McCombs Magazine Winter 2020

THE MAGAZINE OF THE McCOMBS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

w i n te r 2 02 0

BRAND BUILDER

KEVIN CURRY, BBA ’04, SOUGHT A HEALTHIER LIFE AND FOUND STARDOM

y

THE McCOMBS GIFT: 20 YEARS STRONG

y

INNOVATING THE CLASSROOM

y

PIONEERING BLACK ENTREPRENEURS

TEXAS EXECUTIVE EDUCATION What you learn here today, you’ll use tomorrow.

FOR INDIVIDUALS Two- to five-day classes in leadership, strategic decision-making, risk management, finance, and negotiation.

FOR ORGANIZATIONS Private classes customized to the specific challenges your team is facing.

www.mccombs.utexas.edu/execed

y D E PA RT M E N T S

2. LETTER FROM THE DEAN 3. NEWS

Short Takes: Brené Brown named visiting professor, MBA students take impact investing prize, and more.

6. The Legacy: Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the gift that gave the school its name.

8. Hall of Fame: New inductees join McCombs’ esteemed club.

10. A Sense of Belonging: How the school is creating a more diverse student body and faculty.

12. Expertise in a Time of Crisis: Responding to the pandemic, McCombs thought leaders gain national media attention.

14: Student Startups: Meet four enterprising groups of students getting an early start in the business world.

16. RESEARCH

Pandemic Predictor: Researcher applies statistical expertise in the fight against the coronavirus.

18. Fake News: Amid a pandemic and a divisive election, curbing misinformation takes on new urgency.

20. Communicating Emotion: Keeping close ties at work is increasingly important —and difficult.

39. COMMUNITY

44. ALUMNI NOTES 45. BOTTOM LINE

Problem Solver: K.K. Salem honors his immigrant parents with newly named public policy center at McCombs.

y F E AT U R E S

Kevin Curry, BBA ’04, found resonance on his journey to better health, and a popular brand was born.

BY A L B E RTA P H I L L I P S

TRAILBLAZERS

Insights, challenges, and encouragement from Black alumni who channeled their passions into entrepreneurial ventures.

BY A L B E RTA P H I L L I P S

A LEARNING REVOLUTION

McCombs meets a global crisis with teaching innovations.

BY M AT T W. T U R N E R

C O V E R P H OTO G R A P H E D B Y J E F F W I L S O N

McCombs is published twice a year for alumni and friends of the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

INTERIM CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Sarah Beavins MANAGER, CONTENT STRATEGY

Up Close: BBA alums endow scholarships.

43. Gatherings: Alumni events and celebrations.

PASSION AND PURPOSE

WINTER 2020

22 28 32

Todd Savage EDITOR

Molly Dannenmaier ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Mary Ann Roser, Jeremy M. Simon ART DIRECTION/DESIGN

Tucker Creative Co. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Steve Brooks, Suzanne Halliburton, Judie Kinonen, Alberta Phillips, Hannah Phillips, Matt W. Turner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Dennis Burnett, Lauren Gerson, Andrew Loehman, Jeff Wilson CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS

Matthew Cooper, Matthew Driver, Sjoerd Van Leeuwen Marina Muun, ONLINE

http://issuu.com/mccombs schoolofbusiness CHANGE OF ADDRESS

512-232-2441 alumni@mccombs.utexas.edu FOLLOW US

facebook.com/utmccombsschool twitter.com/utexasmccombs LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/UTexasMcCombs

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 1

McCOMBS: FROM THE DEAN

A Season of Transformation we at the McCombs School of Business remain dedicated to our mission of transforming lives, and we, too, are being transformed in exciting ways.

Our last issue of McCombs Magazine was published in fall 2019 from a campus environment far different from this one. Change has come at a dizzying pace.

Earlier this year, President Gregory L. Fenves announced his departure from UT Austin. On June 1, Dean Jay Hartzell became interim president and was later named to the position. I stepped in as interim dean after having served in the Accounting Department since 2006 and as its chair from 2011 to 2015. Although it was hard to step away from research and teaching, I am honored to have the trust of President Hartzell and my colleagues to lead during a turbulent year.

Our successes and prudence, plus decades of endowment gifts from alumni, generated the financial stability for us to embrace change. When the campus closed in March, we pivoted to strictly online delivery for the rest of spring and all of summer 2020. You will read in this issue how our leadership A Y E A R AS U N P R EC E D E N T E D AS T H I S O N E ,

meetings produced incredible innovation and change management. Our faculty training for the pivot was swift and thorough. We conducted dozens of trainings between March and August, and the feedback is that the collaboration among faculty members strengthened us in unexpected and positive ways.

As we prepared for the fall semester, we invested $400,000 in enhanced technology. This enabled us to synchronously teach students attending in person and remotely so they could interact with their professors and one another.

McCombs faculty members were more willing to teach in person than those in other colleges, demonstrating courage and a practical recognition of the value proposition for students and parents. By fall, more than half of our sections were allowing in-person attendance.

This year also has brought a new resonance to racial and social justice issues. I feel honored to listen to concerns raised by Black students, faculty members, and staffers. To enhance diversity and inclusion, we have expanded scholarship endowments and the pool of faculty applicants.

The 2020 freshman class at McCombs has the highest-ever proportion of underrepresented minority students. At the same time, we celebrate the global success of Black alumni such as Kevin Curry, BHP ’04. Curry’s entrepreneurial journey will move you.

We also continue to draw inspiration from San Antonio businessman Red McCombs, 20 years after his $50 million naming gift. We look back on the gift’s transformative power. I hope it will encourage you to use your resources to make a difference at McCombs.

Thank you for the many ways you make our school world-renowned! I am honored to serve such great colleagues, staff, students, and alumni as your interim dean.

With my warmest Hook ’em,

LILLIAN F. MILLS, Interim Dean Lois and Richard Folger Dean's Leadership Chair The Beverly H. and William P. O’Hara Endowed Chair in Business

2 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

P H OTO G R A P H BY L AU R E N G E R S O N

NEWS

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE THE FORMER DEAN AND McCOMBS ALUM IS UT AUSTIN’S NEW PRESIDENT

J

AY H A R T Z E L L ,

who spent nearly half of his life at McCombs, was named the university’s 30th president in September during a time of unprecedented challenges. Hartzell is only the second McCombs dean to become UT Austin president.

“In a year that has brought us a pandemic and a host of other issues, I believe we have something to be excited about — that Jay Hartzell, a lifelong Longhorn and a worldclass academic scholar, will be leading the Forty Acres,” said Kevin Eltife, BBA ’81, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents.

Kansas-born and Oklahoma-raised, Hartzell in 1998 received a McCombs Ph.D. in finance. He then joined the faculty of New York University's Stern School of Business before returning to McCombs in 2001. He held various leadership jobs, including leading the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center.

Named dean in 2016, he helped establish the Master of Science in Finance degree, created the undergraduate real estate certificate program, introduced the Canfield Business Honors program, created partnerships with other UT schools and colleges, and opened Robert B. Rowling Hall.

The day he was named president, Hartzell told the campus community, “We need to use this moment — however strange and unfamiliar — to seek new opportunities and start envisioning a future at UT that builds on our wonderful traditions and all the things that set us apart.”

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

3

N E WS : S H O R T TA K E S

Entrepreneurship Expert Mellie Price, ’93, MSTC ’19, a familiar face in Austin’s robust startup scene, is the current director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs, which offers students hands-on entrepreneurship training. Bringing a rich background to TVL, she helped create the nationally known Capital Factory and founded software ticketing platform Front Gate Solutions/Front Gate Tickets, startup ecosystem connection service SoftMatch, and many other ventures.

Price serves on Austin Mayor Steve Adler’s Technology Advisory Committee and is executive director of commercialization at Dell Medical School and managing director of the school’s innovation hub, Texas Health CoLab. She’s also on the boards of KLRU, Leadership Austin, and Victory Fund.

FACULTY HONORS

PHILANTHROPY CLASS CHOOSES CODE2COLLEGE

Professor Laura Starks, who focuses her research on mutual funds, corporate governance, institutional investors, and environmental, social and governance investing, was elected vice president of the American Finance Association and will be elevated to president of the organization in 2022. She is only the second woman to be elected AFA vice president.

Below: Maria De-Arteaga, an assistant professor in the Information, Risk, and Operation Management Department, has received a $60,000 grant award from Google’s Inclusion Research Program.

BRENÉ BROWN BACK ON CAMPUS Internationally acclaimed author, researcher, and speaker Brené Brown, ’95, has been a McCombs visiting professor in management during the past year. Brown spoke on campus in February on the results of her seven-year study about leadership that is the basis of her best-selling book, Dare to Lead. She also gave the commencement address at UT’s virtual spring 2020 ceremony. “My falls have taught me a hundred times more than any of my achievements ever have, ever could, and ever will,” Brown told graduates.

4 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

The first-ever beneficiary of the McCombs MBA Philanthropy class is Code2College, a program that helps minority and low-income high school students prepare for college study and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The program, created in 2016, provides students with education, exposure, and experience to help address the lack of diversity in the STEM workforce. The class awarded Code2College $47,000. Philanthropic support from Jeff Swope, BBA ’72, provided the funds for students in the philanthropy class to analyze nonprofits and make philanthropic investments.

W I N T ER 2020

McCOMBS

BY THE NUMBERS

Student Researchers Three recent McCombs graduates, Thien Vuong, BBA ’20, Jonathan Li, BBA ’20, and Thomas Smith, BA ’20, have their names on a published research paper after spending five months sifting through Twitter to study trends in food and grocery delivery businesses during the early months of the pandemic. They discovered economic inequities in who was able to access these services and how the delivery workers were paid.

727

Number GMAT average of living ofMcCombs the Texas MS alumni in Business crossed the 100K Analytics threshold program for first fortime fall 2020. with sprin.

2%

Number Percentage of UT of Austin applicants students admitted enrolled in McCombs to the programs doctoral(degree accounting and non-de-

DESIGN THINKING Two McCombs students used their education this spring to help the UT chapter of Design for America create a two-week leadership camp for the YMCA. UT was one of 10 schools asked to participate.

McCombs students Quynh Hoang, BBA’22, and Grace Leake, BBA’20, joined three UT design students on the project in creating a summer camp.

program gree) forin fall 2 2020.

018-2019.

MPAS ACROSS FAMILY GENERATIONS

Seventy-one years after her grandfather earned the business school’s first Master in Professional Accounting degree, Katie Glass, MPA ’20, earned hers.

Her grandfather, E. Ben Yager, also BBA ’47, received the degree in 1949. “I was inspired by his story,” Glass says. “Through hard work and persistence, my grandfather left the family farm, served in the Army, and used his MPA degree to create a successful career as a university professor.” Yager served on the faculty at Miami University in Ohio from 1955 to 1989 and as department chair from 1966 to 1970. After she graduated, Glass went to work for PwC's assurance practice in Tampa, Florida.

102,076 Number Number of students of living enrolled McCombs in alumni McCombs (all degrees) degreeas program of July 2020. s in 2018-2019.

13

Number Rank of of BBA newly program hiredamong tenure-track undergradufaculty for 2020-21, ate business the mostsch in a decade. ools, according to

No. 5

2020 U.S. News & World Report

IMPACT INVESTING AWARD

Rank of theRank MS Business of the Texas Analytics BBA, U.S. “big

A group of McCombs MBA students won the prestigious MBA Impact Investing Network and Training competition in April. It was sponsored by the Wharton Social Impact initiative and the Bridges Impact Foundation. The students pitched a company named EQO, which provides diagnostic and treatment services to rid invasive species from aquatic ecosystems. The winners — James Alvarez, Amie Harris, Allison Napier, Connor Taylor, and Charlotte Thomas — gave EQO the opportunity to receive $50,000 from outside investors.

data management” U.S. News &programs, World Report. according to

No. 10

Rank Rank of of schools the Texas withExecutive best professors, MBA among PrincU.S.-based eton Review, programs, 2019 Financial edition.Times.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

5

N E WS : P H I L A N T H R O P Y

THE McCOMBS LEGACY THIS YEAR MARKS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL GIFT THAT INSPIRED GENERATIONS OF LONGHORNS

With their $50 million donation in 2000, Red McCombs and his wife, Charline, transformed UT Austin's business school. The school is honoring the McCombs family for their leadership and vision.

• A LEGEND IN TEXAS BUSINESS

“My hope is that this gift will allow the school to be one of the very best in the world, period,” Red McCombs said at the May 11, 2000, announcement of the unprecedented $50 million gift he and his wife, Charline, gave to The University of Texas at Austin’s business school. The largest donation UT had received in its history, the gift not only gave the McCombs School of Business its name — but transformed it.

Because of the donation, the school was able to recruit and retain star-quality faculty members, attract exceptional students, offer scholarships, and instill the school with an ambition to dream big.

The school is honoring the McCombs family for its leadership and vision with celebrations, including a commemoration during the recent McCombs Advisory Council meeting, and will include acknowledgements during winter commencement.

During this anniversary year, the school hopes alumni, students, and the UT community will take the opportunity to learn more about this gift, its impact, and its legacy.

Red McCombs was always grateful for his educational experience and wanted others to have the same opportunity. “I could never have had the access that I’ve had and to get in the position to do the things that I’ve done without The University of Texas,” he said.

6 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

Red McCombs attended UT Austin in the late 1940s as a business administration student and went on to become a Texas business legend. He is a recipient of the UT Austin Distinguished Alumnus Award and a member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame. His wide-ranging business interests include automobile dealerships, communications, professional sports, oil, ranching, and real estate. He co-founded (with Lowry Mays) Clear Channel Communications, which includes ownership of 850 radio stations in markets across the U.S., and other communications ventures.

• THE MAGIC OF SPORTS

Although he got a football scholarship to Southwestern University, it wasn’t playing sports that thrilled him to his core; it was owning the team, especially a winning one.

McCombs was selling cars in his mid-20s when he and a friend bought the Corpus Christi Aces, a minor league baseball team. They renamed the team the Clippers, the team won the playoffs, and McCombs was hooked. In 1973, he bought the Dallas Chaparrals basketball team, moved it to San Antonio, and renamed the team the Spurs. He also bought the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Vikings. The National Football League named him one of its most influential owners. In 2010, he was drawn to a different kind of sport, Formula One auto racing, which he brought to Austin.

McCombs appears with the San Antonio Spurs mascot.

W I N T ER 2020 • DRIVEN TO SERVE

McCombs is as well known for his philanthropic generosity as he is for his business acumen.

He has focused his giving on athletics, education, health care, and humanitarian efforts, including a generous donation to the medical relief effort for Kosovar refugees. In 1997, he gave UT Austin women’s athletics its largest-ever donation — $3 million for a new softball complex named the Red and Charline McCombs Field. A statue of McCombs stands inside UT’s Royal-Memorial Stadium, part of the Red McCombs Red Zone. He also has made significant donations to Southwestern University and to the University of Minnesota Women’s Athletics Department. In addition, he also has donated his time, reading to students at San Antonio’s Mary Hull Elementary School, which is attended by many at-risk students.

• LEGACY OF A LIFETIME

In the late 1990s, Bob May, dean of the business school under Larry Faulkner’s presidency, began a correspondence with Red McCombs. May invited McCombs to speak to students at the business school, an encounter that left McCombs “glowing,” according to May. Not long after, McCombs made his unparalleled, unrestricted $50 million gift. “He believes passionately in his community and in Texas,” Faulkner said. “He believes it can succeed at a better level, and he’s looking for a way to get it to do that.”

UT officials celebrate McCombs’ $50 million gift and the decision to name the business school for him.

McCombs is flanked by his wife, Charline, and Larry Faulkner, then UT president.

• BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION OF LEADERSHIP

“I believe strongly in the quality of leadership at The University of Texas, or I wouldn’t be making this gift,” McCombs said about his donation to the business school in 2000.

“I decided to make this gift now because the timing is right — both for me and for UT. The Texas Business School is already a great school. That’s an indisputable fact, and the national rankings confirm it.”

Red McCombs was named a UT Distinguished Alumnus in 1998 and acknowledges the applause at Royal-Memorial Stadium.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 7

N E WS : L E A D E R S H I P

HIGH HONORS DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AND SUPPORTERS HONORED WITH 2020 INDUCTION INTO THE McCOMBS HALL OF FAME

E

VERY YEAR, TEXAS McCOMBS

honors several distinguished alumni and friends of the school by inducting them into the McCombs Hall of Fame, the highest honor given by the business school.

The Hall of Fame recognizes individuals for their exemplary work in many areas including civic, educational, and philanthropic activities, as well as making outstanding professional contributions to the business and educational community. This year’s honorees are George R. Ackert, Kevin P. Eltife, Gay W. Gaddis, and Mark D. Gibson.

GEORGE R. ACKERT

George R. Ackert, BBA ’91, JD ’95, is a senior managing director in Evercore’s investment banking business in New York City. He runs Evercore’s financial sponsors practice and is an internationally recognized adviser to companies in the transportation sector. Ackert is a former chairman and a founding member of the New York for McCombs Board. He is a member of the UT Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, the UT Development Board, and the UT System Chancellor’s Executive Council, and he formerly

served on the board of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT. THE HONORABLE KEVIN P. ELTIFE

Kevin P. Eltife, BBA '81, was appointed to a sixyear term on The University of Texas System Board of Regents by Gov. Greg Abbott in January 2017, confirmed by the Texas Senate in February 2017, and was elected chairman of the Board of Regents in December 2018. Eltife previously served as senator for Texas Senate District 1 from 2004 to 2017, as the mayor of Tyler, and as a member of the Tyler City Council. He was appointed to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in December 1996 by Gov. George W. Bush and served until July 2003. He is the owner of Eltife Properties Ltd. and is a director for Citizens 1st Bank. In addition, he serves on The University of Texas at Austin Development Board and The University of Texas at Tyler Development Board.

GAY W. GADDIS

For 30 years, Gay Gaddis, BFA ’77, was CEO of T3 - The Think Tank, an Austin-based advertising agency and marketing consultancy she founded.

With over 230 employees in Austin, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, Gaddis, a digital

marketing pioneer, helped companies such as Dell, UPS, Chase Bank, Allstate, Marriott, Pizza Hut, and 7-11 evolve from traditional marketing campaigns to sophisticated digital programs. T3 grew to be the largest advertising agency in the country owned by a woman and was recently acquired by Tailwind Capital, a Los Angeles private equity company. Gaddis serves on the advisory councils of both the McCombs School of Business and College of Fine Arts.

MARK D. GIBSON

Before becoming the chief executive officer of JLL Capital Markets, Americas, as part of the HFF acquisition, Mark D. Gibson, BBA ’81, was a founding partner of HFF LP, having joined HFF’s predecessor firm, Holliday Fenoglio & Company, in 1984. Gibson has been involved in real estate financing, joint ventures, entity recapitalization, and asset sales for major corporate, institutional, and entrepreneurial owners, both nationally and internationally. He is an executive committee member at the UT Real Estate Finance and Investment Center and an advisory council member at the McCombs School of Business.

RISING STARS

Each year, McCombs recognizes exemplary earlyto-mid-career alumni as Rising Stars. This year’s honorees are Jessica M. Lopez, BBA ’10, MPA ’10, corporate controller for ID Experts; Michael C. Smith, MBA ’05, who works at ExxonMobil in a global coordination group where he provides support for its upstream financial stewardship; and April D. Underwood, BBA ’01, a venture partner with Obvious Ventures and a founding partner of the angel investing collective #Angels.

GA D D I S P H OTO BY M A R K S E L I G E R

Left to right: George R. Ackert, BBA ’91, JD ’95; Kevin P. Eltife, BBA ’81; Gay W. Gaddis, BFA ’77; and Mark D. Gibson, BBA ’81.

6 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

HAVE A BURNING IDEA? BRING IT TO MARKET. One year. Alternating weekends. Live or online.

TEXAS McCOMBS MSTC #

1

Best Value Graduate Program U.S. News & World Report 2017

ONE-YEAR MASTER’S IN TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION For more than 20 years, the Texas McCombs Master of Science in Technology Commercialization (MSTC) program has taught innovators how to take new products and services to market — in private ventures or within existing companies.

MSTC is a top-ranked, one-year graduate program led by top professors with realworld entrepreneurial experience. Students learn how to commercialize technology

5

#

Entrepreneurship in the U.S. Eduniversal 2019

6

#

using hands-on, best business practices — including a proprietary approach for reaching “go-no-go” decisions.

Designed for working professionals, the MSTC offers a flexible schedule with classes on alternating weekends, either on-campus or online.

CONTACT US

LEARN MORE

MSTC@mccombs.utexas.edu

TexasMSTC.org

Entrepreneurship in the U.S. Princeton Review 2018

/ TexasMSTC

N E WS : D I V E R S I T Y & I N C LU S I O N

A SENSE OF BELONGING TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF CORPORATE HIRING — AND TO MEET THE CURRENT MOMENT — McCOMBS WORKS TO CULTIVATE A MORE REPRESENTATIVE STUDENT BODY AND FACULTY MEET TAYLOR S. BROWN, the face of a changing culture at McCombs. Brown, a solutions consultant associate for NetSuite, will join McCombs’ part-time faculty in January 2021. At 25, she is part of a new initiative aimed at encouraging more Black and Latinx professionals to apply for teaching positions at the school.

As a recent graduate of McCombs, Brown, BBA ’17, MPA ’18, also reflects progress the school is making to enroll underrepresented students of color.

Interim Dean Lillian Mills emphasizes the urgency of enhancing inclusion at McCombs across all levels. “I thought the biggest rock I would have to lift is opening the campus during the coronavirus pandemic,” Mills says. “Then George Floyd was killed in May, and that created a greater resonance on racial justice. A wider cross section of our society is tuned in.”

That cross section includes corporate America, says Janet Huang, senior assistant dean for career management and corporate relations at McCombs.

“Every company I have spoken with over the summer has had a heightened focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” says Huang, who has seen an increase in the number of companies that want to partner with McCombs on diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and efforts.

“They are taking a hard and honest look at their hiring and talent development practices, and are focused on bringing in more diverse talent from undergraduate and graduate programs.”

During the past five years, while maintaining its high caliber of incoming students and seeing four-year graduation rates steadily rise, McCombs has also succeeded in increasing its enrollment of underrepresented minority students — particularly Black and Latinx — to its highest rates ever. Consider that Black,

10 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

Latinx, and Native Americans made up only 19.6% of McCombs’ 2016 freshman class. Fast forward to this year in which those groups make up 29.6% of first-year students. During the past five years, Black enrollments jumped to 6.15% this year from 2.8% of freshmen in fall 2016. Latinx student enrollment has grown to 23.49% from 16.7%.

That big bump has energized Mills. “This is the largest class of underrepresented minorities over the past five years,” she says. “These are exceptional Black and Latinx students

who have multiple schools chasing them with significant scholarships.”

Attracting students of color is a national problem, according to the AACSB International, the organization that accredits McCombs and other top business schools.

Though not as dramatic as the undergraduate school, the McCombs MBA program has also shown gains. Of 241 first-year MBA students enrolled in fall 2020, 16 are Black and 25 are Latinx, which represents an improvement over five years ago, when the numbers were 10 and 20, respectively.

Helping Mills build a greater sense of belonging is Raji Srinivasan. As the school’s first associate dean for diversity and inclusion, Srinivasan seeks to build consensus for racial equity, heighten awareness among staff and faculty members about implicit and explicit bias, and craft an inclusive environment for faculty members, staffers, and students, including first-generation and low-income students, as well as LGTBQ students and those with disabilities.

Taylor S. Brown, BBA ’17, MPA ’18, will join the faculty this spring as a lecturer in accounting. In high school, Brown attended McCombs’ week-long accounting summer camp — one of several initiatives designed to steer talented students from underrepresented groups toward business careers.

“Dean Mills has told me to be the conscience of the business school,” Srinivasan says. “I take that very seriously and keep pushing. Like the late John Lewis, I am attempting to make ‘good trouble.’ ” A FRESH APPROACH

Mills had barely taken office as interim dean when she championed the idea during the spring of boosting the ranks of Black and Latinx lecturers at McCombs. Because these faculty members are not on the tenure track, there are fewer barriers to hiring them.

McCombs faculty members are predominantly white. Of the 319 professors and lecturers, nine are Black, 17 are Latinx, and two are Native American. New hires for the 2020-21 school year add four Black faculty members (two tenure-track, two lecturers), one Latinx lecturer, and two tenure-track South American faculty members.

Mills says it’s challenging to attract minority tenure-track faculty members, because vacancies don’t often open and the talent pool of Black and Latinx people with doctorates in business is relatively small. That means all elite universities compete for them. To gain traction more quickly, Mills looked to non-tenured lecturer positions. “We realized that minority alumni were not regularly contacting department chairs to investigate teaching here,” Mills says.

So, instead, the school reached out to Black and Latinx professionals in San Antonio and Austin who earned master’s degrees from McCombs, asking whether they would consider being lecturers. Directly soliciting these applications to a position that is open to anyone substantially widens the pool of available talent. So far, Brown, who is African American, and Leigh Edwards, BBA ’09, MPA ’09, who is Latina, have accepted positions as lecturers in accounting.

The immediate benefits are clear: Greater diversity in the teaching corps means more mentors and role models not only for students of color, but also for white students, who benefit from exposure to a more diverse set of professionals.

SHOWING THE BENEFITS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION

Although recruiting Black and Latinx tenure-track faculty members is difficult, given the thin pipeline of minority business school

Leigh Edwards, BBA ’09, MPA ’09, is vice president for business development at Embark and was recently recruited as an accounting lecturer. Rather than just hope for teaching applications from Black and Latinx professionals, McCombs has begun reaching out to local alumni as lecturer positions become available.

doctoral candidates and the heavy competition among top business schools to hire them, there has been more momentum at McCombs in attracting underrepresented students through initiatives, such as summer camps, that bring some of the state’s brightest high school students of color to campus.

To spread the word about those camps, Charles Enriquez, director of student affairs for the BBA program at McCombs, and his team fan out to high schools across Texas. They tell students about the McCombs Future Executive Academy, Discover Yourself in Accounting Majors and Careers (DYNAMC), and Subiendo Academy for Rising Leaders. “A lot of students are told to go to college and there is a big push in STEM, to be engineers. So, we are trying to show them that a business career is a good fit for them,” Enriquez says.

All three camps offer students an all-expenses-paid week at the UT Austin campus.

They learn from top McCombs faculty members and keynote speakers, network with industry professionals, and participate in competitive projects that help them build new skills. Brown, who attended high school in the Dallas area, says her experiences in DYNAMC sold her on McCombs. The friendships and connections she made helped her get through school and beyond, she says. “I had a community from DYNAMC,” she says. “And I had a lot of success by having that community.”

The cost of a degree remains a chief obstacle in recruiting Black and Latinx students, experts

say. But a lack of mentors and a lack of diversity among leaders and faculty members at colleges also hinders efforts. Change, Mills says, takes time, money, and support from donors, faculty, staff, and alumni. But she is diving in.

Her goal is to raise $12 million for a legacy endowment, with the earnings used to provide undergraduate or graduate scholarships.

McCombs, she and others say, loses many qualified minority students to other elite business schools who are offering free or near-free rides.

She says she wants some of what is raised to go to the Texas Exes, because the alumni organization is not bound by court rulings that restrict use of race in awarding scholarships.

That would help level the playing field with elite private universities that are not hindered by such legal restrictions.

McCombs professor John S. Butler, who is Black, says he wants a separate, independent endowment created by the Texas Exes exclusively for Black student scholarships. He is working with the Exes to accomplish that.

Aside from external pressures from corporate America for more Black and Latinx grads — forces that have intensified since George Floyd’s death — Mills and others are driving change internally because, they say, it’s the right thing to do.

“We’re a public institution — a flagship — in the state of Texas,” Mills says. “I want this to be the university where every kid growing up in Texas wants to be. I want them all to feel a sense of belonging.”

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 11

N E WS : T H O U G H T L E A D E R S H I P

WEIGHING IN, IN HEAVY TIMES HOW McCOMBS FACULTY MEMBERS HAVE ADVANCED AND ELEVATED THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION AROUND COVID-19

thought leaders at McCombs anchored the rhetoric with relevant, research-backed insights and solid advice on mitigating the pandemic’s repercussions — f ro m t h e b est way to co m m u n i ca te w i t h st resse d colleagues, to how states and cities can minimize fiscal devastation.

Research news and original editorials from McCombs faculty members made headlines in national outlets such as USA Today, CNN Business, and The Wall Street Journal. Here’s a roundup of what they had to say:

W I T H T H E W O R L D R E E L I N G F R O M THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC,

BAILOUTS ARE SOCIALISM FOR BIG-SPENDING AIRLINES AND CRUISE COMPANIES

Co-written by John M. Griffin, the James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance, this piece appeared in 47 publications, including USA Today on March 20.

“Despite what politicians might tell you, the airplanes and ships of imprudent companies are physical property that will not suddenly disappear. They will fly or sail … hopefully with cheaper prices, better service and different executives. Like a college student sleeping off a hangover, a crisis is a time to sober up by removing debt from the system. It’s not time for another drink.”

12 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

THE WORST WAY TO SHOW GENUINE EMOTION REMOTELY, AND THE BEST

USING MORAL DECISION-MAKING SAVES LIVES DURING A PANDEMIC

Based on research from Assistant Professor of Management Andrew Brodsky, this article was published in Inc. magazine on Aug. 21.

This piece, written by Robert Prentice, professor and chair of the Business, Government, and Society Department, and faculty director of Ethics Unwrapped in the Center for Leadership and Ethics, appeared in USA Today, the Detroit Free Press, and 45 other Gannett newspapers nationwide in early April.

“If you want to communicate an emotion that you are actually feeling — and feel strongly about — you will make a stronger impact if you use a 'media-rich' tool like video or videoconferencing. People perceive faceto-face interactions as more authentic which, in turn, builds trust, loyalty and strengthens relationships.”

“Choosing whether to wash one’s hands or to go out to meet friends seem like the most mundane of decisions, but by imagining the potentially life-threatening impact these actions can have on others, some people will realize that these are truly moral decisions and will act as they know they should.”

NEW MODEL FORECASTS 9 STATES LIKELY TO SEE PEAK IN COVID-19 DEATHS BY END OF APRIL

COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES’ ABILITY TO REPAY MORTGAGES WAS OVERSTATED, STUDY FINDS

W H O S H O U L D R EO P E N F I R ST ? ST U DY PROVIDES GUIDANCE

This quote from Associate Professor of IROM James Scott was broadcast on National Public Radio on May 13.

Published in The Wall Street Journal Aug. 11, this article featured research by Professor of Finance John Griffin and Assistant Professor of Finance Sam Kruger.

Featuring the work of Avinash Collis, Assistant Professor of Information, Risk and Operations Management, this article appeared online in Patch on Aug. 10.

“Thousands of commercial-mortgage borrowers have been struggling to meet payments on their loans in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. But there might be another reason so many are falling behind: aggressive lending practices that overstated borrowers’ ability to repay.”

“In many cases, researchers noted, policymakers have made reasonable decisions about what types of businesses should be open and closed. But there are notable exceptions, including liquor stores, which have been deemed ‘essential services’ despite ranking 20th out of the 26 business types in economic importance but 12th highest in risk.”

FEDS CAN EASE THE FISCAL CRISES OF STATES AND CITIES BY OFFERING LOW-COST BOND INSURANCE

STRATEGIC REDUNDANCY CAN PREVENT COLLAPSE OF SUPPLY CHAINS DURING GLOBAL CRISES

THE PANDEMIC HAS EXPOSED OUR SUPPLY CHAIN’S UNHEALTHY RELIANCE ON CHINA

This piece by Michael Granof, the Ernst & Young Distinguished Centennial Professor of Accounting, appeared in The Hill on May 22.

This article on research by Associate Professor of Management Francisco Polidoro was published in Homeland Security News Wire on June 5.

“What is needed today is a federal program to provide long-term assistance to state and local governments with minimal impact on federal deficits. A federal bond insurance program, in partnership with the private sector, might be just what the doctor ordered.”

“A company, say the researchers, can build multiple branches into its value chain, the string of steps that lead from research and development through manufacturing and sales. When a crisis strikes one branch, the overall chain can keep running. ‘With branching, the idea is to have a kind of redundancy by design. It makes you more resilient. If you wait until your value chain is disrupted, it may be too late,’ Polidoro said.

‘You invest in flexibility before you need it.’”

“If you've seen our model getting more pessimistic over the last, say, seven to 10 days, it's because there's been a notable uptick in mobility patterns around the United States.”

This piece by Distinguished Teaching Professor Prabhudev Konana, the Thomas O. Hicks Endowed Chair and William H. Seay Centennial Professor of Business, appeared in CNN Business on June 5.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed a terrible truth: Our mindless over-reliance on China has led us to no longer have the capacity, the expertise or the manufacturing infrastructure to meet our own nation's needs.”

— Judie Kinonen and Mary Ann Roser

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 13

N E WS : E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P

STUDENT STARTUPS ENTERPRISING UNDERGRADUATES SOLVE PROBLEMS ACROSS CAMPUS AND AROUND THE GLOBE

M

POCKET PUNCH: SMART SELF-DEFENSE

pepper spray, and plastic knuckles, now legal in Texas for self-defense. Pocket Punch was started by Margy McCallum, Megan Doyle, Ashley Raymond, and Danna Tao, all BBA ’20, and civil engineering senior Sydney Marvin. It won the People’s Choice Award in 2019 at the UT DisrupTexas pitch competition and joined the Longhorn Startup and Genesis incubator programs. The young entrepreneurs want Pocket Punch to become a must-have item on and off campus, and they already have 200 students on the waitlist for their product.

Students empower peers with selfdefense device

THE DREAM:

cCOMBS STUDENTS AREN'T WAITING

to graduate. They’re already launching new businesses, tapping university mentors, and funding connections. With the new Entrepreneurship Minor, innovative ideas are flourishing. Although the COVID-19 pandemic hobbled many businesses, these students and recent alumni continue to run and even expand their companies.

To promote student safety, several students pitched Pocket Punch in their marketing class. The 4-in-1 tool arms users with a flashlight, alarm,

“We want people to be prepared — not scared — in any situation,” Raymond says.

The group planned to open preorders in March, but “I was just over-

PANDEMIC PIVOT:

whelmed by all things COVID-19, so a month later, we were still debating: Is now the right time to launch?” Raymond says. “We decided on yes, because everyone was on their phones and computers a lot more. That's what helped us get such a good reaction.”

Although Pocket Punch has yet to choose a manufacturer, Raymond says preorders should still begin shipping this fall, and some small retailers have expressed interest in selling it in their stores.

PLEXUS TECHNOLOGIES: CROWDED CONNECTION Wi-Fi-based technology aims to solve spotty cellphone connectivity in crowds Unreliable wireless service is a source of frustration at festivals, ballgames, conferences, and even ski resorts. Jake Johnson, BBA ’20, Casey Roberts, MBA ’19, and human dimensions of organizations senior James McElroy worked with live-events producer C3 Presents and saw the challenge firsthand at music festival Lollapalooza. The result? Plexus, a private, Wi-Fi-based network that provides cellular connection in crowded areas. The trio plan to license their limited-data technology for use in music festival apps and beyond.

“We aim to improve user experience and, more important, create a safer environment for all events and locations,” Johnson says.

THE DREAM:

With the pandemic shutting down events where Plexus could be used, the

PANDEMIC PIVOT:

14 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

cause Krishan is going to medical school. “We really used this time to learn to create a system and to adapt and to be flexible,” Koushalya says.

“It's really helped us develop our workflow. We were all going to be in different areas as of next year anyway.”

MANDA’S GARDEN: FLOWER POWER Two students pamper the skin with plants

team hit the hold button. Roberts and Johnson focused on personal matters, and McElroy says he is improving his coding skills to upgrade the company once live events return. “I'm the CEO and I started it, so I am taking this as investing a lot of time and money into it to try and eventually get to the point where I know it can be successful,” McElroy says.

HIPR: EASING ULCERS Siblings patent a cushion to aid those with skin ulcers A family member’s spinal injury illuminated a little-known problem for Koushalya Sachdev, BBA ’20, and Krishan Sachdev, B.A. ’19. The siblings enlisted a few UT peers, and the result is HiPR Innovation, the first reactive, pressure-relieving cushion. It prevents skin ulcers by redistributing pressure across the patient’s seat.

“This is not a disease, it’s a simple problem,” Koushalya says. “Our mission is to improve the lives of everyone affected, using the hardware and software components in our product.”

THE DREAM:

PANDEMIC PIVOT: With a U.S. patent, the team hopes to enter the market by next spring, as long as COVID-19 does not delay testing by physical therapy centers and hospitals. With support from programs including the student-alumni venture fund Genesis and the Student Entrepreneurship Accelerator and Launch summer program, they are focused on winning grants, meeting investors, and testing for clinical effectiveness. “We're not getting as quick of responses from hospitals and physicians, because they're so busy,” Koushalya says.

Another challenge was learning how to work together remotely, which was inevitable be-

’

Michael Neiswander and Albion Zogaj, both BBA ’21, are harnessing an exotic flower to create skin care products. Inspired by Neiswander’s mother, who used ice to treat eye puffiness, and Zogaj’s mother, who used the Japanese gold osmanthus flower, they created an eye mask that combines cold-activated relief with the flower’s anti-inflammatory properties.The founders bootstrapped Manda’s Garden, connecting with sources in Asia for product insights, partnering with manufacturers, and traveling to local conventions to sell the product. Since hitting the market in November 2019, the company’s founders have a full line of products. They are focusing on marketing online, increasing funding, and sharing their brand and mission.

THE DREAM: “We hope to spread this product as far as possible, while being able to give back to the communities we get it from,” Neiswander says.

PANDEMIC PIVOT: After the pandemic shut

down in-person gatherings in March, the pair noticed a decrease in orders. Zogaj said they were also concerned people may be xenophobic toward an Asian brand because COVID-19 originated in China.

The two do the packaging, so Zogaj said they started donning gloves and face masks to ensure the products were sanitary. Although new customer acquisition dropped and conventions went virtual, Zogaj says they’re staying afloat.

“Luckily, our customers from before were pretty loyal to us, and we were getting repeat orders from people who have tried us and liked it.”

With reporting from Jessica Regan

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 15

Accelerating Value-Based Health Care At The University of Texas at Austin’s Value Institute for Health and Care, we focus on improving health outcomes that matter most to patients, relative to the cost of providing care.

Learn how to create and lead value-based health care services The Value Institute offers unique interactive programs for health care professionals—providing the tools, real-world insight, and innovative curriculum that enable providers to transform health care delivery.

Master of Science in Health Care Transformation • One-year graduate program • Flexible schedule for full-time professionals • Combines online and onsite learning • Learn more: mccombs.utexas.edu/ Health-Care-Transformation Virtual Executive Education • Short-term professional education programs • Learn tools and real-world insights from health care leaders • CME credit through Dell Medical School • Learn more: valueinstitute.utexas.edu/ executive-education.

Contact us at (512) 495-5878 or valueinstitute@dellmed.utexas.edu. @UTexasValue Value Institute for Health and Care at UT Austin

RESEARCH

WINTER 2020

PANDEMIC PREDICTOR JAMES SCOTT APPLIES STATISTICAL EXPERTISE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS ISING CORONAVIRUS DEATHS

in Texas. That’s what IROM Professor James Scott began expecting back in May. Scott had co-developed a statistical model to forecast COVID-19 mortality in all 50 U.S. states and dozens of metro areas, examining social distancing behaviors using anonymized geolocation data from tens of millions of cellphones. And he could see the danger increasing after Texas began relaxing its restrictions on businesses and public gatherings.

“It’s like Bob Dylan said: You don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” he told National Geographic. For his expertise, Scott has also been quoted in Bloomberg and NPR, and the model has been provided to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. His work is proof of the real-world, life-or-death role statistics can play during a pandemic.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 17

RESEARCH: BIG IDEAS

IT ONLY TAKES SECONDS TO ALERT FACEBOOK USERS TO FAKE NEWS AMID A PANDEMIC AND A CONTENTIOUS POLITICAL CLIMATE, CURBING MISINFORMATION IS URGENT

by Mary Ann Roser THE INFORMATION AGE, IT’S THE

abundance of misinformation that worries Texas McCombs researcher Tricia Moravec.

Moravec, an assistant professor of information, risk, and operations management, studies fake news and ways to help Facebook users spot it more easily. In a new paper, Moravec and her co-authors, Antino Kim and Alan R. Dennis of Indiana University, found that two simple interventions, especially when used together, have a strong effect on helping people discern real from fake news.

The first intervention was a stop sign icon. The second was a strong statement, “Declared fake by third party fact-checkers.” Both were effective, but when combined, they were almost twice as powerful in spotlighting fake news.

“This could be a great step in helping that,” Moravec says. She believes the timing is urgent.

As a politically divided nation geared up for the November presidential election amid the relentless COVID-19 pandemic and protests about racial injustice, 2020 looks to be the biggest year yet for spreading fake news. Along with Russian bots and online trolls, ordinary Americans are big spreaders of fake news on social media, often unwittingly. Many users have a hard time ferreting out truth from falsehood, says Moravec.

“Ideally, we would see all the social media platforms use some type of flag for misinformation with a brief statement to nudge people to think more critically,” says Moravec.

18 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

AN EFFECTIVE COMBO

The researchers focused on social media because that’s where more than 60% of adults get their news, with Facebook being the world’s most used platform.

Moravec has already shown how readily Facebook users were beguiled by fake news. In a study published last fall, her team tested whether Facebook’s fake news flag was effective at getting users to spot misinformation. The team had participants wear a wireless electroencephalography headset to measure their brain activity while they read real and fake political news headlines. The participants identified false information correctly just 44% of the time and overwhelmingly deemed political headlines to be “correct” when the headlines matched their own beliefs.

That’s a problem for a democracy, Moravec says. Would a stronger warning about false information be more effective at helping Facebook users identify fake news? That’s what Moravec and her two colleagues wanted to find out in this newest study.

They first tested the stop sign icon and fake news statement for one second and five seconds.

One second is enough time to elicit an automatic gut reaction; five seconds can capture the effect of critical thinking. That was accompanied by brief training, which was a short announcement explaining the warnings. The researchers then tested the stop sign and statement together, with users being trained partway through the study. Finally, to better understand the train-

ing’s effect, some participants received training; others did not.

An icon and statement by themselves were effective without any training, but the combined intervention with the training was the most effective.

“It was eye-opening,” Moravec says of the effect.

“Even we were surprised with just how effective the combination was.”

The researchers did not compare the willingness of Democrats versus Republicans to share fake news, but other studies have found that while both sides are susceptible, conservatives are more likely to believe it and share it.

ATTEMPTS BY FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Misinformation has been around forever, Moravec says, but social media has made it worse. The trend accelerated during the 2016 election, and the COVID-19 crisis has furthered the fake news epidemic.

Although Facebook in December 2016 started using an icon and brief warning statement to flag fake news, Facebook took it down about a year later. Moravec says Facebook did not do training with users to help them better understand the warning and the statement, “Disputed by third party fact-checkers.” That statement was not entirely clear and may have confused users, she says.

Moravec says the company’s decision to abandon the flagging approach was premature. “Given the varied research that shows that flagging misinformation is helpful, it seems like it would be more productive to test another iteration rather than give up completely,” she says.

Facebook says it now uses technology and fact-checkers to identify false information and moves the information lower in the news feed so it’s less likely to be seen. Facebook also says that people who repeatedly share false news “will see their distribution reduced and their ability to advertise removed.”

In addition, Facebook on Aug. 5 deleted a post from President Donald Trump linking to a video in which Trump says children are “virtually immune” to COVID-19. Facebook said the post violated rules about posting misinformation about COVID-19, according to Politico. The news site also reported that Twitter directed that the post be deleted before the user could tweet again. By that evening, the video link was dead.

For more stories based on faculty research and insights from Texas McCombs, visit Big Ideas at https://medium.com/texas-mccombs

W I N T ER 2020

Facebook users overwhelmingly said that headlines conforming with their preexisting beliefs were true, regardless of whether they were flagged as potentially fake.

Twitter, meanwhile, has begun using labels and warning messages.

“Twitter has been doing a much better job than Facebook at managing misinformation, since they actively flag misleading information,” Moravec says. “It is a good step that Facebook is taking to demote misinformation and punish repeat offenders, but based on the misinformation I have seen about COVID-19 on Facebook, I do not think their efforts are effective in managing misinformation on their platform.”

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y S J O E R D VA N L E E U W E N

THE FAKE NEWS LANDSCAPE

Having a U.S. president who declares news he disagrees with as “fake” is undermining legitimate news, Moravec says. With the pandemic raging, “How much could it have helped if Facebook had a flag on false COVID-19 information?” she says. “Even if it didn’t work for everyone, at least getting some people to change or critically consider some health information is progress.”

Moravec also is concerned about other countries using Facebook to influence future elec-

tions. Facebook could help users avoid being fooled by providing a better tool, such as the combined approach she and her team tested, she says.

“I think it’s ready for prime time,” she says. “At the very least, Facebook needs to try it.”

“Appealing to Sense and Sensibility: System 1 and System 2 Interventions for Fake News on Social Media” is published in Information Systems Research.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

19

RESEARCH: BIG IDEAS though it seems easy, it can hurt interpersonal outcomes where emotions are involved.

Many businesses no longer even have dedicated telephone lines, so employees may be forced into situations where they’re perceived as emotionally inauthentic. It’s wise to allow employees a breadth of means through which to interact so they can choose the best technology to fit the task.

COMMUNICATING EMOTION EFFECTIVELY IN A VIRTUAL WORLD KEEPING CLOSE TIES AT WORK IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT — AND DIFFICULT. BUT RESEARCH SHOWS IT’S POSSIBLE EVEN IN A VIRTUAL WORKPLACE

by Judie Kinonen

MANY OF US USE EMAIL WITHOUT MUCH THOU GHT. WHAT DID YOU R RESE ARCH REVEAL ABOUT TYPOS?

If there’s emotion in an email — for example, we studied anger and joy — typos will amplify it, because it looks like the messenger is so emotional that he’s not thinking clearly.

On the other hand, if there’s a typo but there’s no emotion being expressed in the email, the reader just assumes the person is either careless

“Most people

break room is just a fond memory for many Americans now working from home in the time of the new coronavirus. Almost overnight, workplace relationships have become much more dependent on technology, even as tensions surrounding health, the economy, and racial discrimination make staying emotionally connected imperative. But how?

Andrew Brodsky, assistant professor of management at Texas McCombs, has some suggestions. In a pair of new papers, Brodsky examines how our communication medium can represent —or misrepresent —our emotions.

DVD they clearly broke, we still needed to smile and apologize for the issue. As part of any job, we’re expected to display certain emotions — to be kind, caring, and supportive with customers and colleagues, even if you’re not feeling the underlying emotions. So, sometimes you need to be inauthentic, but it’s not always a bad thing — it’s good to smile for customers even though you’re stressed. But it’s also very difficult to keep those underlying emotions from leaking through in your communication, and the literature shows that customers and co-workers will punish you if they perceive that you’re being inauthentic, even if it’s for a good reason.

default to email – but I'd be very careful about that.

Even though it seems easy, it can hurt interpersonal outcomes where emotions are involved.”

WHAT’S BEING LOST AS WE MOVE MORE WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION ONLINE?

YOU COMPARED FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION, TELEPHONE, AND EMAIL COMMUNICATION. WHAT’S THE BEST CHOICE?

or unintelligent. So, we’re given somewhat more latitude to make mistakes in emotional emails than we would otherwise.

Normally when we write an email, we assume the other person is going to interpret it the way we have in our mind. But other people are working from a different set of assumptions, so it’s important to be mindful of their perception.

HATTING OVER DONUTS IN THE

There’s research that shows that via chat or email, people tend to schmooze less. So a lot of small talk is just lost virtually, which is a problem because so many relationships are built is through that small talk.

YOUR LATEST RESEARCH LOOKS AT EMOTIONAL LABOR. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS?

My first job was as a video store clerk, and I learned that even if someone was returning a

20 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

My key finding is that when you’re conflicted in your emotions and you know some of that conflict might leak through if you meet in person, it’s better to use the telephone. When the emotion you are trying to convey is authentic, it’s better to meet in person. Then regardless of if you’re authentic or inauthentic, email tends to be perceived as inauthentic. Most people default to email — but I’d be very careful about that. Even

IN THE VIRTUAL WORKPLACE, MANY OF US ARE RELYING ON NEW TOOLS LIKE ZOOM, BUT NOT ALWAYS HAPPILY.

W I N T ER 2020

Many businesses today are eliminating dedicated phone lines for employees, but that is a bad idea, says Andrew Brodsky, an assistant professor of management.

I have some early-stage data that shows that people experience anxiety when a communication medium is new, and they also often will perceive that it’s worse just because it’s different — and that anxiety can cause us to undermine ourselves unknowingly. Then there’s also this learning and adjustment process, where we’re shifting all our habits, and that too can be really disruptive. Also, notably Zoom has been in the press because it had some stumbles, and this is true for any company that had this kind of exponential growth, but now we’ve seen improvement.

We’re seeing a lot of efforts to go above and beyond email gaining prominence. I’m doing

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y M A R I N A M U U N

some separate studies about video emailing, where you record personalized videos and insert them into your email. There’s a company called BombBomb, and it was designed for real estate agents and sales professionals, because they wanted to offer a touch experience to their customers without constantly having to arrange meetings.

WITH THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND RECENT PROTESTS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THAT CAN BE APPLIED AT WORK?

These changes have drawn attention to things that people took for granted previously. People

are becoming much more focused on being kind to co-workers or customers who might be dealing with difficulties in their life. There have been complications, but now people’s attentions are drawn to the need to be emotionally supportive at work, and they’re seeking ways to be more mindful about how to do that.

“Virtual Surface Acting in Workplace Interactions: Choosing the Best Technology to Fit the Task” is online in The Journal of Applied Psychology, and “Beyond the Emoticon: Are There Unintentional Cues of Emotion in Email?” is online in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

21

& PASSION

PURPOSE

KEVIN CURRY, BBA ’04, FOUND HIS DIRECTION AND DESTINY WITH HIS HEALTH AND NUTRITION BRAND, FITMENCOOK

by Alberta Phillips photographs by Jeff Wilson

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 27

KEVIN CURRY’S DECISION TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR stemmed from a real-life scenario similar to the common anxiety dream: You show up for the final exam completely unprepared in a class you inexplicably neglected. ¶ Certainly, there were signs that Curry, BBA Business Honors ’04, was headed to a dramatic reckoning. ¶ In 2012, he was answering questions from a food blog he started as a hobby a year earlier to “save his diet” and improve his fitness. Readers were flocking to it. The problem was he felt pulled to engage with them while on a work call with his employer, Dell.

“I remember thinking at the time that something would have to give,” Curry says.

His blog, FitMenCook, had become a passion project for his new interest in wellness and was supplanting his desire for a corporate job that had once seemed ideal in the way it blended his zeal for marketing with social media. The tipping point came a year later, as he drove to Austin from Dallas, where he worked from home, for a meeting with his Dell colleagues.

Instead of arriving the night before as usual, Curry dashed out that morning and arrived just minutes before the meeting started. He hopped out of his car but couldn’t find his work bag in the back seat or trunk.

“I was mortified,” he says. “The only thing I brought with me was my gym bag and lunch. I forgot my work bag with my laptop — everything.

I thought, ‘How in the world would I explain that

24 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

I’m here for a meeting to present all this stuff and I don’t even have my laptop?’”

That wake-up call sped his decision to become his own boss. He still keeps the message he sent to his social media followers the day he took the leap: “Today I did something radical. I quit my job,” he posted Jan. 20, 2014, on Instagram. “I walked away from a great-paying job with amazing benefits because of two things: passion and purpose.”

Curry was 33, but he had discovered that, somewhat effortlessly, he had struck a chord with hundreds, then thousands, of others on the same journey to better health. He had amassed nearly half a million followers on Instagram, no small feat when the platform was relatively new.

Since then, he has racked up a string of successes, including a best-selling 2018 cookbook and a top-selling FitMenCook app that consis-

tently ranks in the top three apps in the food and drink category in over 80 countries. It has more than 7,000 five-star reviews on the Apple App Store.

As founder of Dallas-based FitMenCook, Curry continues to write and develop recipes and sell new products for an emerging sector of his business, The Fit Cook. His first product, a line of spice blends, is among the top-grossing seasonings on Amazon.

In addition to tending a growing online community of more than 2 million followers, Curry has made his way into American homes with regular appearances on “Live! With Kelly and Ryan,” the “Rachael Ray Show,” “Today,” and “Good Morning America.” He has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Men’s Health, Guideposts, Self, and Shape magazine. He even got to work with then-first lady Michelle Obama on her Let’s Move! campaign through the Partnership for a Healthier America, still one of his favorite projects.

ONE OF THE 2.2% As a Black business owner, Curry is in rare company. Though Black Americans make up P H OTO G R A P H S B Y J E F F W I L S O N

13% of the population, they owned just 2.2% of the nation’s 5.7 million businesses with at least one paid employee in 2017, according to the Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey.

That number is expected to shrink as the COVID-19 pandemic shutters more businesses. At the same time, the Black Lives Matter movement is drawing attention to the plight of Black businesses and inequities across all aspects of society.

Even before the public’s heightened awareness of such matters, Curry had incorporated diversity practices into his business.

“Diversity and inclusion are topics our team has addressed with potential and current partners,” Curry explains. “A company’s ongoing commitment to representation is especially important if the brand historically hasn’t worked with people who look like me.”

He says he is “blessed” not only to maintain his business but to grow it. He plans to expand into a new line of wellness teas this fall, along with several new spice blends and kitchen products in 2021. In January, he’ll leap into meal preparation to sell online, just in time to help with those New Year’s resolutions to lose weight.

“TODAY I DID SOMETHING RADICAL. I QUIT MY JOB,” HE POSTED JAN. 20, 2014, ON INSTAGRAM. “I WALKED AWAY FROM A GREAT-PAYING JOB WITH AMAZING BENEFITS BECAUSE OF TWO THINGS: PASSION AND PURPOSE.” Though Curr y didn’t lea rn to cook at McCombs, he did learn the marketing, management, finance, and technical skills to turn a former hobby into a successful business. His most beneficial lessons weren’t all in a classroom.

Running a business so heavily reliant on social media, he says, “can be overwhelming.”

It was the rigor, pace, and environment of the Business Honors Program at McCombs that “prepared me for the unique challenges and added pressure of being under a microscope,” he says.

At McCombs, Curry says he learned multitasking skills that prepared him for a competitive, diverse environment. “I was working in groups with people from different backgrounds, juggling tight project deadlines, and making sure my communications were effective and meaningful.”

HOW HE DID IT Success came in stages for Curry, who benefitted from timing, social media trends, and bootstrapping.

He started blogging to get free advice for controlling his weight from a lifestyle of business travel, late hours at work, attending client lunches and happy hours, and eating lavish

McCOMBS MAGA ZINE LIVE

Hear more from Kevin Curry and fellow McCombs alum and entrepreneur Mandy Price, co-founder and CEO of Kanarys, in a recent virtual conversation, “Straight Talk on Black Entrepreneurship." Look for it on the McCombs YouTube channel.

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 25

KEVIN CURRY:

BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR HOME TOWN Dallas

EDUCATION

UT Austin, BBA Business Honors ’04, and BA ’04 Hispanic Studies Harvard Kennedy School, Master’s in Public Policy

FIRST JOB

Risk management associate, KPMG, 2004-2008

CAREER MOVES

Social media manager, Dell 2010-2014 Management development associate (fellow), City of Dallas 2009-2010

FOUNDER

meals. He was gaining and losing weight in cycles and feeling bad about his appearance.

“Your health easily can take a back seat to your ambition,” he says. “I posted every single thing I was eating. It wasn’t tied to get ting revenue, but just to save my ow n health and wellness.”

At t hat t ime, few people were sha ring healthy recipes and tips on Instagram. His posts, along with his personal journey to better health, resonated.

Engagement blew up, prompting Instagram to promote Curry’s content on its “Popular Page,”

26 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

which Curry says helped many people to find it. In turn, more people shared it, and more followers arrived.

By sharing content on Instagram and Facebook, “I turned them into my own type of blog,” he says. “I wasn’t a chef. I was just a guy clumsily putting things together, trying to lose weight and feel better. And people could see themselves inside that story.”

Some of his posts, including a healthy banana split made with Greek yogurt, went viral. His account exploded, going from 10,000 followers in November 2012, about three months after he

started his blog, to over 100,000 by February 2013.

That’s when he started monetizing it. Initially, Curry says, it didn’t occur to him that he could make a living off his blogging until a small brand approached him about making recipes using its product. Afterwards, he began making deals with other small brands and using some of his savings to grow the business.

He had proved himself to be a credible voice, learning about nutrition and fitness the same way he had learned business management: by studying, and by trial and error. On a tight budget, he bought and devoured second-hand ART BY FIRST LASTNAME

CREDIT TK

FitMenCook, 2012-present

“TO SOME DEGREE, FITMENCOOK HELPED SAVE MY LIFE BECAUSE I ALWAYS FELT DISCONNECTED FROM THE VALUE I WAS CREATING IN THE WORLD. FITMENCOOK GAVE ME THAT. PEOPLE WERE EMAILING ME, SAYING ‘I TRIED THIS,’ OR ‘I LOST FIVE POUNDS.’” books. He also got advice from experts, who responded to his posts.

Bigger deals followed with more brands and media companies, such as Men’s Health and Bodybuilding.com, taking his content and sending it out to massive audiences. Media syndicates came knocking: eHow and Tastemade, among them. Curry generated content for those popular platforms and their global audiences.

A WORLD VIE W

CREDIT TK

Curry embraced those global ties. His world view had expanded at McCombs.

As a 1999 graduate of DeSoto High School in the Dallas area, Curry initially planned to become a missionary, even though he had graduated in the top 5% of his class. That decision mostly was driven by financial concerns, but also Christian values central to his family and a desire to travel. That financial hurdle was removed when Curry got a scholarship to attend The University of Texas at Austin.

At UT, he met students from around the world, enhancing his curiosity about other languages and cultures. He took a year off to study in Ecuador, living with local families and honing his Spanish, which he speaks nearly fluently. That experience inspired translating his company’s food videos into Spanish and helping people with ailments such as diabetes, which Curry notes disproportionately affects people of color.

Curry earned two undergraduate degrees, in business management information systems at McCombs and Hispanic studies at the College of Liberal Arts. His Plan 1 thesis was “Vestiges of African Dialects in Afro Ecuadorian Spanish,“ because, he says, he noticed Black Ecuadorians sounded like Black Cubans and Dominicans, cutting off the ends of words ART BY FIRST LASTNAME

in conversation. “That piqued my curiosity. I wanted to see if there were any patterns or inferences that could be made regarding language and the diaspora.”

After graduating in 2004, Curry worked at KPMG in risk management. He then went on to graduate school from 2006 to 2008, earning a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

GR APPLING WITH DEPRESSION At Harvard, Curry realized he suffered from depression — and had since childhood. Now it was getting worse. Boston’s seasonal changes were more extreme than what he had been used to, and Curry immersed himself in the city’s pub culture. Drinking heavily, he started gaining and losing weight, he says.

When the economic bust hit in 2008, Curry, newly graduated but unemployed and fresh out of an unsuccessful relationship, headed back to his family home in Texas, where he wrestled with alcoholism and thoughts of self-harm.

He saw a therapist and got on medication, which helped restore him mentally, physically, and professionally. He found work through a fellowship at the Dallas City Manager’s Office of Cultural Affairs and got hired at Dell in 2012, first as a contractor and then as its social media manager.

“I became the young kid sitting with the C-suite executives, explaining why social media is the new way of communicating with our clients,” he says.

Ultimately, food and fitness healed him, ending his medication use and turning his life around, he says.

“To some degree, FitMenCook helped save my life because I always felt disconnected from the value I was creating in the world. FitMenCook gave me that. People were emailing me, saying ‘I tried this,’ or ‘I lost five pounds.’”

He says he still remembers that early blog post that brought a big connection.

“Hey, I saw your recipe,” a woman wrote. “Just had it over here for dinner. Cheers from Sweden.”

“I thought, ‘Wow! I just helped someone from Sweden have a healthier dinner.’”

BECOMING A CELEBRIT Y Clint Tuttle, a senior lecturer at McCombs, says he never envisioned his friend reaching celebrity status back when they were in business school together. After all, Curry was the down-to-earth guy who played pranks and made

people laugh. Even then, however, Curry displayed his authenticity, Tuttle says.

“When you think of these people who are influencers ... this persona that he projects is the exact same person he is,” Tuttle says. “It’s not surprising he has become so famous. He just wakes up, turns the camera on, and everybody likes it.”

In growing his brand and rolling out new products, Curry took on a business partner, Donald Short, a former international CEO for The Coca-Cola Co. “Getting him on board to help structure and advise has been extremely helpful,” Curry says.

Short says he knew when they met in 2018 at one of Curry’s book signings that Curry had the right stuff to be his own brand: a loyal following; curiosity about all things food, fitness, and business; and charisma. Together, they launched “The Fit Cook” in 2019, starting with the spice blends. “Kevin brings the energy to the party,” Short says. “His business was built organically by a young man who was curious and would share with his followers.”

Curry sees more opportunities in the country’s social justice movement in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.

“This is a tremendous moment for us,” says Curry. “The amount of unrest, and particularly that the calls for justice around the world are not coming just from folks who look exactly like me — that gives me hope that this time will be different.”

Like so many Americans, Curry is ready to be done with 2020 — a year that made Anthony Fauci and Breonna Taylor household names. This year also saw the tragic deaths of two towering figures in the Black community, sports icon Kobe Bryant and film star Chadwick Boseman, aka “The Black Panther.”

“Kobe shocked me, but Chadwick hurt me,” he says. “Chadwick was the first time I saw someone who looks like me as a superhero in a blockbuster film. To know he was battling cancer, carrying all that while giving us so much — he literally was a real-life hero.”

Curry holds that and other lessons close as he inspires and shares with others. His advice for emerging Black entrepreneurs: “Stay the course.

I didn’t realize initially how persistent and tenacious you have to be when you have a company.”

And, he says, “Sometimes being in the same place doesn’t mean you are stagnant, but rather growing something. Sometimes you just have to stay planted wherever you are."

Curry is planted precisely where he wants to be.

Alberta Phillips is an Austin-based independent journalist, who formerly worked for the Austin American-Statesman as a reporter, columnist, and editorial writer.

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 27

INSIGHTS, CHALLENGES, AND ENCOURAGEMENT FROM BLACK ENTREPRENEURS WHO CHARTED THEIR OWN PATHS AFTER THEIR TIME AT McCOMBS

by Alberta Phillips | illustration by Matthew Cooper

JOHN SIBLEY BUTLER COMES FROM A LONG LINE OF

M A N DY P R I C E : LO R I W I LS O N

African American entrepreneurs. Virtually every Butler dating to the early 1900s, he says, was a business founder and landowner.

So it’s not surprising that when Butler, a professor of management at Texas McCombs who holds the J. Marion West Chair for Constructive Capitalism, came to UT Austin 46 years ago, he was deeply interested in entrepreneurship. He had seen the transformative impact of private ownership, innovation, and self-reliance in his own life.

But back in the 1970s when Butler came to Texas, the business school focused on the same subjects most of its peers emphasized: accounting, finance, marketing, and management.

To the extent that entrepreneurship existed at all at UT, it was relegated to mentions in textbooks, mostly in psychology, sociology, and economics.

Butler became a big part of changing that.

He is among several trailblazers who helped build and shape entrepreneurship into one of the business school’s signatures. A reputation for entrepreneurship has “changed the entire opportunity structure of Austin, creating a ‘technopolis’ with great opportunities,” says Butler, faculty director of the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs.

Texas Venture Labs brings in startups from the Austin community to connect with UT graduate students, faculty members, and other resources that can help improve and strengthen new businesses. Through that program and others at UT, Butler has collaborated with startups and mentored hundreds of students of all races and ethnicities.

As the racial justice movement sweeps across all areas of American life, from business to education, Butler sees renewed urgency—and opportunities—to help African Americans fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams. “What I see now, all of a sudden, is people want to do something to help Black entrepreneurs,” he says.

And ownership, Butler says, continues to be a pathway to financial independence, particularly for African Americans. “When you are successful, it lifts up everything.”

McCombs Magazine spoke with five Black McCombs alumni entrepreneurs about their experiences. Their responses follow and were condensed and lightly edited.

Mandy Price

 MAN DY PRICE Co-founder and CEO of Kanarys, a technology platform that fosters collaboration between companies and employees to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace Dallas, BBA ’03 Business Honors Choosing McCombs: As a high school student, I knew I wanted to pursue business, but at the time, I didn’t realize the strength and rigor of the McCombs School. I chose McCombs because I got a full scholarship from the Terry Foundation. McCombs has been a great supporter. I’m on the BBA Advisory Board and the Values Ambassador Chair, and they have been extremely encouraging to me throughout my career.

Kanarys started with McCombs and UT grads.

They were our first employees.

Why you’re an entrepreneur: Like most people, I am driven by passion. When I was practicing law, I was on my firm’s diversity committee, and I saw firsthand the way organizations struggled to bring up these issues. I wanted to create those long-term feedback loops by helping employees collectively voice what they are facing.

Biggest challenges: The challenges I faced as a student are similar to those I faced in the workplace. It’s heartening to know that the Business Honors Program now has a Black

affinity group. But many (Black students) are talking about the same things as when I was there, like being overlooked for team projects by peers who view students as less capable or qualified.

Starting a woman-led business, and in particular, a women-of-color-led business, has been incredibly difficult. According to PitchBook, women raised 2.3% of venture capital money in 2018; Black women raised only 0.06% of VC funding.

A successful entrepreneur has … Tenacity.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. You not only are making sacrifices for your business, but also for your employees. There are many sleepless nights, many days when we’ve had to find a way out of no way. You have to keep pushing on.

Facing racial judgments: There have been many incidents. At my former law firm during a client meeting, a fellow partner referred to me as the “diverse partner”—and not the firm’s expert in private equity. He didn’t think anything was wrong with that.

Best advice: It’s a mistake when people believe only individuals with power can make a change. Change can begin at every level, even from the ground up. I’m very encouraged with what I’m seeing at McCombs with diversity and inclusion. McCombs is thinking about these issues from a systematic approach.

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 29

Paul Pine

 PAU L PIN E Co-founder of Crayon Industries, which designs and builds websites and apps San Francisco, MBA ’12 Choosing McCombs: When I decided to get my MBA, Austin as a town was on my short list.

Right from the start McCombs was a combination of laid back, warm, and open to anybody.

I look back now and I know it was the right choice. Austin was a tech-forward town with a lot of folks from around the country and world.

I’d pick that school a hundred times again without blinking.

Why you’re an entrepreneur: It has to be my dad, who no longer is with us. In the 1980s he and another guy went into business, doing telephone work for schools in Greenville County (South Carolina). My dad was old school, typing up invoices at the end of the day. I saw all of that.

I met some incredible people at McCombs.

Because of so many genuine connections there, I knew I had enough people in my corner to take some crazy risks, and it would be OK. Not just financially, but emotionally.

Biggest challenges: I don’t know if it was so much a challenge at McCombs, but a challenge with understanding who I was becoming, not just as a working person, but as a member of society. That internal questioning about who I want to be next stays with me—in a good way. At McCombs, I was establishing an identity. Now, every two to three years, I check in to understand if I’m on a trajectory I want to be on.

A successful entrepreneur is …

Hard-headed and stubborn. You are going to get

30 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

slapped a lot by reality, circumstances, timing.

You are going to hit a wall and the answer isn’t, well, I hit a wall. It’s being hard-headed and willing to hustle.

Facing racial judgments: It’s more subtle with me. I’m 6 feet 5 inches and kind of a slender build. It’s always been, ‘Where did you play basketball?’ No damn place. I went to MIT and Stanford—ask me where I learned calculus.

Best advice: Talk to your network. There are people who want to help you. You don’t have to do it by yourself.  BRIAN A . M . WILLIAMS Founder of Wayne and Reed, a venture builder and consultancy that creates startups and revenue- producing products Austin, MBA ’13 Choosing McCombs: The school is highly ranked and has a lot of world-class resources. I like how the teachers were very straightforward and intellectually intense. Those two years at McCombs were the fastest and most intense academic years I experienced: like drinking from a firehose. As for networking, oh, wow.

McCombs is the network that keeps on giving. I use it regularly.

Why you’re an entrepreneur: I’ve always wanted to run my own business. That’s been in me a long time, and why I got my MBA. Biggest challenges: In my class there were four, maybe five Black students. That was challenging, given the intensity of the program. The UT MBA program is one of the best in the world.

So, when you don’t have a strong community

Brian A.M. Williams

I HAVEN’T SEEN A BLACK GRAD STUDENT COME OUT OF UT WITHOUT A SENSE OF PRIDE. THE WORLD HAS A WAY OF TRYING TO SEPARATE US FROM THAT, AND THAT IS PARTICULARLY HARD TO DO WITH McCOMBS GRADS. of folks like you, you don’t have something to balance that intensity.

Within the corporate space, it’s difficult to find the sponsors who can actually advocate for you. There’s also a challenge of resources from the investment community. There are events that bring entrepreneurs together, but they tend not to be entrepreneurs who look like me. Those are spaces where innovation happens. That limits your resources when it comes to innovation.

A successful entrepreneur has …

Flexibility—big time. Also, patience and balance.

Flexibility because the plan is not going to go as planned, but there needs to be a plan. A good entrepreneur can see how to change and when to change. When the plan is changing and that

Michelle Williams

causes anxiety, patience is the answer to that.

Facing racial judgments: Oh, God, yes. I don’t mean to laugh like that. I used to keep a notebook. On the funny side, I went home to Pennsylvania and was getting off the highway, when an officer pulled me over. He went to the University of Oklahoma and I joked that there was no use defending myself because I’m a Longhorn. He had pulled me over for no reason, but we were from rival schools, and that eased those circumstances.

Advice: Stay authentic. I haven’t seen a Black grad student come out of UT without a sense of pride. The world has a way of trying to separate us from that, and that is particularly hard to do with McCombs grads.  MICH E LLE WILLIAMS Founder and CEO of Williams Learning Solutions Inc., which offers an interactive learning platform to raise student achievement in science San Carlos, California, BBA ’92 Choosing McCombs: At the time I was in high school in Dallas, McCombs had an incredible reputation.

Why you’re an entrepreneur: Probably because of my daughter, but also Dr. Butler had a lot to do with it. While I was attending the University of California at Berkeley to earn a Ph.D., a report came out showing U.S. students were behind their peers in science and mathematics globally. We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. How is it that our kids are so far behind other economically developed countries?

I was determined to start my own company. So, I’ve been bootstrapping it.

I was raised by my grandparents. I didn’t grow up in an entrepreneurial family, and frankly I was unaware as to what entrepreneurship even meant. Dr. Butler has been a mentor since the end of my freshman year at UT Austin.

My connection to him and others seeded my thinking in this area.

Biggest challenges: The first semester I worked hard and studied all the time, but I didn’t make the grades I wanted, so I had to figure that out. A McCombs Ph.D. student encouraged me to take a study skills and time management class. As a result, my grades improved significantly.

A successful entrepreneur … Never gives up. This requires motivation and drive. For me, this started at UT and prepared me for who I am today.

Best advice: Follow your dreams and do not be afraid to fail. Pick yourself up and keep going.  LU KE K YO H E RE Founder and chief technology officer at Beyonic, a payments technology company that helps businesses in emerging markets go cashless Washington, D.C., MBA ’13 Choosing McCombs: It’s a unique program.

There are plenty of MBA programs but not a lot that had the tech aspect and early-stage aspect. You learn how to run a business and how to start a business. I loved it. It was a busy year, and most of us were still working.

Luke Kyohere

Why you’re an entrepreneur: The exposure I had to programming. I started writing programming when I was 15. I was moved at how I was able to create something totally new, to write a piece of software that was helpful to you and to others. The person who became a co-founder in 2013, I met at McCombs.

Also, some early investors came through the McCombs network. Without McCombs, I would not have met the network that became a very strong support system for me.

Biggest challenges: I moved to the U.S. around my mid-20s and then it became how to adapt to a different culture. In Uganda, we learn that our work speaks for itself. In the U.S., you have to be loud and speak up. Otherwise, people will pass you by.

A successful entrepreneur… You’ve got to believe in yourself and your idea to persuade others to believe in it. It can get lonely. Doubt creeps in.

That is why your support network is so important.

Facing racial judgments: Black racial profiling happens across the world. I made America my home just eight years ago, and I have a very different story than African Americans who have been here all their lives and are subjected to systemic racism. I’ve been subjected to more routine checks than any of my white colleagues when traveling internationally. Travel agents want to double check my travel documents, check my bags. They want to confirm twice that I have TSA precheck.

Best advice: Reach out, because when we do that, there are a lot of people who can help, teach, and mentor. If you can run so far on your own, you can run farther with someone by your side.

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 31

THE McCOMBS RESPONSE NECESSITY CLOSES SCHOOL’S CLASSROOMS AND GIVES BIRTH TO INNOVATIONS

32 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

by Matt W. Turner | illustration by Michael Driver

HEN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC SHOWED up at The University of Texas at Austin in March — on Friday the 13th, no less — change was swift.

The campus shuttered. Spring break was extended. And professors had two weeks to become proficient in online teaching.

It’s not that online learning was anything new.

McCombs’ M.S. in Technology Commercialization Program had been livestreaming courses for years. The global nonprofit EdX, founded

by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had offered hundreds of online classes, including UT courses, since 2012. But for the overwhelming majority of classes at Texas and across the nation, what was seen at best as the bugbear of the Digital Age, and at worst the bête noire of education, was suddenly the new normal. Many professors had never taught an online class. A revolution in instructional innovation was at hand, and it would change not only how we teach, but what we teach, and even to whom we teach it.

Several years ago, with foresight, then-dean and now UT Austin President Jay Hartzell appointed Prabhudev Konana, Distinguished Teaching Professor and the William H. Seay Centennial Professor of Business, as McCombs’ first associate dean for instructional innovation.

As the pandemic raged and in-class learning was halted for the spring and summer semesters, Konana brought together his colleagues and

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 33

media services staff to create 30 workshops on mastering Zoom and the best practices for online instruction. Some of these were attended by as many as 200 McCombs faculty members, who joined in a common cause to share their experiences and practice with one another.

McCombs’ instructional videos were posted online and became a go-to for faculty members.

Media staffers worked nights and weekends, upgrading 60 classrooms to enable hybrid classes for the fall (part in-person, part remote), improving cameras, projectors, and sound systems, while providing faculty members with iPads or touch-screen laptops as needed.

Remarkably, faculty members now report that online education can increase student engagement. “Flipping the classroom,” for instance, is a now commonplace teaching strategy wherebyteachers record lectures, audio tapes, and activities on the course’s fundamental concepts, so students can study these at their own pace.

Konana points to studies that show students, especially those in the bottom 50%, are learning much better this way than they would in a traditional lecture hall.

Keeping fundamentals at home frees up class time for interpretation and creativity.

The livestreamed classes still include activities, break-out discussions, and interviews with experts, but now teachers are also using instant polling, iClickers, and peer grading to keep students on their toes andkeep instructors apprised of who needs extra attention. And because online meetings are so easy, teachers are offering virtual discussion sessions, exam preps, and even lunchtime gatherings. Finance Professor Keith Brown, echoing the sentiments of many McCombs faculty members, exclaims, “I’m genuinely astonished that students, having ignored in-person office hours for decades, are showing up for virtual ones!”

At the program level, online education allows students to pursue electives and certificates that would otherwise be impossible given faculty constraints. And online classes are a boon for people who are too busy or who cannot afford to quit their jobs. Business executives, parents at home with children, military personnel, international applicants—the list is long—now have unprecedented access to furthering their education.

What will be interesting, says Konana, who next year will become dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland-College Park, is to see what we retain of all this post-COVID-19. “The crisis brought all of us into the 21st century, and many of these new tools and techniques are here to stay.”

34 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

Innovation: Teaching “Live” by Hologram Instructor: Steve Limberg, PricewaterhouseCoopers Centennial Professor, Accounting Class: Business Administration 384T: Financial Accounting (Executive MBA Program) Size: 43 students (70% in person, 30% online) Impetus: To take the screen out of the online learning experience so students and teachers feel more engaged.

How it works: McCombs contracted with Austin startup Contextual Concept Group to create a new immersive video solution.

Delivering the class from an off-campus television studio, Limberg is streamed live as a high-resolution, 6-foot hologram to the socially distanced classroom and as a full-body tile to students online via Zoom.

The technology, known as Recourse, allows Limberg to interact with both the physical

classroom and the virtual classroom in real time. Students, who appear in the studio on three large screens, can also ask questions and engage with their professor just as if they were in a classroom with him. The tech manager (or “producer”) can even add sound effects, music and videos, and can assist with panel discussions involving visitors and industry experts.

How students benefit: The experience approximates live teaching because the students behold their teacher in 3D form, while the teacher notices their gestures and nuanced expressions, whether it be raising a hand or an eyebrow or just nodding. As a result, “It really is very much like being right here in the classroom with the students,” Limberg says.

He adds that by leaving all the operational details to the producer, “I can focus 100% of my energy on teaching. When I enter the studio, it’s showtime!”

T H E T EC H N O LO GY A L LOWS LI M B E RG TO I N T E R AC T WIT H BOT H T H E PH YSI CA L C L AS S RO O M A N D T H E VI R T UA L C L AS S RO O M I N RE A L TI M E .

provides student access to teachers as never before. Like many other faculty members, Leeds finds his virtual office hours far better attended than “real” ones. In fact, student engagement has gotten so strong that Leeds sometimes finds the need to set boundaries.

How students benefit: Student engagement through polling, lunches, and office hours is greatly enhanced. As one M.S. in Marketing student told Leeds, “I’d never gotten this much attention from my professors before going online.” Simple changes in technology pay off for a more dynamic classroom experience.

Innovation: Improved technology, In-class Polling, Virtual Lunches Instructor: Sandy Leeds, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Finance Classes: BA 385 Financial Management for M.S. in Marketing students; FIN 371M Money and Capital Markets for BBA students Size: 60-65 students Impetus: How does a teacher conduct an engaging, vibrant class when students are reduced to a series of tiny pictures? And how can students develop any kind of real relationship with their instructor?

How it works: Leeds says it’s hard to feel like a real teacher when seated in front of a laptop.

So, he ditched the usual setup for two large TV monitors and a good video camera. That way, he can lecture while standing, simultaneously viewing the slide deck he is discussing on one screen and seeing a good-sized video feed of his 60-plus students on the other.

Leeds makes daily use of Zoom’s in-class polling feature. For instance, he may ask for a solution to a time value of money problem. Simply taking the poll live in class yields a number of benefits: All students are forced into active engagement; they instantly see whether they are grasping the concepts; they know where they stand vis-à-vis their peers; and the professor can identify who needs follow-up help.

Compare that scenario with the old-school question at the chalkboard, with a couple of raised hands and half the class tuned out, and the advantages are obvious.

To further increase student engagement, Leeds sets up virtual “lunches” in which six students can sign up to attend on a given day. Everyone dines in the comfort of their homes and gets personal time with their professor in a relaxed setting at no cost. The ease of such meetings

Innovation: Flipping the Class and Livestreaming Instructor: James Scott, Professor, IROM Classes: Statistics 301: Introduction to Data Science (online only, new starting fall 2020) Size: 530 Impetus: In order to tackle the increasingly large and complex data sets of the Information Age, data science today requires a solid grounding in statistical tools and software skills.

How it works: “Flipping the class” means students learn the rote and formulaic foundational material outside of class, freeing up class time for higher-order, qualitative thinking and problem solving. Scott, who has been using this method for some time, has amassed a large library of class materials of taped lectures, videos, and software walkthroughs that students can peruse at their own pace. Using technology to teach basic material in this fashion, Scott says, as effective, if not more, effective than trying to convey the same material in person.

Classroom time then becomes a venue for do-

ing open-ended, data analysis problems — real data science. This is where students are at the edge of their abilities, their “reach,” as Scott puts it, and precisely where instructors can be most helpful.

This fall, Stats 301 is being streamed live from a soundstage, and enrolled students watch the broadcast simultaneously online. Such “synchronous learning” also involves live chat rooms, which play a big part in the class. Students are given real problems that they work on individually while also discussing matters with their partners. A team of teaching assistants monitors the chat rooms to identify common issues that the instructor can then address.

How students benefit: Flipping the class is a more efficient use of time for both teacher and student. Students stay more motivated. And teachers can focus more on modern computation and creative visualization, as well as equip students with more sophisticated tools from machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Online learning creates scale, which in itself brings two advantages. First, a large class size allows teachers to collect rich data sets about the students themselves, which can then be turned into statistical problems that students are more motivated to tackle. Second, a large enrollment allows faculty members to practice what they teach: by running micro-experiments in class on teaching techniques, the instructor can see firsthand which are most effective and therefore most beneficial for students.

Innovation: Online Office Hours, Review Sessions and Exam Prep Instructor: Keith Brown, University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Fayez Sarofim Fellow, Finance

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 35

Classes: FIN 297.1 Investment Theory and Practice for MBA students Size: 22 students (in each of three sections) Impetus: Online learning lacks real, face-toface presence. As Brown puts it, “For the first time ever, there will be students in my class whom I’ll never meet in person.”

How it works: Brown simply sets up standard weekly office hours as Zoom meetings, review sessions, and exam prep hours. All a student has to do to attend is click a button.

How students benefit: Increased engagement. Students show up to office hours in droves. Brown was astonished. “In an average semester, the number of students who used to show up for my office hours was zero. Since offering these meetings online, students come to every single one and often stay until the end.

In fact, we often go beyond time,” he says.

Like many of his colleagues with similar experiences, Brown was taken aback. No one would have guessed that having to go to a professor’s office was such an impediment, but it obviously was. One MBA student told Brown that “he should feel honored, since he was the only professor whose office hour he’d ever attended in his life.”

Brown notes similar attendance for group work, review sessions, and special preparation for exams. Students appreciate the extra engagement and simplicity of connection, and in many ways get more high-quality time from the professor and from one another than they would otherwise.

Online meetings are a game changer. After the COVID-19 crisis is over, Brown says he’s still going to do these meetings online, even if they are also offered face to face: “It’s just a no-brainer.”

Innovation: Self-paced Instruction Instructor: Katie Gray, Senior Lecturer, IROM Class: M.S. Online Programming (Pilot Program) through University Extension Size: 15 students Impetus: Strong applicants to the MSBA and MSITM programs are sometimes denied admission simply for lacking a basic programming class in their academic backgrounds.

How it works: This self-paced course went live March 3. “There are some students who have a background and some who don’t, so it makes sense to create this class as self-paced so they can figure it out at their own speed,” Gray says.

How students benefit: Instead of being denied admission because of a missing skills class, students with otherwise excellent credentials can remedy their shortcomings quickly and effortlessly without having to postpone admission for a whole year to take a traditional class.

Increased overall enrollments are a win-win for applicants and schools alike. “This is the future of what education will look like and how students want to be taught,” Gray says.

“ RE S E A RC H S H OWS T H AT OV E R A L L S T U D E N T S A RE RE A D I N G L E S S T H A N I N T H E PAS T, B U T T H AT T H E Y WI L L RE TA I N M O RE D U RI N G C L AS S I F T H E Y ’ V E RE A D M AT E RIA L S B E FO RE H A N D R AT H E R T H A N A F T E R . S T U D E N T S W H O RE A D B E FO RE C L AS S A RE B E T T E R PRI M E D FO R L E A RN I N G A N D H AV E A B E T T E R OV E R A L L E XPE RI E N C E .”

36 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

Innovation: McGraw-Hill “Connect” and iClickers Instructor: Heidi Toprac, Director of Undergraduate Internship Program Class: Finance 357: Business Finance Size: 50 students Impetus: “Research shows that overall students are reading less than in the past, but that they will retain more during class if they’ve read materials beforehand rather than after.

Students who read before class are better primed for learning and have a better overall experience,” Toprac says.

How it works: The class’s textbook has an online feature, Connect, which allows the students to do their homework online at their own pace as long as they meet the assigned deadline.

As the students read, the textbook sporadically will present a question. If a student gets the question correct, he or she can continue reading; if not, the textbook sends the student back a couple of pages and requires rereading of the material.

How students benefit: “Some students prefer to use technology to engage with the material,” Toprac says. “We’re trying to meet the students where they are and help them succeed using whatever possible tools we can.”

Other innovations: Each student in Toprac’s classes also uses an iClicker, a remote device that allows a student to anonymously respond to questions the instructor poses in class.

How it works: During every class, students have a pop quiz on conceptual questions. This allows students to practice retrieving the material and responding to the questions.

How students benefit: According to Toprac, the more students practice testing themselves, the better they will perform on tests.

COMMUNIT Y

PAYING IT FORWARD New Executive Director of McCombs Real Estate Center Supported by John C. Goff Gift

BY HANNAH J. PHILLIPS

A

commercial real estate expert steeped in architecture, finance, and research is the new head of the Real Estate Center at McCombs.

Mark Roberts, CFA, AIA, is the “perfect fit for the role,” says John C. Goff, BBA ’77, who endowed the John C. Goff Endowed Chair in Real Estate that supports Roberts.

As the center’s executive director, Roberts brings extensive industry experience to McCombs as a registered architect, a fellow at the Real Estate Research Institute, and a regular contributor to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries.

“My first interaction with UT was in the early 2000s,” says Roberts, “back when the Real Estate Center at McCombs was just getting underway and Jay Hartzell invited me to come speak to the students. When I was president of RERI, I also had a great opportunity to work with McCombs finance professor Sheridan Titman.”

Over the years, Roberts continued to speak regularly at McCombs real estate events, meeting with many industry leaders, including Goff. The two men found common ground, and

Mark Roberts, the new executive director of the McCombs Real Estate Center, plans to increase the program’s engagement with other UT schools peripheral to the real estate industry.

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 37

C O M M U N I T Y: U P C L O S E collaborations, Goff says. Roberts’ mission is to invite more conversations between schools at the university while also engaging in active industry outreach with organizations such as the Urban Land Institute, the NCREIF, and the Pension Real Estate Association.

“My goal is to bring industry and academia together to provide a more diverse perspective on real estate,” says Roberts. He says he plans to work with professors and support their efforts to incorporate current events into the classroom while also bringing the university’s research prowess to the industry.

That goal meshes with Goff’s vision. Roberts’ background in research, investing, and architecture “will add dimension to our program to further distinguish it from other real estate programs in the country,” Goff says. “I’m excited about what Mark will accomplish for UT, and I look forward to working with him.”

BONDY FAMILY: Endows Scholarships for Their Lasting Impact

John C. Goff, BBA ’77, shared with Roberts his vision of making the real estate program the best in the country.

now are connected through the John C. Goff Endowed Chair in Real Estate.

“John wanted to make the McCombs real estate program the No. 1 program in the country,” Roberts says, noting how the school’s program specializes in real estate finance. For Roberts, this combination is what set McCombs apart from other top schools.

“And when you add to that the unique offerings at UT’s schools of engineering, architecture,

38 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

public policy, and urban planning,” he continues, “UT is top tier in those schools, which all touch on real estate in one area or another. Looking at other universities, they may have one or two components, but not all of them. I am very grateful to John, Jay, Sheridan, and the Real Estate Center team for this opportunity.”

Roberts’ background on both sides of the real estate investment industry primed him for leading the program into even further productive

When Craig Bondy, BBA honors ’95, chose to study at The University of Texas at Austin, he was looking for an Ivy League-type experience with the exclusive academic attention of a smaller institution. Thanks to the business honors program, renamed in 2018 as the Canfield Business Honors Program to recognize a generous gift from Phil Canfield, BBA honors ’89, and the Canfield family, the McCombs School of Business checked both boxes.

“I wanted the big university experience with all the opportunities and options and energy that come with a large campus,” he says, “but with a small, targeted, and rigorous academic program.”

Bondy says the honors program was the reason he came to Texas from Chicago, and it’s what inspired him to give back to McCombs years later.

“The BHP program introduced me to a small, intimate cohort of high-achieving students to go through the entire program with, which really helped shrink the school in total,” he says.

“On top of that, we were getting tremendous teaching from the school’s best professors, and the emphasis on small group work introduced us to how a business operates.”

WIN T ER 2020

Aiden Brasov (left), a member of the Honors Business Association who’s slated to graduate in 2023, says McCombs would not have been financially feasible for him without the gift from Craig Bondy (inset), BBA Honors ’95. Brasov was one of four students this fall who benefited from endowed scholarships from Bondy.

He says he saw business recruiters seek out BHP students, and his own career is a testament to this. He started on Wall Street in a small analyst class for First Boston with about 55 other people and recalls being one of several to come from UT’s business school.

“We started with students from Harvard, Yale, Virginia, Princeton, and our seven or eight became the leaders of that class, both socially and professionally,” he recounts. “It really validated my decision that we were not only well-trained for Wall Street, but

well-rounded by our collaborative experience in the BHP program.”

After several years with First Boston (which became Credit Suisse) — including a stint in its London office — Bondy earned an MBA from Stanford University before joining GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm — one of the oldest in the country. He has worked with GTCR for more than 20 years, serving in many leadership positions.

Today, Bondy is passionate about opening the same doors that the Canfield BHP program

opened for him. Along with his wife, Elliana, he believes that investing in someone’s education is the most powerful and long-lasting investment one can make.

“Education really has a compounding effect, impacting not just the individual but all the lives in their family,” says Bondy. “Seeing the combination of how many opportunities the BHP presented to me and knowing that folks wouldn’t otherwise have that opportunity has been a driving force in our philanthropy.”

The Bondy Family has endowed a President’s Scholarship in Business through the McCombs Scholars Program, as well as a President’s Scholarship in Business Honors that was doubled through the Canfield Matching Program. The Bondys are supporting four students this fall with scholarships to Texas McCombs.

This year’s Bondy Family Endowed President’s Scholarship in Business recipient, Aiden Brasov, is set to graduate in 2023. He is a member of the Honors Business Association and Young Life, and he has served as a Longhorn legislative aide with UT’s student government.

He currently is the student government’s director of advertising.

“Without the Bondys’ generosity, The University of Texas at Austin would have been financially unattainable for me,” he wrote in a letter. “I am so blessed to be able to attend such an institution.”

McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU 39

C O M M U N I T Y: U P C L O S E

Soluptistium voloreptam quas sapicipsam re, consequas nobitatque nos solore repudant aut ium que consedi occus, t lam cum lita dolut faces quasper sperit, cuptas nihiliquam reicidis sim estibusda

Scott Kennedy (left), BBA ’20, was the first recipient of the Sussers’ McCombs Forty Acres Scholarship, and he’s forged a strong friendship with the family. Sam Susser, BBA ’85, and Catherine Susser (inset) recently set up a scholarship matched by the Texas Challenge Grant in honor of their daughter, Sophie, BBA ’20.

SUSSER FAMILY: Makes McCombs Scholarships a Generational Legacy Sam Susser, BBA ’85, credits his University of Texas experience with transforming his life. From playing Division 1 golf to building lifelong friendships and receiving the education that enabled him to have a successful career in investment banking, Susser says his philosophy of giving is about providing similar opportunities to new generations of students.

40 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

“I believe we have an enormous need in Texas to increase access to education,” he says. “This is what America should be all about.”

With this in mind, Susser and his wife, Catherine have given generously to the university for a number of years and have set up scholarship programs, including one to honor their daughter, also a McCombs graduate.

Sam Susser says his family gets more out of it than they give. Referring to the initial recipient of their McCombs Forty Acres Scholarship, he points to a cherished friendship he

developed with Scott Kennedy, who graduated in 2020.

“I think Scott’s done more for me than we’ve ever done for him,” says Susser, highlighting Kennedy’s extraordinary career on campus and involvement with student organizations. Susser says that watching Kennedy’s progress over four years made him a better parent to his own UT students, Sophie, BBA ’20, and Sam, who is set to graduate in 2021. In fact, as a thank you to the school for Sophie’s educational experience, Susser and his wife established and named a Texas Challenge scholarship in her honor at McCombs.

“We felt that there wasn’t a more meaningful way to honor Sophie’s four years than to set up a scholarship for the future, a program where students without the same resources will be able to enjoy the same opportunities at UT,” he says.

After participating in the Wall Street for McCombs program, Sophie Susser now works for Lazard in New York, a financial advisory and asset management firm. Reflecting on her time at McCombs, she says she could not have asked for a better educational experience and preparation for her career in investment banking. Having a scholarship named for her is both an honor and a reminder of how important it is to give back, she says.

“My hope is that recipients of this gift can fully take advantage of the UT experience like I did,” she adds, “and that they cherish their four years on the Forty Acres as well.”

POWERFUL DUO — accelerated by an MBA and MPA from the McCombs School of Business — and a belief

to invest in scholarships and the world-class education UT provides.

McCombs through your will, trust or estate plan, you business education and help

counts, so make your plans to change the world today.

To learn more, visit mylegacy.utexas.edu/mccombs or call 800-687-4602.

‘‘

UT changed my life. Mary and I owe it to society to give back and help future Longhorns. A charitable remainder trust was the right fit for us. It allows us to financially support deserving students and provides us with income.”

ROGER ROBERTS, MBA ’83, AND MARY MCCALLUM, MPA ’85

C O M M U N I T Y: U P C L O S E FOLGER FAMILY: Funds Recruitment of World-Class Accounting Scholar Jeffrey Hales, recognized as one of the top 100 most influential people by Accounting Today magazine, has joined the McCombs faculty as the Charles T. Zlatkovich Centennial Professor of Accounting. Hales specializes in sustainability accounting, an emerging area of expertise that is rising in significance among scholars and practitioners worldwide.

Hales’ recruitment was supported by the Lois and Richard Folger Dean’s Leadership Chair, an endowment that enables the dean to recruit and retain full-time exceptional faculty members who will make a lasting impression on McCombs students. The Folgers both attended UT and say they are thrilled to see Hales come on board.

SCHOLARSHIP GIVING OPPORTUNITY

The UT System Board of Regents recently created the Texas Advance Commitment endowment to provide full tuition for students who come from families with annual household incomes of less than $65,000 and some tuition support for students with family incomes of less than $125,000.

Donations of $100,000 or more in scholarship support toward the endowment will be matched through the Texas Challenge Grant, doubling the impact of donors’ investments. Gifts can be pledged over five years. They can include a preference for students from a school or college, such as the McCombs School of Business, and can be named in honor of individuals important to you.

For more information, contact Wendy M. Anderson, McCombs Chief Development Officer, at wendy.anderson@mccombs. utexas.edu or 512-745-4276 (cell).

42 McCOMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

Jeffrey Hales (left) was recruited as an influential researcher with interest in accounting standard setting and regulation. He serves as chair of the nine-person Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. The gift from Richard Folger (inset), BBA ’81, and Lois Folger, B.S. ’84, M.S. ’95, gives the dean confidence in recruiting and retaining high-demand faculty members like Hales.

“We put a lot of thought into establishing this chair,” says Richard Folger, BBA ’81, who wanted to provide the dean with flexibility in both resources and speed to recruit top-tier faculty members. “The competition of worldclass talent in the academic world is becoming more and more intense. The timeline is a critical factor in securing the best faculty.”

The Folgers consider their gifts to UT to have a great return on investment because they not only affect current students, but future generations of local, national, and international leaders.

Eric Hirst, McCombs' senior associate dean for academic affairs, agrees. “Jeff is a scholar at the intersection of theory and practice,” Hirst says. For Hirst, Hales’ position as chair of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board means that Hales brings experience at the leading edge of corporate reporting.

“He’s at the center of the industry and brings that to his classroom,” Hirst says. “If we want to change the world at UT, and the world needs standards in financial accounting, we are helping people come up with those standards and ultimately impacting the quality of capital markets.”

In addition to helping the dean recruit top talent, the endowed chair enables the school to retain them, a point equally important to the Folgers.

“World-class talent is called ‘world class’ because they are the best at what they do,” Folger says. “A great university has to be able to not only attract but retain top talent in order to increase both the stature and quality of education it can deliver to our most important stakeholders — which are the students we serve.”

No Solutions, Only Trade-Offs Housed at the McCombs School of Business, The Salem Center works with students, policy makers, and business leaders to advance the use of data science in public policy research and practice.

Our mission is to help students of all ages appreciate the difficulties of designing, enacting, and measuring the effects of policy interventions and its trade-offs.

The center’s naming is made possible by a gift spearheaded by real estate investor Khaled Philip Salem, BBA ’05.

salemcenter.org

Visit our website to access our most recent events, classes, podcasts, videos, research initiatives, and blog posts.

C O M M U N I T Y: G AT H E R I N G S

A REVIEW OF McCOMBS CELEBRATIONS, HONORS, AND ALUMNI EVENTS

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly (right) was interviewed by Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune during a virtual “Texas McCombs Presents” in August

“TEXAS McCOMBS PRESENTS” EVENTS The storm clouds of the COVID-19 crisis have had some silver linings. Virtual events and webinars have enabled alumni to stay even more connected — now that “showing up” means you can participate without being there “in person.” The “Texas McCombs Presents” speaker series is a good example. This long-running, Alumni Network co-sponsored series started in 2010 and has seen a dramatic increase in attendees. Now, alumni from around the world can attend programs previously available only to those who lived in Austin.

The Alumni Network is also reaching McCombs alumni worldwide with webinars, including chapter meetups and fun chances to win prizes. Previously, the 30+ alumni chapters would hold local events, such as breakfast meetups and happy hours. Now, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C., alumni chapters are joining forces to host large-scale webinars with high-level speakers. And Homecoming just got better: In October, over 400 alumni signed up to attend a weekend of virtual events with 28 speakers as part of a reunion, pre-game event, and Alumni Business Conference.

44 Mc COMBS.UTEXAS.EDU

Admiral Bobby Inman, LBJ School Professor, July 22

“Global Hot Spots: Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities” Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, BBA ’77, August 12

“A Conversation with Gary Kelly” and Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune TXP Economist Jon Hockenyos on the Texas Economy, September 10

“Light at the End of the Tunnel or a Train Wreck?”

NFL Football Star Sam Acho, BBA Honors ’10, October 14

“Let the Real You Shine at Work” Kevin Curry, BBA Honors ’04, and Mandy Price, BBA Honors ’03, November 12

“Straight Talk from Black Entrepreneurs”

FOR EVENT RECAPS AND VIDEOS, VISIT TEXAS McCOMBS NEWS ON MEDIUM.COM.

ALUMNI NETWORK EVENTS Texas McCombs Alumni Webinar Series, June-August Alumni Week, July 20-24 “Knowledge To Go” Webinar with Sandy Leeds, September 4 Wealth Management Webinar, September 22 Taste of Texas, October 2 Homecoming/ Alumni Business Conference, October 21-24

C O M M U N I T Y: A L U M N I N O T E S Please send your updates to alumni@mccombs.utexas.edu for publication in the spring issue of McCombs magazine and online in the alumni news section of the McCombs website. Feel free to share news on behalf of a fellow graduate.

1970s

WIN T ER 2020

and co-founder, president, principal accounting officer, and a member of the board of Gexa Energy.

James D. Recer, BBA ’83, was named senior executive vice president and CBO of Veritex Community Bank. Recer will lead the company’s efforts in all revenue initiatives and develop scalable strategies designed to support organic growth.

Julia Beattie, MBA ’86, was promoted to president at People’s Bank of Commerce.

Greg Austin, BBA ’78, joined

the Houston office of Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate investment sales brokerage, as senior managing director.

1990s

1980s

tive vice president and general counsel of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

In this role, Packman will oversee and direct all of MSG Entertainment’s legal affairs, supporting the company’s growth initiatives.

Jimmy Taylor, BBA ’81, was

confirmed as president of wireless services at ADDvantage Technologies Group Inc. Sherron Watkins, BBA ’81, MPA ’82, was named

“Whistleblower of the Week” on Whistleblower News for her work in revealing fraud at Enron.

Marcella Foreman, MBA ’83,

joined North Texas Food Bank’s board of directors. Foreman is the controller’s global planning and development manager at Exxon Mobil Corp.

Marcie Zlotnik, BBA ’83, was

named one of the seven director candidates to be appointed to the board of directors at Just Energy Group Inc. Zlotnik was the co-founder and chairman of the board of StarTex Power

Scott Packman, BBA ’90, MBA ’91, was named execu-

Niloufar Molavi, BBA ’91, MPA ’91, was named the moderator

of Bank of America’s Women’s Leadership Series. Molavi oversaw the company’s “Stepping Up and Giving Back” program.

Michelle McKinney Frymire, MBA ’91, was named chief

finance and strategy officer at Carlson Wagonlit Travel Inc. Appointed to the executive leadership team upon joining the company in 2019, she formerly served as CFO. Frymire has held CFO roles at Starwood Vacation Ownership and Delta Technology, and financial lead-

Justice Paul Green, BBA ’73, retired from the Texas Supreme Court in August. Green joined the court in 2005 after serving for 10 years on the Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals. Green has joined Texas appellate boutique Alexander Dubose & Jefferson as a partner and leader of a new office in San Antonio.

ership roles with Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

leaders overcome challenges during the pandemic.

Andrea Petreo, MBA ’93,

Carolyn Jenkins, MBA ’91, Kristine Kelly, MBA ’14, and Heather Ball, MBA ’04, joined

with The HT Group in an initiative called HT Cares. A management consulting, staffing, and recruiting agency in Austin, The HT Group has partnered with a handful of the city’s top executives to help business

was appointed to the board of directors at BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. Petreo will serve on the audit, governance and compensation, and joint transactions committees.

Mark Madrid, BBA ’95, was

recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 45

C O M M U N I T Y: A L U M N I N O T E S on the board of directors of various CenterOak portfolio companies.

Carla Vernón, MBA ’98, was

appointed to Princeton University’s board of trustees as a term trustee.

Paul Lee, BBA ’98, was appoint-

ed entrepreneur-in-residence at Tailwater Capital. Lee previously co-founded Venado Oil and Gas and served as its chief financial officer.

2000s Rich Goode, MBA ’00, was named one of the first members of a new advisory board at BILT Inc., creator of an app that provides 3D assembly and installation instructions. Goode is the former CFO of Cook Children’s Health Care System, where he was named CFO of the Year at their Fort Worth and Dallas offices.

Janice Dupre Little, BBA ’86, MBA ’92, was promoted to executive vice president of human resources at Lowe’s Companies Inc. She joined Lowe's in 2017 and most recently served as senior vice president, diversity and talent management, working with company leaders to prioritize diversity and inclusion. Now she oversees Lowe’s corporate communications, community relations, and events planning and execution.

John Zuklic, MBA ’96, joined

on the finance team. His most recent post was vice president of ERP Transformation at Phillips 66 after having served as vice president and treasurer.

CITGO Petroleum Corp. as vice president for finance and CFO. Zuklic takes the role after holding a number of executive-level positions with Phillips 66 since 2012, mostly

Lucas Cutler, BBA ’97, was promoted to managing partner at CenterOak. Cutler serves on CenterOak’s investment committee and

Lifetime Achiever in business, leadership, and nonprofits for his role as a CEO at Latino Business Action Network.

46 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

Christopher Bray, MBA ’94, was appointed chief revenue officer at Aura, a digital security company. In his role, Bray will be responsible for the sustainable growth of the company by scaling and expanding Aura's go-to-market presence and leading the sales, field marketing, partner engineering, and revenue management teams.

WIN T ER 2020 Aaron Schwass, MBA ’01, was awarded a senior executive position at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems.

Schwass is vice president of Center of Competency Wheel-End NA and the general manager of Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake.

Marissa Tarleton, MBA ’02, was named the first president of Aceable Inc., an online provider of Texas drivers education.

Frank Garza, BBA/MPA ’03, earned industry certifications administered by the Promotional Products International Association, the industry’s largest international not-forprofit association.

David Muse, MBA ’04, was named CEO of Elemica, a digital supply network for global manufacturing industries. Muse formerly served as president and CEO of Enviance and as COO of P2 Energy Solutions.

David Cooper, MBA ’04, was appointed vice president and managing director of the Electromagnetic Integrated Solutions business unit at APITech, a provider of high-performance RF and microwave signal conditioning, and electromagnetic spectrum management solutions.

Nathan McElmurry, MBA ’04, was named senior vice president at InSite Property Group, an integrated developer, builder, and operator of commercial real estate assets.

Michael Senftleber, MBA ’06, was promoted to CTO at Arrive

Logistics, an Austin-based freight brokerage.

Kevin Reichle, BBA ’00, MBA ’08, was named COO at Apogee Enterprises Inc., an architectural products and services provider. Reichle most recently served as chief of staff for software solutions provider Accruent.

Chris Pendergrass, MBA ’08, was appointed as the new president of Ulrich Barn Builders of Texas, a leading manufacturer of storage sheds and lifestyle structures.

Angelica Marin Hill, MBA ’08, was featured as the keynote speaker at UT Southwestern’s Employee Recognition Week ceremony. Hill joined UT Southwestern in 2004, serving initially as director of government relations and then as assistant vice president for legislative budget and policy.

Karen Starns, BBA ’89, was named HousingWire’s 2020 Woman of Influence. Starns is the CMO of OJO Labs, where she focuses on the revamping of OJO Labs’ brand to better reach a rapidly increasing number of consumers through the company’s proprietary AI home-buying adviser.

2010s

with J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Denver and New York City.

Vijay Kalvakuntla, BBA ’10, co-founded Code Galaxy, which offers coding classes and camps for children ages 7-18.

Natalie Masin, MPA ’13, was named vice president of finance and corporate controller for A&R Logistics, which provides end-to-end supply chain solutions to the chemical industry.

Darren Marco, MBA ’11, was named to the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Pasadena, California. Marco is senior vice president at Payden & Rygel global investment advisers.

Kiley Baker, MBA ’13, was named executive director of client advisory for Crestone Capital LLC. Baker formerly served as executive director

Jake Heffelfinger, MBA ’14, was promoted to vice president of asset management at the Casoro Group LLC, a vertically integrated multifamily real estate investment firm.

Michael Bogdan, M.D., MBA ’16, was named vice president

on the executive committee for the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation.

Alec Weissman, BBA ’18, MPA ’19, was recognized by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants as a winner of the 2019 Elijah Watt Sells Award.

This award was granted to 133 of 75,000 candidates and requires that recipients obtain a cumulative average score above 95.5 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination and pass all four sections on their first attempt.

M c C O M B S . U T E X A S . E D U 47

M c C O M B S: B O T T O M L I N E

ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING K.K. SALEM, LEAD DONOR OF A NEWLY NAMED CENTER, ON THE FREE MARKET AND MAKING THE WORLD BETTER

By Mary Ann Roser

K

HALED “ K . K .” SALEM , BBA , ’05 , WAS 3 YE ARS OLD

when he and his family fled Lebanon “in the middle of the night and with one suitcase.” The country was riven by civil war, and he says the Salems were lucky to escape.

The family settled in Houston, where his parents sacrificed to send their three children to private school. Salem recalls his oncologist father spending most of his waking hours taking care of patients. His mother ran the household and helped instill in Salem and his siblings a duty to help others.

Having watched his parents sacrifice so that he could reap the benefits of the “American dream,” Salem, the CEO of Williamsburg Enterprises, a Houston real estate investment firm, is giving back to the business school that opened him to a world of opportunity. His foundation is the lead donor of an $11.3 million gift to establish the Salem Center for Policy. It will provide resources to help faculty members and students do research and generate data that provide insights into how policy and entrepreneurial thinking affect the free market.

“The free market system is what allows you to have this land of opportunity,” says Salem. “It explains why an immigrant from Lebanon like my father can come to the United States as a relative unknown, study, work hard, and become an internationally renowned oncologist.”

Explains Carlos Carvalho, the center’s executive director and a professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management: “We want the Salem Center to be a novel, young, cool take on more traditional economic ideas.” The school is planning a reception for next year to honor Salem’s generosity.

With his gift, K.K. Salem wanted to honor his immigrant parents for their years of sacrifice and success in the U.S. W H O I N S P I R E D YO U R P H I L A N T H R O P Y ?

The easiest thing someone can do is write a check. We should all live every day to help others, to open the door for others. There are those who have done this day in and day out and never publicized it. I’m just doing the bare minimum.

My father at 78 is working 12-hour days, saving lives, and trying to find a cure for cancer. The doctors, the nurses, the professors, the policemen, and the firefighters—those are my heroes.

W H AT A R E YO U R G OA L S F O R T H I S C E N T E R ?

This is not a center for some; this is a center for all. We are all, in one way or another, products of a free market system. I want there to be interest in the topic. My goal is not to influence policy; it’s to provide the tools necessary for some of the smartest minds in the world to get together, to collaborate, and hopefully, produce research that shows what is truly happening in this world. We must produce something of benefit, and if we do that, we have achieved our goal.

W H Y A R E Y O U A N E N T R E P R E N E U R ? A R E Y O U H O P I N G T O S PA R K M O R E ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING AMONG STUDENTS?

An edited version of his comments about the gift follows: W H AT M O T I VAT E D YO U T O D O N AT E YO U R G I F T T O M c C O M B S ?

My parents are in their 70s, and I wanted to make sure they saw and experienced this. I wanted to honor them for all their years of sacrifice.

I also wanted to show students that you're never too young to step up and make a commitment for a cause that is greater than yourself. We all can make the world better than we found it. I’m a business person. I don’t have any special powers. I’m not saving any lives; I’m not jumping into burning buildings. But to the extent that I can use my skill set for solving problems, that’s my role in society. And I’ve always felt that when you help others, the person you really help is yourself.

48 M c C O M B S .U T E X A S . E D U

I realized that I wasn't a 9-to-5 kind of person. I realized by working for others that I wanted to do my own thing. I was comfortable betting on myself, and business afforded me the ability to do that. Basically, businessmen are like fishermen: They eat what they catch.

H O W D O E S C R E AT I N G T H I S C E N T E R S Q U A R E W I T H YO U R VA L U E S ?

You're never too young to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “How can I be of use to others?” This gift is about helping people I don’t know. I have been blessed beyond my wildest dreams, and I have my UT education to thank for it. My philosophy of giving is: a hand up and not a handout.

My hope is the people we have helped will turn around and help others they don’t know.

WANT TO EARN A WORLD-CLASS MBA? With options in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, choose a program that works for you.

As a Texas McCombs alumnus, you already know the power of a degree from The University of Texas at Austin.

Continue your journey as a Longhorn at one of our top-ranked MBA programs on campuses in three major cities.

• • • • •

Full-Time MBA – Austin Evening MBA – Austin Executive MBA – Austin Weekend MBA – Dallas/Fort Worth Weekend MBA – Houston

CONTACT US

TexasMBA@mccombs.utexas.edu or 512-471-7698 if you’re interested in pursuing your MBA or know someone who might be a good candidate.

LEARN MORE

FOLLOW US

TexasMBA.com

@UTexasMBA

NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE

PAID

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S AT A U S T I N

McCombs School of Business 1 University Station B6000 Austin, Texas 78712

Stay connected to UT and Texas McCombs HookedIn is UT’s new online alumni community. Network with fellow graduates, mentor current students, and stay updated on school news. Claim your alumni profile on HookedIn today.

CLAIM YOUR PROFILE AND GET HOOKEDIN. bit.ly/msbhookedin

BURLINGTON, VT 05401 PERMIT NO. 19