davis Hamilton Jackson and Associates ("DHJA") an institutional investment firm with more than $4 billion in assets under management. Prior to joining DHJA, Mr. Jackson was Vice President of the Institutional Fixed Income Division of Capital Municipal Securities. Mr. Jackson also played professional football with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for seven years. Mr. Jackson is a past or current Board Member of the University of Texas Exes Investment Committee, Houston Children's Museum, and is currently President of the Bakari Scholarship Fund. He is also a former Board Member of the Texas Health Science Center and Trustee of the Houston Municipal Pension System. Mr. Jackson was appointed to, and serves on , Governor Rick Perry's Economic Council for the State of Texas. Mr. Jackson received his B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin.
Stephan A. James retired from Accenture and his international chairman role in August 2006. From 2000 to 2004, he was COO of Accenture, with primary responsibility for Accenture's global operations and functions including marketing, finance operations and human resources. He was also responsible for the development of expert capabilities in technology, business consulting and outsourcing. In 1999 to 2000, he was chief executive of Accenture's Resources Operating Group focused on energy, chemicals and utilities industries. For the six prior years, he was the chief executive for their global Financial Services Operating Group focused on banking, insurance and health care. He joined the company in 1968 and became a partner in 1979. James was vice chairman of Accenture's board of directors and the firm's management committee, as well as a member of its executive committee and global leadership council.
James is currently on the Board of Directors for Navigant Consulting, Fidelity Information Services, and BMC. He is also on the Board of the University Coop.
James has a BBA with a specialization in industrial management and labor relations from The University of Texas at Austin.
Jastrow is Non-Executive Chairman of Forestar Group, Inc., and serves as a Director of KB Home, MGIC Investment Corporation, and Genesis Energy, LLC. Jastrow is past Chairman of Texas Taxpayers Research Association and Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. In 2007 Jastrow was awarded the Mirabeau B. Lamar Medal presented by the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities. In addition, he received the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association Distinguished Service Award and Boy Scouts of America (Midland, Texas) Distinguished Citizen Award.
At The University of Texas, Jastrow served as Chairman of the following: Development Board, Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business, and Neighborhood Longhorns. Jastrow also served as Chair of the Commission of 125. Currently, Jastrow is Chairman of UT's Capital Campaign. In 2004 Jastrow was named a Distinguished Alumnus of The University of Texas, and he was inducted into the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame, 2003. In addition, Jastrow received a Presidential Citation in 2010 and was presented an Honorary "T" Award in 2008.
Jastrow earned his BBA in 1969 and MBA in 1971 from The University of Texas. Jastrow came to UT from Midland, Texas and is married to Susan Thomas Jastrow. Kenny and Susie have three children, all married: Marty and J. McCartt, Kenny and Kendal Jastrow, and Corby and Stephanie Jastrow, and seven grandchildren. The couple resides on a ranch outside Austin in the Hill Country of Texas.
Rob L. Jones was appointed as Director of the general partner of Shell Midstream Partners in October 2014. He is a private investor and consultant based in Houston, Texas.
Since September 2012, he has served as an Executive in Residence at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also serving as Lead Independent Director for Susser Petroleum Partners, L.P. (SUSP), a publicly traded partnership. SUSP is controlled by SusserHoldings, Inc., a Fortune 500 convenience store operator and wholesale fuel supplier based in Corpus Christi, Texas.
He previously served as the Co-Head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Commodities (MLC). MLC is a global commodities trading business and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
He is a graduate of the University of Texas where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with Honors and an MBA with High Honors and was a Sord Scholar. Mr. Jones is a Life Member of the Dean's Advisory Council of The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and an Emeritus Member of the Children's Fund of Houston Texas.
Among his many community activities, Mr. Jordan served as president and chairman of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, chairman of the board of South Texas College of Law and chairman of the board of the Houston Chamber of Commerce. He was president of the World Energy Council headquartered in London, England, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 17th Congress of the World Energy Council, held in Houston in 1998, and now serves as the honorary lifetime president of the World Energy Council. Mr. Jordan also serves as director of AEGIS Services, Inc., BJ Services Company recently acquired by Baker Hughes, Inc., and as an executive committee member of South Texas College of Law, Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and Greater Houston Partnership. He previously served on the board of the Texas Medical Center and the Texas Heart Institute as well as many other civic and charitable organizations.
Mr. Jordan is the recipient of many honors, including Distinguished Alumnus from the University of Texas and from the South Texas College of Law; the 1998 Distinguished Citizen Award from the Rotary Club of Houston; 1998 Executive of the Year from World Cogeneration Magazine; and a 2001 inductee into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
Mr. Jordan received a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from the South Texas College of Law. He is married and has three daughters.
Ellen currently serves on the board, audit committee and nominating/ governance committee of Extended Stay America (NASDAQ: STAY), the leader in the mid-priced extended stay hotel segment. Additionally, she is also on the board of four private companies: Sojern, a direct demand engine for travel; Travel and Transport, an innovative corporate travel management company (also on the comp committee); Yapta, a SAAS based price assurance company, and Shep, a corporate travel booking technology solution. She also serves on the advisory board of Wayfare, a venture fund focused on hospitality and travel tech, as well as being an advisor to several technology start-up companies. She was named to the Skift30 as one of the 30 top movers and shakers in online travel.
She has also served on the board of directors of PROS (NYSE: PRO), including on its audit and nom/gov committees, Farelogix, a travel distribution company; Routehappy, the product differentiation platform for air travel; ID90 Travel, an airline employee travel technology provider (including on the comp committee); and Abacus, the leading Asia based travel global distribution system.
She spent the first 20 years of her career in a variety of finance and general management roles at American Airlines, Sabre and Travelocity.
Ellen received her B.S. in Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Aaron W. Kozmetsky is Chief Investment Officer of KMS Ventures where his primary responsibilities include sourcing opportunistic investments, asset allocation, and manager selection oversight for all asset classes.
Aaron is presently a Member of the University of Texas System Chancellor's Council Executive Committee, Lifetime Member of McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, Texas Exes Investment Committee, and a Lifetime Member of The University of Texas at Austin Development Board.
Aaron earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BBA from Texas Christian University.
Thomas L. Kuzio recently retired as the senior vice president of sales for PepsiCo International. Prior to this role, Tom was senior vice president of Sales for PepsiCo United Kingdom & Ireland; senior vice President, National Sales for Frito-Lay North America (FLNA); president of Frito-Lay-West; Director of Sales for Frito-Lay-Australia; and vice president, Sales Development for FLNA. He joined PepsiCo in 1978 and before that worked for Procter & Gamble. He is actively involved on the Dean's Advisory Board of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and The University of Texas at Austin. Kuzio and his wife, Janet, have recently moved from London to NYC. They have four sons: Geoff, Alex, Steven and Scott.
Kuzio holds a B.S. from Miami University, an MBA from Golden Gate University and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.
John Lancaster is a Managing Director at Riverstone Holdings LLC, a New York-based private equity firm focused on investments in the energy and power industry globally. Mr. Lancaster joined Riverstone in 2000 and is responsible for the sourcing and management of investments across the energy industry, with a particular emphasis on the oilfield service and exploration and production sectors.
Prior to joining Riverstone, Mr. Lancaster was a Director with The Beacon Group, LLC , a privately held firm specializing in principal investing and strategic advisory services in the energy and other industries. Mr. Lancaster began his career at Bankers Trust and later at CS First Boston, spending time as an investment banker and equity research analyst focused on the oil service and unregulated gas transmission sectors of the energy industry.
Mr. Lancaster serves on the Boards of Directors of Cobalt International, Titan Specialties, Dresser Industries, Moreno Energy Group, Dynamic Offshore Resources, Enduro Resource Partners, Cuadrilla Resources, and Liberty Production. Mr. Lancaster received his BBA from the University of Texas in 1990 and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He lives in Darien, CT with his wife Whitney and their four children, Nicholas, Amelia, Elliott, and Russell.
At the end of 2016, Todd Maclin retired from JPMorgan Chase and opened his family office in Dallas, Texas. For almost 37 years, Todd held a variety of leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor organizations, rising to the rank of Vice Chairman and a member of the JPMC Operating Committee in New York. For almost 12 years, Todd served as CEO of the JPMC Commercial Bank, and later as Co-CEO of Consumer and Business Banking. Todd's career at JPMC included assignments in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and New York. He has traveled extensively overseas, supervising global JPM businesses and serving clients of the firm.
John H. Massey has been a senior investment advisor with Lehman Private Equity Fund Advisers since 1996. In May 2009 he became chairman of the Investment Committee of the Neuberger Berman, LLC Private Equity Funds Group, which manages and administers more than $20 billion of private equity limited partnership interests. Neuberger Berman, LLC succeeded to the private equity funds previously managed by Lehman Private Equity Fund Advisers.
Previously, Mr. Massey was chairman and CEO of Life Partners Group, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed company, from 1994 to 1996; and chairman and CEO of First Southwest Investments from 1992 to 1994. He has served in numerous executive leadership positions with publicly held corporations including Gulf Broadcast Company, Anderson Clayton & Co. and Gulf United Corporation. He began his career with Republic National Bank of Dallas as an investment analyst in 1966. Massey has served on the board of directors of more than 40 corporations including six companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange..
Massey currently serves on the boards of several financial institutions, including First Southwest Company, Brazos Funds, Inc., Occidental Life of North America, Central Texas Bankshare Holdings, Inc. and Hill Bankshares Holdings, Inc., among others.
Massey received the Most Distinguished Alumnus Award from Southern Methodist University's (SMU) Cox School of Business in 1993. He serves on the advisory board of The University of Texas at Austin's School of Law, served eight years on the Johnson School of Management's board at Cornell and also served 16 years on the board at the SMU's Cox School of Business. He is also active in agricultural and wildlife conservation activities in Colorado County and Matagorda County, Texas.
Massey received a BBA from Southern Methodist University and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell. He also earned an L.L.B. from The University of Texas at Austin. He has been a member of the State Bar of Texas since 1966 and a Chartered Financial Analyst since 1971.
Joe Matlock - Bio coming soon.
Baker McAdams retired in 2012 as Vice President of the McAdams Group at Morgan Stanley PWM after over 15 years. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he worked for Accenture, retiring after 33 years in 1995.
McAdams lives in Houston, Texas with his wife, Penny. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Red McCombs is a highly successful businessman in a number of industries– including automotive, oil and gas, real estate, broadcasting, and professional sports–and a noted philanthropist. He began his career in 1950 in Corpus Christi. In 1958, he and Charline moved to San Antonio and founded what became the Red McCombs Automotive Group, which became the sixth largest automotive dealer chain in the United States. In the 1960s he formed Houston-based McCombs Energy and McCombs development company and during the 1970s with partner Lowry Mays, built a San Antonio radio station into Clear Channel Communications, which grew into the largest ownership of radio stations and outdoor billboards in the world. In 1972, he founded the San Antonio Spurs and later owned the NBA Denver Nuggets and the NFL Minnesota Vikings. His business success is reflected by his receipt of the Texas Legend Award from the Texas Automotive Dealers Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Chamber of Commerce, and honors conferred by the National Automobile Hall of Fame, The Texas Business Hall of Fame, and the San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame as well as the College Football Hall of Fame's Gold Medal Award. The University of Texas Business School at Austin bears his name.
Dr. McCombs has been actively involved in a number of local, statewide, and national civic, charitable, and social organizations. Among other things, he has served as the chairman of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and is an influential member of the Alamo Endowment Board, which focuses on the preservation and management of the Alamo mission in downtown San Antonio.
Red attended Southwestern, where he played football, prior to entering military service. He served on the Southwestern Board of Trustees from 1987 to 2014, chairing the board from 1992 to 2000, and in 2014, was named a life trustee and the board's honorary chair. Red was honored by Southwestern as a distinguished alumnus in 1990 and awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1997. Red will be 91 in October 2018.
John D. McStay is President of John McStay, Inc., a private investment company with investments in a wide range of financial assets, real estate, ranching and operating companies. McStay was previously senior vice president and trust investment officer for Mercantile National Bank at Dallas and president and CEO of Mercantile Securities Corporation. In 1983, he founded John McStay Investment Counsel, which grew to $6 billion under management and was purchased in 1999 by American International Group (AIG).
A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), McStay has served as national director for the CFA Institute and as a director in both the Dallas and Austin-San Antonio Societies. He is a past director of The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), which oversees the management of The University of Texas System's portfolios. He is a reserve elder of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, a member of the Governor's Business Council, a trustee of Southwestern Medical Foundation and the Communities Foundation of Texas. He is on the Advisory Committee for the MBA Investment Fund and is a 2008 inductee in the Hall of Fame of the McCombs School of Business.
McStay holds both a BBA and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Ardon Moore is President & CEO of Fort Worth-based Lee M. Bass, Inc. where he has been employed since 1988. In addition, Moore serves as general partner and/or director of numerous other Bass entities. Moore participates, both as a principal and as a representative for Bass, in a broad array of asset classes and industries including public and private equities, debt, real estate, energy, agriculture, hedge funds and venture capital.
Moore serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) where he serves on both the Compensation and Policy Committees. He also serves on The University of Texas Development Board, The McCombs School of Business Advisory Council and the University of Texas Chancellor's Council.
Moore is a former Trustee of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Trust, a former Trustee of Cook Children's Hospital, former Board President of All Saints Episcopal School of Ft Worth, and currently serves as President of the Fort Worth Zoological Association.
Moore was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to serve as Chairman of the 2015 Texas Inauguration.
Moore received a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is married to Iris Hudson Moore and they have three sons.
Previously he was managing director and branch manager for Russell Reynolds Associates. Before entering the executive search industry, Morris had a distinguished career in financial services, including positions with Merrill Lynch, subsidiary Lionel D. Edie & Company and United States Trust Company of New York.
Morris received a BBA and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Mike A. Myers has been chairman and owner of Myers Financial Corporation since 1969, and is president of Myers Development Corporation, a residential development company in Texas. He has also been chairman of nine Texas banks and is currently serving as Chairman of the board and CEO of Myers Bancshares, Inc., which is the holding company of the oldest and largest continually owned independent bank in Tarrant County, now operating six branches. He has served on the board of directors of several major national firms, and has extensive experience owning and operating country clubs across the state. Myers is founder and majority partner in the UT Golf Club which is located at Steiner Ranch in Austin and serves as the home course for UT's golf teams.
Myers has held volunteer positions at organizations including the Dallas Assembly, Dallas Citizens Council, Young Presidents Organization, Longhorn Education Foundation, Dallas Community College Foundation, Parkland Hospital Foundation and the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. He is currently serving as a director for the Texas Interscholastic League Foundation and is a Trustee Emeriti for the UT School of Law Foundation. Myers has been recognized as DFW "Entrepreneur of the Year", is a member of the McCombs School Hall of Fame, a UT Distinguished Alumnus honoree, a recipient of the university's prestigious Presidential Citation award, a 2008 inductee into the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and named the 2010 Distinguished Alumni for Community Service from the UT School of Law. The Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Field bears his name.
Erin Mulligan Nelson is a dynamic leader with 20+ years of experience in social/ e-commerce technology, marketing, sales and global business leadership. She's had the privilege of serving as a Section 16 officer/ Chief Marketing Officer twice in two very different capacities, once at a Fortune 50 company (Dell) and once at a high-growth startup, pre- and post-IPO (Bazaarvoice).
Erin is currently the CEO of Bloom Ventures, a firm which leverages capital, consulting and connections to help businesses, brands and ideas bloom.
Erin previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Dell where she was responsible for the Dell.com business as well as the company's global brand, communications, social media, agency and corporate social responsibility strategies. Following her time at Dell, she was Chief Marketing Officer of Bazaarvoice where she played a core role in leading that company through its successful IPO in 2012.
Erin serves on the board of directors for Waller Creek Conservancy and tech startup DishOpinion and is on the Advisory Council for the University of Texas McCombs Business School. She's a past board member of the Association of National Advertisers and the Ad Council. In 2010, Erin was one of seven individuals inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Lifetime Hall of Achievement recognizing outstanding advertising/marketing professionals aged 40 and under.
Erin earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration majoring in International Business and Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991.
Jimmy received a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
Will O'Hara turned his leadership in the corporate world into an opportunity to serve future generations as both an educator and a philanthropist. O'Hara began his career with Sears, Roebuck & Co., eventually joining Dean Witter, then a division of Sears, staying with the firm through its merger with Morgan Stanley. He retired in 2000 as Managing Director of Card Services, Morgan Stanley Europe, and decided to give back by teaching at McCombs. As an accounting lecturer for ten years, he earned the McCombs Undergraduate Honor Roll Award, the Texas Blazers' Outstanding Teaching Award (twice), and the Eyes of Texas Excellence Award. He and his wife, Beverly, have generously supported research fellowships, student scholarships and other worthy goals. Now in his "second retirement," O'Hara serves on boards of directors and audit committees in the financial industry.
Norma Montalvo Petrosewicz, an attorney who specializes in estate planning and probate matters, recently celebrated the 28th anniversary of her firm, Petrosewicz Law Firm, P.C.
Norma received her BBA from the University of Texas at Austin ('82) and received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law ('85). She is board certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a Certified Public Accountant. She has been a speaker for the State Bar of Texas continuing education courses, and has authored many articles on various estate planning topics.
Norma serves on the Board of Directors of the Madison Charitable Foundation, Inc. where she is personally responsible for awarding over $1.0M in grants a year. Norma is also on the Board of Directors for Oak Bend Medical Center, where she serves on the Executive Committee and is chairing the Vision 20/20 Campaign, a capital campaign for improvements to the hospital. Additionally, she is a member of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council.
Norma shares an office with her husband of 30 years, Tom, who is a Principle in Petrosewicz & Company, Inc., Certified Public Accountants. They have two children, Danielle (22) who is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business, and TJ (20) who is a junior enrolled at the University of Incarnate Word where he is a member of the men's fencing team.
Phillips earned a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin as well as a law degree from South Texas College of Law.
Pat Priest is currently Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the Dallas Regional Chamber. Prior to joining the Chamber, she was Managing Director and CFO of The Beck Group, a construction, architecture and real estate development company located in Dallas, Texas. Previous positions include President of Intershop Real Estate Services, a Swiss-based real estate investment company, CFO of Rosewood Property Company, and Chief Investment Officer of Wyndham International.
Priest has served on the Boards of Directors for both public and private companies, as well as numerous non-profit organizations, including The Real Estate Council, YMCA, The Dallas Opera and the Dallas Chapter of the International Women's Foundation.
A native of North Texas, Priest is a graduate of the University of North Texas, and earned an MBA from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Joe Prothro - Bio coming soon.
Elysia Holt Ragusa began her career as a broker with The Staubach Company in February, 1989. She served as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Staubach Company from 2001-2007 serving as the chair of the Executive Committee and the Operating Committee and a member of its Board of Directors. As President and COO, she oversaw Staubach's North American operations and provided strategic direction for all business units. Under her leadership, Staubach was established as one of the most prominent real estate service providers in the U.S. Her focus on client service, knowledge of transaction management and strategic negotiation skills were key to the development of the corporate vision, and establishing and driving the implementation of annual performance plans. Ms. Ragusa's focus on business development supported Staubach's achievement of one of the highest broker production rates in the industry and an average 20% annual sales growth; under her leadership The Staubach Company grew from $200 million to $550 million in revenue. Ms. Ragusa was a member of the leadership team who evaluated and negotiated the company's merger with Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008.
Prior to her role as President and Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Ragusa was president of Staubach's Southwest Corporate Services Division and was responsible for the leadership of and the day to day operation of the office, industrial and national account services groups in Dallas/Ft. Worth, as well as several surrounding states. Under her leadership from 1994-2001 the business grew over 300%. In November 1999, Ms. Ragusa and her partner founded The Staubach Company-Central Texas, LLC, an affiliate of The Staubach Company.
Ms. Ragusa is an International Director of Jones Lang LaSalle and currently provides team leadership and has P&L responsibility for the Central Texas market while also serving clients in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas/Fort Worth. Ms. Ragusa concentrates on office and industrial tenant representation, with an emphasis on workplace strategies, build-to-suit projects, lease negotiations and portfolio planning.
With over 25 years experience in commercial real estate, Ms. Ragusa has successfully negotiated 350 million square feet of commercial real estate transactions valued at over $4 billion including work for national clients whose growth strategies were driven by merger and acquisition activity.
Her focus on client service, knowledge of transaction management and strategic negotiation skills have been key to successfully leading multiple projects for Kimberly-Clark, Ernst & Young, Austin Ventures, First Tennessee National Bank, Southwest Securities Group, Sterling Commerce, Sterling Software, Texas Instruments and Weil Gotshal & Manges among many others serving as their lead broker.
Elysia has served nonprofit organizations both with planning and transaction management having served on the Facilities Committee of the United Way and led the purchase and build-out of a new facility for the Visiting Nurse Association with a Meals on Wheels kitchen.
Elysia has her BA from the University of Texas, MBA from Southern Methodist University and Master of Arts from the University of Dallas.
Elysia serves on the Board of Directors Fossil, Inc. (Fossil; NASDAQ:FOSL) a global design, marketing and distribution company that specializes in consumer fashion accessories with $1.5 billion in 2008 sales. She serves on the Fossil Compensation Committee and Governance Committee. Elysia also serves on the Board of Directors of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI) a Texas regional business bank with $8.0 Billion in assets.
She is a member of the Opportunity Austin through the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Museum of Art Board, International Women's Forum, The Susan B. Komen Advocacy Alliance Board, Austin Museum of Art Board, Real Estate Council of Austin, Texas, Dallas County Community College Foundation Board and is a lifetime Board member at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. She previously served as a Board Member of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas & the United Way Executive Committee and boards of the Visiting Nurse Association and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and American Heart Association as well as a member of the Dallas Citizens Council.
Benjamin E. Rodriguez is president of Management and Business Advisors (MBA), a strategic planning consulting firm based in San Antonio. MBA has an international client base of mid-sized companies that have shown dramatic growth.
Rodriguez has been recognized by a San Antonio daily newspaper as one of the 10 most significant business leaders in the decade of the 80's and one of the most promising leaders in the 90's. He is a familiar face on San Antonio and statewide civic and nonprofit boards, serving numerous chambers, arts, scouting and educational organizations. In 1987, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of the McCombs School of Business.
He has a B.A. and an BBA from The University of Texas at Austin, and was selected as a Cactus Outstanding Student. He also holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Stephen J. Rohleder retired in August, 2015 after an influential and successful 34 years with Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
He recently joined the Board of GTY Holdings and serves on the Audit and Compensation Committees. Over the past year he served as a Director for the technology services firm Apogee. He has also served on the Advisory Board for Kony (a mobility technology company). He has provided strategic advice on the IT/BPO Services market to clients of Third Bridge and Mosaic Consulting, and worked on strategic consulting projects for a number of small technology companies in the Austin area.
During his tenures as Accenture's Global Chief Operating Officer (2004 – 2009), Chief Executive for North America, and Chief Executive of Health & Public Service (2009-2014), Steve set focused and transformative strategies – consistently leading to profitable growth. While COO, he was responsible for leading the company's strategic direction and overall operational performance. During this period, Accenture grew by $8.1B in revenue ($13.5B to $21.6B) an increase of approximately 60% in 5 years. He was also responsible for all global operations (e.g., CIO, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing, Sales Effectiveness, Geographic Services and the Global Delivery Network) in approximately 50 countries and 175 cities. He helped move Accenture's General and Administrative cost base from 20.9% to 17.7% (a 320bps improvement); while also growing global headcount from 103,000 to 177,000 (72% growth). Accenture's share price increased to $35.52 (from $26.47, an increase of 34%).
As a Chief Executive, Steve scaled each business in a unique and influential way, with highlights including: leading the turnaround of the ~$8.5B North American Application Services business; helping drive the acquisition of Enkitec in 2014 to grow Accenture's Engineered Systems business – marking Accenture's first big bet with Oracle; and developing and implementing Accenture's global Health strategy. He also led the development and design of the strategy for Accenture's US federal business, which resulted in the creation of Accenture Federal Services, a standalone organization responsible for all of Accenture's government contracts.
Spending over three-quarters of his career in the public sector, higher education and healthcare industries, Steve is a well-known expert called on to participate in many forums and speaking engagements including investor conferences, client board meetings and White House special taskforces. He was instrumental in Accenture's success as the preferred provider supporting the federal government roll-out of healthcare enrollment nationwide. He has spoken at the National Governor's Association on Workforce Development and been a keynote speaker at World Congress on Information Technology.
He has been featured in the Washington Post, interviewed by Fox Business News, CNBC, ForbersVideoNetworking.com and BusinessWeek. He co-authored an e-government op-ed titled, "Moving at the Speed of Government" which appeared in USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Denver Post and other leading publications. He has testified before Congressional committees on Homeland Security, Government Reform and the creation of the Digital TechCorp.
He is also passionate about inclusion and diversity and is an expert and thought leader in this area. He has led the company in implementing broad-based programs to increase the diverse representation of the workforce as well as to mentor and champion women who now hold significant leadership positions with the company. Steve is known for his judgment and mentoring, whether individually or as a member of the faculty at Accenture's internal educational series for new and aspiring leaders and executives.
One of the primary reasons for Steve's continued success at Accenture has been his passion for the people he works with every day. He has been a figurehead within the areas he has been responsible for and he leads from the front -- empowering those around him and creating a collaborative environment that enables individuals to bring their uniqueness while also supporting organizational success.
His leadership style is centered on courage, conviction and compassion. Most recently, Steve brought to life a self-paced activity to help all North America people improve their career and life experience – helping them find greater work and life integration and become more fulfilled both inside and outside of work.
William E. Rosenthal grew up working in his father's meat business, Standard Meat Company. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in 1972, he joined the family's business, which was ultimately sold to Sara Lee Corporation in 1983. He remained at Sara Lee as president of Standard Meat until 1989.
In 1990, Rosenthal established Rosani Foods, and Pizza Hut soon agreed to purchase his first product, pepperoni. He later merged Rosani Foods with Kettle Cooked foods, a young emerging food company, forming KPR in 1992. KPR was acquired by Foodbrands America in 1995, which was in turn purchased by IBP, Inc. in 1997.
Rosenthal retired in 1998 from KPR Holdings, LP to pursue other business interests and focus his attention on the "new" Standard Meat Company and Penrose Group, LLC, a company that oversees all of his investments. In July, 2003 he became chairman of CTI, LLC, a food manufacturer for the foodservice industry.
Rosenthal also serves on several boards in the Fort Worth area including Shady Oaks Country Club, Cook Children's Medical Center and the Fort Worth Zoo. He also serves as a trustee of Texas Christian University and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors.
Billy is married to Rozanne and they are the parents of three children, Ashli, Ben and Maddie. He earned a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
J. Michael Sanders is the Executive Director of Potomac Research Group, a leading policy/regulatory research firm in Washington DC. Previously, Mike was the Executive Director of Ned Davis Research and the CEO of Davis, Mendel and Regenstein. Prior to his time at Ned Davis, he was Partner and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs & Company.
A native of Azle, Texas, Sanders graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in 1981. He resides with his wife and four children in Weston, Massachusetts.
As Co-Founder, Managing Director, and CFO of Complete Energy Holdings, LLC, a company started in 2003 to acquire, own, and operate power generation assets in the U.S., he co-led several successful acquisitions. The first acquisition was the 837-megawatt Batesville Generating Facility in Batesville, Miss., acquired in August 2004 for $330 million. The second acquisition was the 1,022-megawatt La Paloma Generating Facility near Bakersfield, Calif., acquired for $580 million in August 2005. This acquisition, hailed by Project Finance International as "the power deal of the year," included private equity, mezzanine debt, and first and second lien project financed debt. He sold his interest in Complete Energy Holdings, LLC in 2006.
From 1999-2002, Milton served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Dynegy Inc. (a Fortune 500 company during this time). In this role, he was responsible for risk management over trading operations, strategic planning and budgeting, compliance and internal audit, human resources, supply chain, global facilities management, insurance, and corporate security and corporate governance.
Prior to joining Dynegy, Milton spent 21 years with the Houston office of Arthur Andersen LLP. He was a partner in the Audit and Assurance practice and his clients consisted of companies in the energy and manufacturing industry, including exploration and development, offshore drilling, and oilfield services. During his last three years with Arthur Andersen, he served as partner in charge of the Southwest Region Technology and Communications practice. While in this position, he assisted in opening the Austin office and significantly grew the practice.
Milton currently serves on the Board of Visitors of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He is Chairman of the board of Sterling Construction Company, a leading heavy civil construction company that specializes in the building and construction of transportation and water infrastructure in large and growing markets. He is Chairman of the Board of Inea International Ltd, a privately held company that has developed a proprietary process that revolutionizes the way cement is made by using an abundant bi-product of coal powered facilities – coal fly ash. He serves on the advisory board of The CapStreet Group, a prominent, Houston-based private equity firm investing in middle market companies with enterprise values of less than $150 million.
Milton received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Southern University in Baton Rouge.
Joel V. Staff is a private investor, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Kinder Morgan, Inc., president of the Board of Trustees of Texas Children's Hospital and a senior advisor to TPH Partners.
His previous experience includes service as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Reliant Energy, Inc. from 2003 – 2007 and as CEO and Chairman of National Oilwell Varco Inc. from 1993 – 2002. For 17 years prior to that he held various financial and general management positions with Baker Hughes Incorporated, including senior vice-president and president of the drilling and production groups.
Staff earned a BBA from the University Texas at Austin and an MBA from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Ron Steinhart, active in the Dallas financial community for more than 37 years, retired as chairman and CEO of the Bank One Commercial Banking Group in 2000.
Steinhart serves on numerous boards, including Animal Health International, Inc., Texas Industries, Inc., Penske Automotive Group, Inc. and MFS/Sun Life Series Trust. In May 2002, President Bush appointed Steinhart to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, overseeing the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum until 2008. He has received the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas Exes. He was also a member of the University's Commission of 125.
Steinhart holds a BBA in accounting and an MBA in finance, both from The University of Texas at Austin.
Bryan D. Stolle is a Founding Partner at Wildcat where he focuses on investments in FinTech, EdTech, quant marketing, and technology that addresses elder care. His specific areas of interest include software as a service (SaaS) and platforms that enable alternative credit, payments and insurance, as well as those that support the post K-12 educational market and the growing elder care market. Concurrently, he is a General Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, which he joined in 2007.
Prior to MDV, Stolle founded Agile Software (NASDAQ: AGIL), a leading provider of product lifecycle management solutions, in March 1995. He served as Agile's CEO through April 2006, and continued to serve as Chairman through the acquisition of Agile by Oracle Corporation. He also serves on the boards of several private pre-IPO companies.
Prior to founding Agile, Stolle served in executive marketing and product management roles at several high-tech start-up firms in Silicon Valley and Texas. He started his career at EDS.
Stolle sits on the advisory boards of University of Texas McCombs School of Business, The UT-Austin Texas Venture Labs and the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business.
Stolle received a BBA and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
He was inducted into the McCombs School Hall of Fame in 1992, and was chairman of the McCombs School Advisory Council from 1990 to 1992. He has been involved with many nonprofit organizations, including serving as president of the Dallas Symphony and Cincinnati Symphony, and the Dallas High School for the Performing Arts. He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, since 1989.
Stone holds a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Stuart is past president of Circle 10 Council, serves on the board of the Boy Scouts of America – Southern Region, and is the past chair of The University of Texas System chancellor's council. He also serves on the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. He is a member of the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame, chair of The University of Texas Foundation, a Distinguished Alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin and served on the University's Commission of 125. He was also past president of the Texas Exes and past chair of the McCombs School advisory council. He also has an endowed chair in the McCombs School
Stuart holds a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and attended Southern Methodist University's Southwestern Graduate School of Banking and Harvard University's Advanced Management Program.
Jeffrey L. Swope is the managing partner of Champion Partners Ltd., a privately-owned commercial real estate investment firm he founded in 1991. His professional accomplishments have included being founding chairman of the Real Estate Council, Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, and a Hall of Fame member of the Dallas Board of Commercial Realtors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of East-West Ministries and Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM).
A BBA and MBA graduate from The University of Texas at Austin, Swope served as chairman of the University's Development Board, founding chairman of the Real Estate and Finance Center, and as a trustee of the McCombs Business School Foundation. Swope is a McCombs Hall of Fame member, and is a Life Member of the McCombs Advisory Council, the UT Development Board, and the Texas Ex's. He is a member of the Chancellor's Executive Council, Longhorn Foundation, and Ethics at McCombs Advisory Council. He has also served as a member of the Commission of 125, President's Executive Council, and as president of the Century Club.
Prior to founding Champion, Swope was a partner at the Trammell Crow Company and was one of the founding partners at Centre Development Company. He and his wife Ann have four children and nine grandchildren.
Charles S. Teeple IV is president of Penta Properties, Inc., a real estate development firm focusing on Austin and San Antonio. Current projects include mixed use development in downtown San Antonio's Historic City Center and a luxury apartment at the front door of NSA's new facility in northwest San Anotonio.
He serves as a member of the IC2 Advisory Board, and was a founding member of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center Executive Council. He served on the University's Commission of 125 and is past president of the Capitol Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Teeple received BBA and MBA degrees in finance and real estate from The University of Texas at Austin.
Ralph B. Thomas is a senior vice president, portfolio manager, and member of the Investment Committee at Fayez Sarofim & Co. He joined the firm in 1968. Clients of the firm include corporate pension plans, endowments, foundations and individuals.
Mr. Thomas attended the University of Texas, where he received a B.B.A. in Finance. He went on to attain his M.B.A. in 1968 from the University of Texas. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Investment Counselor. He is a member and past secretary of the Houston Society of Financial Analysts, past president of the University of Texas College of Business Century Club, past president of the University of Texas Graduate Business School Club of Houston, past chairman of the University of Texas College of Business Administration Foundation Advisory Council, and a member of the Texas Longhorn Education Foundation. He is a past chairman and lifetime member of the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, a member of the McCombs School of Business Campaign Committee, a member and director of the McCombs MBA Investment Fund, a lifetime member of the University of Texas Chancellor's Council Executive Committee, a member of the McDonald Observatory & Astronomy Advisory Council (Board of Visitors), and a member of the University of Texas Chancellor's Technology Commercialization Advisory Council.
He is a member of the board of directors and past chairman of the Development Board for the University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston. He continues to serve at the UT-Health Science Center as a member of its Development Board, a member of the Government Relations Advisory Council, and a member of the IMM Advisory Council (The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases).
Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors and serves on the Steering Committee of the Lone Star Flight Museum and was appointed to the Texas World Trade Council.
Jere Thompson joined The Southland Corporation, initially based in Miami, in 1956, following active duty in the U.S. Navy. He returned to Dallas in 1962 as vice president with responsibility for retail business, primarily 7-Eleven stores. In 1983, he became president and CEO, retired in 1991, and served on the board of directors until 1996.
His past service to The University of Texas at Austin includes membership and chairmanship of the University's Development Board and The University of Texas System Chancellor's Council. Thompson is past chair of the McCombs School Advisory Council and he is a member of the Longhorn Foundation.
Thompson received a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Tichenor earned a Plan II B.A. and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and, in 2009, an MS in Biotechnology from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Peyton Townsend is a first vice president with RBC Wealth Management (formerly Rauscher, Pierce, Refsnes) in Dallas. He has served as branch manager and as a member of the Director's Circle and the Broker's Advisory Council. He began his career with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company prior to joining Rauscher Pierce.
Townsend is a member of the UT System's Chancellor's Council and of UT-Austin's Development Board as well as the Texas Leadership Society and Dallas Leadership Council. He is a member of the College of Liberal Arts Advisory Council and a life member of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council. He is also a Life Member of the Texas Exes and has served on their Executive Council, Board of Directors, and as chairman of the Investment Committee.
Townsend received a B.A. in government from The University of Texas at Austin.
Tom Turner founded and served as President and CEO of First National Bank of Park Cities (now Bank of Texas, N.A.) for fifteen years where he is now Honorary Chairman of the Board. He currently sits on the boards of the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation, Highland Park Sports Club (Advisory Director) and is a member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and Hyland Park Presbyterian Church.
Prior to his work with First National Bank of Park Cities, Tom held positions with National Bank of Texas, First National Bank of Dallas and Republic National Bank. He has also been a member of the Finance Committee for Texas Health Resources, the Government Relations Council for Texas Bankers Association, the Legislative Committee Independent Bankers Association of Texas and was one of the founders of Park Cities Chemical Awareness Council. Tom served on the McCombs School's Advisory Council beginning in 1999 and rejoined in 2010 as a Lifetime member.
Tom received his BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and attended the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University.
Peter S. Wareing is a general partner of Wareing, Athon & Company, a Houston-based private equity group. He is chairman of the board of Gulf Coast Pre-Stress and Texas Concrete Company. In addition, he is vice chairman of Nordic Cold Storage. He is a director of CenterPoint Energy (NYSE: CNP).
As a community volunteer, Mr. Wareing is a member of the boards of Texas Children's Hospital and The Greater Houston Partnership. He has served on numerous boards for non-profit organizations in Houston.
Mr. Wareing received his undergraduate degree in business administration from The University of Texas and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
George Watson, a founder of Watson&Taylor Companies in 1974, serves as President and Owner of Steelecreek Management, LLC., the manager of Watson&Taylor Self Storage. Since 1974, Mr. Watson has been involved in the self-storage business as well as other business entities engaged in the ownership and management of real estate. For many years, he partnered with A. Starke Taylor III (Tracy) in Watson&Taylor Management, Inc. which was named a Top Operator multiple years through 2012 by Inside Self Storage. In 2013, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Watson exited their partnership for estate planning purposes and Watson&Taylor Self Storage has continued as the operating trade name for property locations managed by Steelecreek Management, LLC.
Mr. Watson has owned and managed over 80 self-storage properties as well as shopping centers, commercial developments, multi-family, office buildings and land holdings in Texas and many different areas of the United States. Self Storage properties have been located in the following states: Arkansas, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia and Texas cities: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Amarillo, Addison, Garland, Baytown, Galveston, Bryan/College Station, Pasadena and Wichita Falls.
Mr. Watson served on the Board of Directors of First City Bank of Dallas from 1984-1987 and as a member of the Bank's Executive Committee from 1985-1987. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of the Capital Network, a non-profit corporation that assisted entrepreneurs and others in locating capital. He is an active member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas and was named as one of the City of Dallas' North Stars for his commitment to the Boys and Girls Club. Mr. Watson is also a member of the University of Texas at Austin, Red McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. Mr. Watson has been married for 50 years and has two daughters and four grandchildren.
Mr. Watson graduated Summa Cum Laude with both a BBA and a MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
As CEO, James "Rad" Weaver oversees the continued implementation of McCombs Partners investment strategies, including the management of direct investments in private operating businesses. The portfolio consists of over 40 investments throughout the United States across a wide range of industries, including technology, finance, automotive, and natural resources.
Mr. Weaver serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Grand Prix and on the Board of Managers for Med Resources. He is a member of the Texas Business Leadership Council and the on the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio branch. He is a recent member of the YPO San Antonio Chapter and Board of Director for the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Weaver graduated from University of Texas in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. Mr. Weaver serves on University of Texas Austin Development Board and on the Board of Trustees for the McCombs School of Business.
C. John Wilder is executive chairman of Bluescape Resources Company LLC. He is the former chairman, president and CEO of TXU Corp. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and CFO of Entergy Corporation, positions he held since joining the company in 1998. He also served as a director or officer for 65 Entergy-related companies.
Prior to Entergy, Wilder spent almost two decades with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, most recently as CEO of Shell Capital in London. He served as a director or officer for more than 75 Shell-related companies.
Active in community service work throughout his career, he is a member of the World Economic Forum, the Edison Electric Institute and the United Methodist Church. He is also on the advisory bodies of The Global Entergy Management Institute at the University of Houston and the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.
A native of Missouri, Wilder graduated magna cum laude from Southeast Missouri State University with a BS in business administration, and he earned an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Ray Wilkins, CEO-AT&T Diversified Businesses, is responsible for international investments, advertising and publishing, and Customer Information Services.
Previously, Mr. Wilkins served as group president and chief executive officer-SBC Enterprise Business Services, with responsibility for serving the company's 12,000 largest business customers and overseeing sales, customer care, data solutions engineering, consulting and operations of the company's advanced data and Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
Before that, Mr. Wilkins served as group president-SBC Marketing and Sales, with responsibility for all marketing and sales, including product development, sales support, business communications services and global and consumer markets, which then represented a $30 billion revenue stream.
In September 2000, he assumed the role of president and CEO of SBC Pacific Bell, where he was responsible for all business and consumer market sales, customer service, network services and external affairs in California and Nevada
In 1999, he was named president-SBC Business Communications Services, with responsibility for providing complete telecommunications and data communications solutions to more than 3 million small, medium and large business customers nationwide. Before that, he served as president and CEO of Southwestern Bell Telephone, with responsibility for providing communications products and services throughout the region. In 1997, he served as president of Pacific Bell Business Communications Services, with responsibility for all business market sales, customer service, network integration and information services, as well as overall financial performance. He assumed that position after having served as president for the Kansas/Western Missouri market area.
Mr. Wilkins began his career as a commercial assistant with Southwestern Bell Telephone in Houston in 1974.
Mr. Wilkins is a member of the boards of Valero Energy Corporation, América Móvil, The Tiger Woods Foundation and the National Urban League. Mr. Wilkins is also a member of the Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and the Executive Leadership Council.
He has received numerous honors and recognition for his contributions both inside and outside of the company. Savoy magazine named him as one of the "2010 Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America." In 2006, he was recognized as one of "The 100 Most Important Blacks in Technology" by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine and was named one of "The Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America" by Black Professionals magazine. In 2005, he was named one of "The 75 Most Powerful African Americans in Corporate America" by Black Enterprise magazine. In 2005, as well as in 2002, he was named one of "The 50 Most Important African Americans in Technology" by eAccess Corp., an online publisher.
In 2002, he was named by Fortune magazine as one of the "Nation's 50 Most Powerful Black Executives" and was honored as a "distinguished alumnus" of the Waco Independent School District in 2000. Black Enterprise named him one of the "Top 50 African Americans" in 1999. And in 1997, he received the Eagle Award from the National Eagles Leadership Institute and was named CEO of the Year by the Minority Supplier Council.
Mr. Wilkins earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's management program for executives in October 1987.
Thomas D. Williams is General Counsel of Hillwood, a Perot Company. Prior to its acquisition by Dell, Mr. Williams served as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel for Perot Systems Corporation. Following the acquisition he served as Vice President of Dell, Inc., leading the legal support for Dell Services.
Mr. Williams is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Texas Law School Foundation, a member of the Development Board, and of the Texas Scholarship Committee. He was Chairman of the McCombs Business School Foundation and was President of the Law School Alumni Association. He is a recipient of an Outstanding Young Texas Exes award.
He was the Vice Chairman of the Texas National Research Laboratory Commission, Chairman of the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation and President of the Dallas Assembly. He is a member of the University's Commission of 125 and the Board of Directors of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association.
Mr. Williams received a BBA in Accounting with honors and a J.D. with honors, both from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and a Certified Public Accountant.
Chris Wrather - Bio coming soon.
Peter Zandan is currently global vice chairman at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a marketing communications firm with 3000 employees in 85 countries. Zandan has more than 30 years of business leadership experience working with top brands such as Apple, IBM and Microsoft. He was founder, chairman and CEO of IntelliQuest Information Group, one of the world's fastest growing data analytics firms, which he took public on the Nasdaq (IQST). He also co-founded and served as chairman of Zilliant, a leading provider of price-optimization/artificial intelligence solutions. Zandan was selected by Interactive Week
as one of the "Unsung Heroes of the Internet" and awarded Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year" for his leadership at IntelliQuest. He continues to be active with a number of businesses as an investor in over 20 early stage enterprises.
Peter attended graduate school at The University of Texas — where he earned his MBA and Ph.D. in evaluation research. Zandan has worked with organizations such as KLRU Public Broadcasting Service, EarthSky, Austin City Limits and The University of Texas at Austin. He received Austin's "Soul of the City" business award, the Austin Chronicle's "Best Visionary" award and the Austin American-Statesman's "Hero of Democracy" award. A former faculty member at The McCombs School of Business, he now serves as a lifetime member of the Business Advisory Council. He received an appointment to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine , D.C.
Peter resides in Austin, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Page last updated: 4/19/2017
By phone: (512) 471-5921
2110 Speedway
Austin, TX 78705
Rowling Hall
300 W Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Austin, TX 78712
McCombs School of Business,
The University of Texas at Austin |
Contact Us