Spring 2009
Our mission We excel in developing principled, innovative thought leaders in global communities.
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Features 18 Lending Financial Expertise Jones Faculty Round Table
24 Capital Thinking
Q&A: Clint Carlson ’82 of Carlson Capital
28 From Energy To Equity Michael Friezo ’88 on the Economic Crash
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Media Mentions Alumni President’s Letter Class Notes Alumni Resources
DEAN’s WELCOME
EXECUTIVE EDITOR AND DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS SHAHEEN LADHANI EDITOR JULIA NGUYEN DIRECTOR OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS LAURA HUBBARD EDITORIAL CONSULTING SERVICE THE POHLY COMPANY CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ann S. Boor Jan Hester Karen M. Kroll Weezie Mackey Chris Warren ART DIRECTION + DESIGN FRANK R. JONES CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS JUSTIN CALHOUN JON-PAUL ESTRADA JEFF FITLOW PHIL HOLLENBECK STEPHEN KUNKEN TOMMY LAVERGNE DOLORES THACKER
Around the School
PRINTer Chas P. Young
4 Career Management Center
6 New Executive Education programs 8 Rice Summer Business Institute 2009 10 Jones Partners, New REEP lecture series 11 School name change, New weekend option, Diversity and Women’s Preview Weekend 12 Rice Alliance 14 Rice Centennial Campaign 16 Giving to Jones
The Jones Journal is published semiannually for alumni and friends by the Jones Graduate School of Business. Current and back issues of the magazine are available online. Change of Address? New job? Update the online directory with your new contact information, or send us your Class Notes at: JonesAlumni.com. Comments or Questions? We’d love to hear your thoughts about the Jones Journal. Send an e-mail to Shaheen Ladhani, Director of Alumni Relations, at shaheen@rice.edu.
Business.rice.edu
As the economic recession deepens, the casualties continue to grow in magnitude for businesses and financial markets globally. As a school whose mission focuses on developing principled, innovative thought leaders in global communities, it is our priority to lend our business knowledge and resources to understand and improve business. Last fall, at the turn of the impending crisis, the Jones faculty immediately stepped up to the task to share their expertise and research with industry leaders through multiple forums, conferences, and media channels. On the cover, you may notice our new name, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. This designation along with our updated logo and Web site will better leverage the Rice brand and provide a clearer identity for all of our programs and initiatives. Inside this edition, you will learn how the school’s alumni, faculty, and students have built positive momentum by seeking opportunities to innovate and lead with ethical intent amid constant challenges. We continue to sustain the momentum of success in a variety of ways: A new option gives greater flexibility to professionals seeking a weekend schedule. The newly established PhD program has received double the expected number of applications from interested candidates, an anomaly given the times. We expect to admit less than five percent of the applicants. The Rice MBA Full-Time program was ranked 7th worldwide for ‘Best in Finance’ and 20th worldwide for research productivity, up from 52nd three years ago. The same survey assessing Executive MBA programs placed Rice 4th worldwide for ‘Top Salaries in Finance’. Other recent achievements include the Jones School marketing department receiving the top honor in the education category in Houston, and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship garnering national and local awards.
We couldn’t have accomplished all of this without the contributions of alumni. In light of the economic times and increasing competition among business schools, we urge you to continue showing your support. Engage your fellow alums with the school, hire a graduate, mentor a current student, or participate in the Centennial Campaign, which aims to raise $1 billion in honor of Rice’s 100th anniversary. There has never been a more important time to support the University. We also encourage you to take advantage of tools geared for alumni. Explore the many alumni networking events and new career services that the Career Management Center and Alumni Relations has to offer. As always, I welcome any ideas, comments, or thoughts you may have. I wish you the best and hope to hear from you.
Bill Glick Dean H. Joe Nelson III Professor of Management Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Rice University 713-348-5928 Bill.Glick@rice.edu
Around the School
Around the School
Week on Wall Street
During the annual “Week on Wall Street” trek to New York City, 30 first-year students interested in previewing and pursuing careers in investment banking met financier and philanthropist George Soros and Chief Investment Officer Keith Anderson ’83 of Soros Fund Management, LLC.
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about the Career Management Center contact us at jgscmc@rice.edu or 713-348-5371.
Shelter from the Storm Career Management Center Helps Jones Alumni and Students Weather Economic Turbulence By Jan Hester
When a Jones School alum was laid off recently from his job as an investment banker, he promptly called on the Jones School’s Career Management Center (CMC) to help him get his career back on track. “We discussed his career goals and started networking him,” said Deanna Fuehne, director of the Center. “He soon had various opportunities coming down the pike.”
Fuehne is particularly excited about ‘MBAFocus for Alumni,’ a platform that connects many of the top 50 U.S. and international business schools. The resource allows individuals to create a confidential profile and upload resumes, which are combined into one large resume book that only top-tier subscriber firms can search, including companies such as Campbell’s Soup, Eli Lilly, Fidelity, Google, and KPMG.
The alum now feels positive about the future. “The CMC provided me with the resources I needed to launch a targeted job search.”
The Center also posts experienced-hire positions available exclusively to Jones School alumni along with other online tools, including resume templates and sample business correspondence.
Creative alumni solutions The CMC has always been available as a career resource for alumni. Given the challenges of the current economic downturn, the CMC has experienced a significant increase in alumni looking to define the next stage of their careers. “The CMC remains committed to providing best-inclass services to a growing alumni base,” Fuehne said. “The introduction of a robust suite of services specifically geared for alumni include a series of online tools accessible through the career resources portion of the Jones School alumni Web site.”
business.rice.edu
Meeting future challenges for students Inside the hedges, current Full-Time students have also been impacted by changes in the financial sector and the current employment environment. To address these challenges for current students, the CMC team actively courted companies to generate more opportunities. CMC staff and students completed an inaugural spring trek to Dallas, meeting with top companies such as Frito-Lay, Match.com, The Container Store, and American Airlines. The CMC also organized visits with Houston-based firms such as Waste Management, PROS, and GreenHunter Industries.
In addition to opportunities that get students in front of recruiters, the Center assists students virtually. Beginning in June 2009, incoming Full-Time students took a required online course from the CMC for one month prior to preterm. Incoming students left the course with a ‘Career Portfolio,’ including a completed resume, sample cover letters, networking emails, and thank you notes. CMC time during preterm focused on mock interviews and interaction with core recruiters. The online course also covered overviews of industries and functions presented by Jones School professors.
“It is imperative that incoming students prepare to hit the ground running,” Fuehne said. “Becoming aware of opportunities available to MBA graduates is critical, and these online tools will help them begin the program with greater clarity.”
“Most MBAs change jobs five to seven times during the course of their careers. Our goal is to be a resource throughout those transitions, whether intended or unintended,” Fuehne said. “Ultimately, our mission is to help everyone in the Jones School family learn the skills they need to succeed throughout their professional life.”
Annual Career Rodeo The Career Management Center hosted its 9th Annual Career Rodeo Networking Event and Recruitment Fair in partnership with the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Houston Technology Center. The successful event, which featured higher-level postings and full-time positions for alumni as well as current students, attracted more than 150 attendees and 30 recruiting companies including Cameron, Chevron, Ernst & Young, Oceaneering, and Sirius Solutions. Jones Journal spring 2009 5
Around the School
Around the School
executive education The Beginning
In 1978, the Office of Executive Development became a significant connection between the new business school and the city’s practicing professionals by offering seminars, conferences, and non-degree short courses taught by Jones School faculty.
Inspiration for MBA for Executives
Rice Executive Education grew to satisfy the needs of the business community and eventually led to the introduction of the Rice MBA for Executives in 1998.
Making the Leap
Lifelong Learning
Rice Executive Education remains a reliable partner to many top regional companies for non-degreed educational opportunities. The program has a host of open enrollment courses — both individual and certificate offerings — and customized programs tailored to meet specific needs of any corporation.
Emerging and experienced Houston leaders accelerate career development through new Rice Executive Education programs
“We want to take a more active stance in the market and help companies develop leaders. It’s what Executive Education at the Jones School is about,” says Brent Smith, the new associate dean of the department.
Behind the Scenes A professor at the Jones School for eight years, Smith taught in the degreed programs as well as Executive Education before taking a leave of absence to teach organizational behavior at the London Business School, where he designed and directed many of their executive leadership programs.
business.rice.edu
Upon his return and in spite of the economic downturn, Smith felt inspired by his experiences overseas. At the heart of the action plan was Rice’s mission to continue to engage the city and extend the Jones School’s reach to the business community through Executive Education. The department, which started 31 years ago, brings research and practice into the classroom to provide directors, managers, supervisors, and senior management with the latest industry knowledge and managerial techniques. “With our many talented faculty members, fantastic educational facilities, and the development of innovative programs, Executive Education will help organizations accelerate the development of their most valuable resources, their people,” Smith says.
New Programs Participants of the two new programs, Accelerated Development and Emerging Leaders, are drawn from a diverse range of industries around the world. Each program features a unique curriculum to help
business professionals reach their leadership potential. Through group and one-on-one sessions with professional executive coaches as well as an interactive process of assessments, class discussions, and a competitive business simulation, participants are able to focus on key leadership challenges and fresh insights relevant to their organizations.
Each program features two one-week modules separated by a break period of several weeks back on the job. This structure allows participants to apply what they are learning and formulate action plans. During the intermodular break, assistance is provided to participants to address challenges and accelerate their performance.
Emerging Leaders Program - Specifically tailored for individuals with five or more years of experience. This program teaches participants the skills to navigate the transition from high-potential individual to high-performing leader.
“The Jones School is a key resource for companies interested in growing talented professionals,” said Bill Glick, dean of the Jones School. “The new programs develop thought leadership among key employees, enhancing their individual and corporate performance. Rice University Executive Education programs help companies innovate and excel.”
Accelerated Development Program - Geared for individuals who have recently made, or are about to make, the transition from a technical or functional specialist to a more general management role. Typically participants have seven or more years of relevant management experience.
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Rice alumni qualify for discounts on all Executive Education courses. To learn how your company can take part in these programs, contact Pat Hanenberg at path@rice.edu or call 713-348-5876.
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In this economy, savvy companies and employees alike are asking, how can we be innovative in tough times? How can we be relevant both as an individual and as part of an organization? Rice Executive Education is ready to help up-and-coming leaders and rising managers answer that call. Slated this fall, Executive Education will launch two new programs: Accelerated Development and Emerging Leaders.
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We want to take a more active stance in the market and help companies develop leaders.
Jones Journal spring 2009 7
Around the School
Around the School
Learning by doing
Rice Summer Business Institute Creating Opportunity, Building Leadership Diversity by Jan Hester
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information
Rice Summer Business Institute offers numerous opportunities for alumni to get involved including sponsorship and volunteering. To learn more, contact Jill Foote at jfoote@rice.edu.
business.rice.edu
Shell engineer Kola Fagbayi ’08 is committed to offering a helping hand. “I believe in getting people to a point in life where they’re not afraid to fail, where they’re happy to learn how to learn. I believe most people, if provided with an opportunity, will exceed expectations.” Kola became interested in volunteering for the Rice Summer Business Institute (RSBI) while working on his Houston Oriented Social Enterprise Case Analysis (HOSECA) capstone project, which gives MBA students in the Rice Professionals and Executives programs the opportunity to participate in a real-world applied learning activity. His project addressed improving the quality of math and science instruction by providing middle school teachers with scholarships. Based on that project, Kola was asked to participate in a breakout session during the 2008 Institute. Since then, he continues to volunteer, meeting with students to network and provide support.
Mission: Opportunity Kola’s philosophy of providing students with opportunity resonates with the Institute’s core mission. RSBI Director and Professor Jill Foote said, “Our ultimate goal is to engage students from lowand moderate-income communities in the areas of business, finance, and energy. We work to expand their expectations and help them better understand what’s possible for them. We also want to sow seeds of diversity for Houston’s future business leadership.” The Institute was established in 2005 by Professor Barbara Ostdiek along with Foote. Since its inception, the program has graduated more than 180 top high-school juniors and seniors from 10 RSBI feeder schools who apply to participate in the competitive program. This year, 40 students came from HISD schools including Davis, Reagan, Yates, and Wheatley as well as KIPP and YES Prep to participate in the Institute, which took place on June 5-19, 2009. “We’re interested in good students, but we don’t have specific GPA requirements,” Foote said. “We want students who look like the real world and are motivated to be here.”
The RSBI curriculum, which introduces students to the fundamentals of business and the financial markets, is activity-focused with field trips, student presentations, business communications work, and hands-on learning exercises like an investment simulation. Students learn real-world skills such as how to calculate monthly payments when buying a car. “We also had discussions about what’s going on in the stock market,” Foote said. “This year, our content was geared a little differently to address current economic issues.” Last year’s program added a venture capital pitch competition and a sports management component, which was continued in 2009. Student teams also conducted a detailed analysis of a retail stock, like Nike and eBay, resulting in a team presentation. On June 20, the Institute culminated with an awards ceremony and luncheon. Team awards were presented along with awards to individual students for overall achievement and best participation. What do the students like most? “They really seem to enjoy the field trips, where they get to see business in action,” Foote said. “This year, when we visited the 2009 underwriter ConocoPhillips, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Invesco Aim, our students got to see the real world of energy, commodities trading, and stock investing. The Houston Texans trip is always a favorite. It’s enlightening for students to meet the people ‘behind the scenes’ and to realize there’s more to a sports franchise than just the players.”
Applied Learning Activity for Rice’s Fully Employed MBA students The Houston Oriented Social Enterprise Case Analysis (HOSECA) gives MBA students from the Executives and Professionals programs the opportunity to participate in a real-world applied learning activity outside of work and the traditional classroom. The capstone experience brings together multiple functional areas like strategy, finance, and marketing to solve a real management problem in an array of industries including nonprofit and governmental entities.
HOSECA
Foote commented that some of the average GPA students have been extremely successful. “When they come to Rice, they’re around other students from the same background who are excelling academically. They see the opportunities out there, and they learn that they have to work and be responsible in order to succeed.” She added, “The program has a big entrepreneurship component, and it’s important to remember that some of the most brilliant business leaders were not great students.”
Giving Back Seeing how students develop as a result of the experience is satisfying for Foote and the RSBI staff. “They’re more thoughtful, they’re better leaders, and they tell wonderful stories about how they gave presentations in class and were recognized by teachers for how professional they were,” Foote said. “What’s been especially uplifting is that many of our students have been motivated by volunteerism. They begin seeking ways to get involved with their churches or communities. It’s all about giving back.”
Jones Journal spring 2009 9
Around the School
Around the School
Jones Partners Thought Leadership Series Real Estate Markets and the Credit Crisis: How Did We Get Here and Where Are We Headed?
The economic crisis served as the running theme for the 2008-2009 Jones Partners Thought Leadership Series. Corporate executives, chief economists, and government leaders joined Jones School professors to address the current issues afflicting today’s industries.
Recent and Past Events
Marianne Kah, Chief Economist, ConocoPhillips
Jefferson Duarte, Gerald D. Hines Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance
The Jones Partners Breakfast Series included a Dean’s State of the School address and presentations on the Jones School Action Learning Project and on the award-winning, student-managed M.A. Wright Investment Fund.
Managing Through the Economic Storm
Barbara Ostdiek, Associate Professor of Finance and Statistics
The Jones Partners is a committed group of business leaders working to open doors and build ties between the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business and the Houston business community. for more
information
Bill White, Houston Mayor
Challenges Facing the Oil and Natural Gas Industry
Greg Brenneman, CCMP Capital Advisors Chairman (and former Quiznos CEO) Scott Sonenshein, Assistant Professor of Management
for more
about the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, visit reep.rice.edu.
business.rice.edu
Globalization and Multinationals’ Innovation in Emerging Markets Dr. Haiyang Li, Associate Professor of Strategic Management
The new Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program’s (REEP) Thought Leadership Series brings nationally recognized leaders to Rice and REEP students to explore important ideas and issues in K-12 education. Speakers who have presented before hundreds of local educators this year included Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools Michelle Rhee on January 9 and Teach For America Founder and CEO Wendy Kopp on March 4.
information
The Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management has officially changed its name to the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. In conjunction with the name change, the school has adopted a new logo and will launch a new Web site by fall.
initiatives beyond the MBA that have been added the past two years. The new programs include the popular undergraduate business minor and the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program geared for aspiring K-12 principals. The PhD in Business and a new option for the Rice MBA for Professionals program delivered on the weekends (an addition to the weeknight option) will launch fall 2009. The new name also better incorporates Rice’s Executive Education courses, which have been a part of the Jones School for more than 30 years.
The new name and look is a continuation of marketing efforts that began in 2008, in which the Jones School received the top award for outstanding marketing efforts in the education category from the American Marketing Association’s Houston chapter. By branding more closely with Rice, this exciting change will further enhance the visibility of the school. Additionally, the new name and logo will provide a clearer identity for all programs and
Jones School Dean Bill Glick said, “Overall, the new name and look in tandem with strategic marketing initiatives will allow the Jones School to deliver innovative programs that make a positive impact on leaders and businesses in the global marketplace. Meanwhile, the more dominant use of the ‘Rice’ name will help us continue to attract top-quality students and research faculty who cultivate a diverse community of learning.”
Ted Jones, Chief Economist, Stewart Title Company
DC Chancellor and Teach For America Founder kick off new Rice program
REEP
on the Jones Partners and how you can become a member, visit business.rice.edu/partners.
Running Government as a Business
New name and new look
Unlike any other program in the country, REEP combines a business school education with an intensive educational entrepreneurship curriculum. The program equips current and aspiring leaders with knowledge, skills, and resources to run underserved schools and districts. REEP seeks to influence and change the current educational landscape, creating better outcomes for underserved students.
New weekend format geared for young professionals Beginning this fall, a new weekend format will create added flexibility for young professionals pursuing the Rice MBA while continuing to work. The new weekend option available in the Rice MBA for Professionals program is in response to applicants with less than ten years of work experience who are seeking a high-quality MBA program on a weekend schedule. The current Professionals program with classes held Monday and Wednesday evenings has been popular following its launch in 2006. The new format will cover the same rigorous curriculum; however, classes will meet on alternating weekends on Friday evenings and all day on Saturdays.
A Call to Global Leaders
Rice MBA invites prospective students from around the world During a time that calls for the next generation of leaders in business, the Jones School offered top prospective students a detailed look at the Rice MBA programs through two signature events, the Diversity Preview Weekend and Women’s Preview Weekend. The events allowed attendees to meet with current students, faculty, staff, and alumni and gain a better understanding about the Rice MBA experience. “Students were impressed with the program offerings, and the Jones School succeeded in moving the Rice MBA program to the top of these applicants’ lists,” said Director of Admissions Melissa Blakeslee.
Last year, a total of 121 qualified candidates were invited from a large pool of applications received from around the globe. Twenty percent of the inaugural Diversity Preview Weekend attendees are part of the Class of 2010 Rice MBA students. Assistant Dean for Degree Programs Sean Ferguson ’01 said, “A diverse community of students will bring with it an enhanced diversity of thought.” The next Diversity Preview Weekend is slated for November 6-7, 2009 and the Women’s Preview Weekend is set for January 29-30, 2010. Jones Journal spring 2009 11
Around the School
Around the School
Rice Alliance
Rice Alliance Fast Facts Founded as Rice’s flagship initiative devoted to the support of technology entrepreneurship in Houston and the Southwest
Rice Alliance 2009 Entrepreneurship Centers Conference Entrepreneurship educators from around the world gather in Houston Texas has a longstanding reputation for growing and attracting all kinds of mavericks. In the world of business, it is no different. NASA Astronaut and Texan Bernard A. Harris, Jr., “the first African American to walk in space,” is also CEO and managing partner of a venture capital firm, Vesalius Ventures, Inc., and president of a non-profit, The Harris Foundation, Inc., both in Houston. Catherine Rohr left a successful career on Wall Street and founded Houston-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program, which helps hundreds of prisoners become entrepreneurs. Impressive leaders like Harris and Rohr, as well as Jack Gill of Vanguard Ventures, Michael Holthouse of Holthouse Interests, and Jeff Sanderfer, cofounder of the Acton MBA Program, have made an impact on business and are equally dedicated to education. On October 15-17, 2009, they will share a spotlight — and their ideas on business — as panelists with more than 300 entrepreneurship educators from around the world at the 2009 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) Conference.
Formed as a strategic alliance between the Brown School of Engineering, Jones Graduate School of Business, and Wiess School of Natural Sciences
This is the first year the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Houston will host the signature event of the GCEC, the premier leadership organization for fostering the growth of universitybased entrepreneurship centers. The GCEC Conference provides a unique forum for sharing best practices, networking and new ideas for education, business development, and center development. Conference tracks are designed around the specific issues and challenges confronting university-based entrepreneurship centers. Last year, the annual conference held in Tucson, AZ, attracted more than 225 attendees. New topics on the agenda this year will include novel outreach and
Assisted in the launch of more than 230 new technology companies that have raised over half a billion dollars in funding since 1999
Conducted 100-plus programs that have attracted more than 24,000 entrepreneurs, investors, business executives, researchers, and students globally
community impact, international collaboration, and supporting new businesses. “University-based entrepreneurship centers like Rice Alliance help to promote and foster the growth of entrepreneurship,” said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance and member of the GCEC’s Executive Board. “The GCEC conference is a great opportunity to showcase the thriving entrepreneurism and the support system that exists in Texas and at Rice University. These multidimensional entrepreneurs have a chance to connect with some big drivers of university entrepreneurship, and participants will get a chance to learn from each other.”
Milestones
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information
about the GCEC Conference or about how to get involved with Rice Alliance, visit alliance.rice.edu. business.rice.edu
Jones Journal spring 2009 13
Fundraising goal: $1 billion by 2013
The Centennial Campaign
The Centennial Campaign serves as our most powerful means of accomplishing the objectives of Rice University’s Vision for the Second Century. Rooted in a founding vision that acknowledges no upper limit and propelled by a strategy that has been shaped and influenced by the entire Rice community, the Centennial Campaign seeks to build upon the accomplishments of our first century and pave the way for another 100 years of success. David W. Leebron President, Rice University
Commitment of the Jones School Campaign Goal: $65 million In the face of intense competition for the best talent, the Jones School campaign is all about people. Funds generated through the Centennial Campaign will be geared for professorships and scholarships.
Recruiting and Developing Future Leaders: $30 million
Centennial Campaign No Upper Limit. Still.
The most ambitious fundraising effort in the university’s history to mark the 100th anniversary of Rice University
How will we ensure that the next 100 years will honor the spirit and surpass the achievements of our first century? Vision for the Second Century (V2C) The V2C, Rice’s 10-point strategic vision, can be distilled into three principal areas. Transforming extraordinary students into extraordinary leaders. $400 million Fuel the expansion of our commitment to undergraduate and graduate education and prepare the next generation of leaders to make a distinctive impact in the world.
Facing challenges. Generating solutions. $310 million Generate extensive investment of our research enterprise so that we can put our interdisciplinary and multi-instructional collaborations to work to solve problems.
Learning and leading, locally and globally. $290 million Foster partnerships with leading institutions in Houston and across the world that will benefit our community and extend our global reach.
The Jones School must compete for the best and brightest students. As two-thirds of Rice MBA Full-Time students come from outside of the region, and two-thirds of these students stay in the region, both endowed and current-use scholarships for Rice MBA and PhD students are crucial to bringing the best global talent to Houston.
Recruiting and Retaining the Best Faculty: $35 million Rising stars and exceptional senior faculty contribute to shaping the Jones School as a leading business school. Getting the best faculty members is critical for building on our excellence in the areas of energy, health care, and entrepreneurship. Additional faculty is also needed to support the growth of popular new programs: Rice MBA for Professionals, Rice undergraduate business minor, Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, and the PhD in Business. Learn more about the Centennial Campaign, or ways to give: rice.edu/centennialcampaign
Jones Journal spring 2009 15
Around the School
MEDIA MENTIONS
giving to Jones
Media Mentions
This is a partial listing of the Jones School community’s appearances in the media. For a more detailed report of international, national, and local media coverage, visit: business.rice.edu/news.
What does Jones Fund support? The Jones Fund is the annual fund that provides unrestricted revenue to support scholarships, program enhancement, and other operating expenses. Last fiscal year, more than 50 percent of the contributions raised through the Jones Fund directly supported scholarships and global recruitment efforts for top candidates. The Fund also supports program resources including the Career Management Center, which placed 90 percent of Class of 2008 graduates in jobs.
Providing Student Scholarships In 1985, while working as a chemical engineer at Monsanto
A.R. Ginn (left) and Norman C. Chambers, CEO of NCI Building Systems
A.R. Ginn Fund
Employees recognize former CEO with Jones School donation In 2007, NCI Building Systems CEO A.R. Ginn didn’t receive the typical retirement gift for a CEO. After nearly 50 years in the metal construction industry, his employees wanted to give him something profound — a legacy of sorts. A football player at Rice, Ginn was forced to drop out before graduating, but he never forgot the value of that education. Prior to his retirement, with his company
flourishing, Ginn decided to create a custom program for his employees that would tie cutting-edge business acumen back to NCI operations. Over a couple of years, 120 NCI employees attended oneweek programs. In Ginn’s honor, upon his retirement, his employees returned the favor and created the A.R. Ginn Fund. The new fund now supports the popular undergraduate business minor.
from senior management that I one of the company’s major Jones Fund Chair 2008-2009 T. Kevin DeNicola, Senior VP and CFO of KBR, Inc.
businesses someday. He drew a chart representing my career so far. One data point placed high
in the upper right corner represented my career aspiration. He asked me if the slope of the line representing my current career trajectory would likely intersect where I wanted to be. The answer was no. He said, “Then you must do something to
Corporate Investors Group Members of the Jones School’s Corporate Investors Group gain a strategic competitive advantage in these turbulent times: a strong connection to the thought leadership and industry involvement of Houston’s premier business school. Through an annual investment in the School’s programs and goals, they identify future talent, they are at the forefront of new knowledge and research, and they build strong corporate identity with tomorrow’s business leaders.
Current Members Baker Hughes Inc.
Global Geophysical Services
Baylor College of Medicine
Hewlett-Packard Company
mate with a low student-to-faculty ratio, and the curriculum
Chevron
Invesco Aim
looked intense. I was so grateful to receive a scholarship. I
ConocoPhillips
Korn/Ferry International and Futurestep
thought then that if I were successful, I would try to return
Cooper Industries
Marathon Oil Corporation
the favor by setting up a scholarship to assist students with
Duke Energy Corporation
Oceaneering International, Inc.
tuition costs and to help the Jones School compete in
El Paso Corporation
Pride International, Inc.
Ernst & Young
Quintana Energy Partners, L.P.
ExxonMobil
Shell
FMC Technologies
Spectra Energy
Fulbright & Jaworski
Stewart Title
change the slope of that line!” That is when I decided to go to Rice. The program was inti-
attracting the highest caliber of students to the program. That’s why I personally support the Jones School. The Jones Fund supports scholarships in a big way — nearly 50 percent. Please support the Jones Fund today with the most generous gift you can give and invest in current and future Rice MBAs like yourself.
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information
on giving, visit business.rice.edu/give. business.rice.edu
Battling for bucks
Going to market
“Why do consumers buy extended service contracts?” According to Professor of Marketing Ajay Kalra’s study, which appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, comsumers buy them, because they are relatively poor, and they buy them for fun products.
Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, is mentioned in an article reporting on the recent Rice Business Plan Competition.
Alumnus Ward Polzin ’86 co-wrote this article discussing the causes of volatility in energy markets earlier this year.
The New York Times, June 14, 2009
in Texas City, I told someone wanted the opportunity to run
Service Warranties and the Cost of Fun
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information
on joining the Corporate Investors Group, visit business.rice.edu/Corporate_Investors.
Today’s MBA grads create their own jobs by launching firms USA Today, May 7, 2009
The Rice Business Plan Competition is mentioned in an article reporting that many recent MBA graduates are starting their own companies.
Helping kids with food allergies The Today Show, May 6, 2009
Alumna Robyn O’Brien ’98, who authored the new book, The Unhealthy Truth, talked about the recent addition of chemicals to the American food supply. The founder of AllergyKids has also appeared on CNN, Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show and Evening News, FOX, and ABC Money Matters.
Business students take on international assignment Houston Business Journal, April 24, 2009
Marc Epstein, distinguished research professor of management, is quoted in a news brief reporting on a Jones School/Rice 360º program where Rice MBA students applied their business skills in Rwanda.
CNNMoney.com, April 21, 2009
HBJ unveils 40 Under 40 honorees
They ask their clients to think like a customer
Houston Business Journal, April 6, 2009
Houston Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2008
Three Jones School members, BrandExtract President Bo Bothe ’05, Dynegy CFO Holli C. Nichols ’10, and Adjunct Professor of Management and DFJ Mercury Co-founder Blair Garrou, were recognized as leaders who excel in their industry and show dynamic leadership in their community.
Siddharth Singh, assistant professor of marketing, is quoted in an article on a method that gets companies to focus on their true business objectives and begin to think like a customer.
About face
The Economist, March 7, 2009 Research on the connection between personal appearance and credit worthiness by the Gerald D. Hines Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance Jefferson Duarte, garnered dozens of media appearances including The Financial Times, The New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.
Cheaper gas doesn’t mean anyone’s spending freely The Washington Post, Oct. 22, 2008
Paul Dholakia, the William S. Mackey Jr. and Verne F. Simons distinguished associate professor of marketing, is quoted in an article on the effect of the recent drop in gasoline prices on the economy. This Associated Press article also made dozens of media appearances including the Los Angeles Times and Newsday.
Investing in principals
Winning Over E.M.B.A. Spouses
Houston Chronicle, Jan. 17, 2009
Wall Street Journal, Oct. 14, 2008
An editorial discusses the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program, a compelling new program for K-12 school leaders that combines an MBA with an intensive educational entrepreneurship curriculum.
Sean Ferguson ’01, assistant dean for degree programs, is quoted in an article about how b-schools have stepped up programs to get spouses and significant others in tune with students.
Chief executives beware: Analysts may seal your fate
Why stock options are a bad option
The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2008
An article on CEO compensation through stock options cites research by Gerard Sanders, professor of strategic management.
Research by Anthea Yan Zhang, associate professor of management, indicated that corporate boards are more likely to be influenced by the recommendations of equity analysts following the 2002 rule change.
Harvard Business Publishing, April 21, 2009
Oil & Gas Journal, November 2008
‘Business News’
KUHF-FM, Oct. 6, 2008 Barbara Ostdiek, associate professor of finance and statistics, is quoted in a story on the possible effect of the federal bailout package on the financial markets.
Jones Journal spring 2009 17
To understand more about the causes of the crisis, how it might play out, and the impact it has had on both students and faculty, Jones Journal recently tapped five faculty members from the Jones School’s finance department. Drawing on their particular expertise in topics such as economic history, real estate finance, and corporate investment activity, these professors discuss the rough road ahead, some ways in which the development of this crisis has surprised the experts, and ultimately, why Jones School graduates will do just fine.
Faculty RoundTable
Here’s what they had to say.
LendingtheirFinancial Expertise By Chris Warren
The current economic crisis is so pervasive and unrelenting that it remains topic number one in many conversations. And, for good reason. Not only has it resulted in very real pain — with millions losing their jobs and seeing the values of their homes and portfolios dwindle — but also this economic crisis seems different from others in the past, less predictable and more ominous.
business.rice.edu
Jones Journal spring 2009 19
James Weston
Gustavo Grullon
George Kanatas
My outlook has grown increasingly pessimistic. What started as a financial panic has spread like a virus through the rest of the economy. That’s because a capitalist economy relies on the movement of capital; so, when the capital markets freeze up, it hurts everybody across all sectors of the economy. Think about all the problems the automobile industry has and the myriad reasons behind them. Then think about the dealers who rely on short-term credit to fill their lots before people can buy the cars. When the credit markets seize up, the dealers freeze up. They’re paying exorbitant rates, and they have to charge prices commensurate with that risk — but people won’t buy at that price. And then you trickle that in with all the other problems, and it’s catastrophic. It’s going to be the longest and most painful recession we’ve had since the 1930s.
We are in a situation where there is a lot of uncertainty, and the problem with uncertainty is that it stops people, and especially corporations, from spending. There’s hesitation because, before making huge investments, like building new facilities or hiring people, companies want to see more stable economic conditions. In fact, the evidence shows that companies tend to delay their investments and major projects when there is a lot of uncertainty. The other problem right now is that uncertainty is also affecting banks in terms of their lending activity. Banks are concerned about what’s going to happen in the future, so most of them are hoarding cash instead of lending to protect themselves from future shocks in the economy. At least in the short term, I’m very pessimistic.
I think the economy is going to get worse. To me the big question is, how bad and how long? It’s not clear. Commentators have to say something when they get on TV, and government officials have to be optimistic; they can’t be pessimistic, not the Fed or the Treasury people. But, I think most reputable economists would argue that no one really knows.
It’s not just a recession like the other ones, or at least the recent ones. It’s a recession that has the characteristics of having been a failure of an important market, the asset-backed security market. When you borrow money to buy a house, you may think that the actual lender is the bank with which you are contacting for a mortgage. But, in reality, the lender might be someone else — a Japanese investor sitting in Tokyo, a Chinese investor in the Chinese central bank, or someone sitting on Wall Street buying asset-backed securities.
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Barbara Ostdiek Through this process called securitization, you create securities out of assets that are normally illiquid. So, if a banker wanted to trade one loan, the loan probably wouldn’t be large enough to interest Wall Street investors. But, once you package the loans together, you can create structures that may have good credit quality and are easy to trade. In this crisis the failure of the subprime mortgage market — which is an asset-backed security market — is causing all of the asset-backed securities to suffer. And, they are suffering because there is a general level of suspicion about the credit quality of these securities.
– Gustavo Grullon
What Impact will the Stimulus Have, and What Can Be Learned from History?
What Has Been Most Surprising About The Economic Crisis? Jefferson Duarte
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We are in a situation where there is a lot of uncertainty, and the problem with uncertainty is that it stops people, and especially corporations, from spending.
“
Where is the Economy Headed?
What has surprised me is the fragility of the money markets and the flow of capital. I think the linkages were much greater and much more fragile, and the tipping point was closer than we realized. To some extent, we have seen two sides of the same coin. On one side, we developed an efficient, responsive financial machine that did an incredible job of matching suppliers and demanders of capital. On the flip side, like a high-performance vehicle, if something goes out of whack, it all grinds to a halt.
George Kanatas
Barbara Ostdiek
James Weston
Robert Barro, an economics professor at Harvard, made an interesting point in regard to the stimulus. He observed that we seem to have thrown out 75 years of research on this issue and said, “OK, let’s just apply what we knew in 1936.” Well, we have learned an awful lot since then, but in the midst of this crisis, we seem to be disregarding what we learned and repeating what we did in 1936. It’s a mixed view from leading economists on both sides of the argument, but there has been a significant amount of research showing that government spending does not necessarily create new jobs and therefore, may not get us out of this deep recession. However, the economy will eventually recover, perhaps despite the actions of the government.
As far as the stimulus package goes, I’m totally sympathetic to the desire to do something. I’m concerned that we’re spending too much time focusing on the Great Depression rather than looking to the more recent lessons from Japan, where pushing interest rates to zero and using massive fiscal stimulus didn’t do the job. It wasn’t until they really had structural changes in the economy, and the “zombie” banks and the “zombie” companies were allowed to fail, that they got back on a firm footing. The lesson we should have learned from Japan is that you have to suffer some pain and you have to let entities fail to get the structural changes you need.
Since the 1930s, economists have been trying to test whether or not government spending really stimulates the economy. There are good arguments why it would. Economist John Maynard Keynes said that, even if you employed people to dig ditches and then fill them up, it pumps money into the economy. The classical school’s response to that is, yes, but that kind of spending crowds out other investments. The fact that you’re taking money away from taxpayers to give to “ditch diggers” actually destroys productivity and jobs. So after 75 years of testing whether or not government stimulus affects the business cycle, the disappointing answer from the economics profession is that it’s unclear. Probably both forces are at work, and so the net effect is close to zero. Nonetheless, you see elected representatives who are physically unable to sit around and hope that conditions improve because it makes them feel as though they’re not doing their jobs. It’s simply unclear if this trillion-dollar stimulus package has made an impact.
George Kanatas Jesse H. Jones Professor of Management
Dr. Kanatas teaches economics and corporate finance, and his work has been published in numerous academic journals.
How Has The Crisis Impacted Your Teaching?
How Have Your Students Reacted To The Crisis? James Weston
Barbara Ostdiek
James Weston
I teach a course on the economics of incentives. This economic crisis has provided many, many examples of the power of incentives, for good or for bad. We had the distortion of incentives, from mortgage originators, to politicians, and all the way up to corporate CEOs at banks and other financial institutions.
I definitely spend much more time on current events than I have historically, and I find my students are keenly aware of current events. But to have a chance at understanding the current economic and financial crisis, we need to understand the big drivers through a handful of core macroeconomic concepts.
Every day there is a headline, and not just a headline that is fun to talk about in terms of “this is news,” but something that struck deep to the theoretical heart of finance. Why is it that the regulatory structure is like this? Why is it the nature of these kinds of investment banks to take these kinds of risks? Why do they have leverage ratios greater than 20? It is a nice way to teach these core principles with some dramatic real-life examples.
George Kanatas Our young people should be looking not just two or three years down the road, but 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road, and developing skills for that future. I don’t see students who are overly pessimistic, and they shouldn’t be. They understand this is another transition period, and they will get through it and do very well in the future.
Jefferson Duarte
Jefferson Duarte
It has changed my teaching a lot, partially because I teach real estate finance. So imagine how it is such a great opportunity right now. I can go to the classroom, open the Wall Street Journal and say let’s talk about this. In this sense, it changes teaching. And I think, even in the long term, I can see myself every single year going back to the crisis and discussing what happened there.
I see some of my students trying to find opportunities in the crisis. The bottom line is that opportunities are going to be available in real estate finance. Real estate investors are sitting on the sidelines just waiting and doing their homework. Once you can see the light at the end of the tunnel of this crisis, money will start to move back into real estate and it’s going to be a more opportunistic trade.
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George Kanatas
Companies aren’t hiring, so students are bummed because they came here to get better jobs, and those better jobs are evaporating. On the other hand, these students decided to make a massive investment in their human capital, and they’ve done it at a critical time where that additional human capital is most highly valued on the margins. So, they are coming out of school with extra ammunition, their MBA, at precisely the right time.
I see some of my students trying to find opportunities in the crisis. – Jefferson Duarte
business.rice.edu
Faculty Contributors Gustavo Grullon Associate Professor of Finance
Dr. Grullon whose research interests include corporate finance and empirical asset pricing has appeared in publications that include the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Business.
Jefferson Duarte
Gerald D. Hines Associate Professor of Real Estate Finance Dr. Duarte has been published in academic journals such as the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Econometrics, and the Journal of Financial Economics.
James Weston
Associate Professor of Finance Dr. Weston is a former assistant economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His research on corporate finance issues has been widely published in leading academic publications.
Barbara Ostdiek
Associate Professor of Finance and Statistics Dr. Ostdiek has most recently taught Economic Environment of Business and Investments. Her research on market volatility has been published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and other leading journals.
lint Carlson
Capital Thinking Rice ’79, MBA ’82 President and CIO of Carlson Capital
By Ann S. Boor
It was Rice twice for Clint Carlson, who earned his undergraduate degree at the University in 1979 and his MBA at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in 1982. Carlson grew up in Pennsylvania, but found the kind of education he was looking for — with a high-quality school in a large, vibrant city — in Houston. Carlson remained in the city after graduating from the Jones School, earning a law degree at the University of Houston and building his resume in investment strategies and risk arbitrage. He later moved to Fort Worth to become the head of risk arbitrage for the investment arm of the highly successful financial firm Bass Brothers Enterprises. Five years later, he opened the doors of his own company. Today, Carlson Capital, L.P., employs more than 120 people in its U.S. offices in Dallas, Houston, New York, and Greenwich, CT. Ten years ago, Carlson Capital opened a London office to enhance the firm’s effectiveness in the European global markets. Carlson, who also serves on the Council of Overseers of the Jones School, recently spoke with the Jones Journal.
business.rice.edu
Jones Journal Fall 2008 19
But hedge funds certainly did protect capital more and outperformed more than they ever had. Once this panic stage has passed, I think a lot of investors will come back and say this is pretty good risk-reward.
Where do you weigh in on the current debate about the banking system?
[
QA &
Are you an entrepreneur at heart?
I always knew I wanted to start my own company at some point. But you have to build up the qualifications and the capital to be able to go on your own. I love this business, and I love the stock market. For me, it was always a question of when, not whether.
What is it that you love about the stock market?
I’m a curious person, and in this business, you get to learn every day. You try to figure out how things work, what makes the economy move, and what represents good value in stocks. You learn about different aspects of politics, because that certainly affects the stock market. Every day there’s a new challenge. Naturally, we want to work with people who feel the same way. At our firm, the number one attribute we look for is a high degree of intellectual curiosity and a general love of the business. We want people who are excited about waking up every day and getting their hands on the Wall Street Journal, because they want to know what’s going on.
business.rice.edu
I think the best investors have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of history.
]
Your approach seems to be working. What else distinguishes your firm? Good performance always matters. But, we’ve also had the view that it’s the clients’ money, and we’re going to provide a high degree of service and transparency to them. Historically, hedge funds seem to have had adversarial relationships with clients. I think we can do better, and clients deserve better. The rest has to do with a very simple philosophy of life. Come in every day and try to make good decisions, and hopefully, if you put a string of enough good days together, you become successful. There’s not a lot of magic in it. Building a hedge fund is no different from building any other kind of business.
What do you think of the recent criticism of hedge funds? It’s somewhat ironic that hedge funds were criticized a lot for their performance in 2008. The average hedge fund was down 18 percent while the S&P was down 38 percent. Twenty percentage points is probably the most the hedge fund industry has ever outperformed the stock market. Unfortunately, we lost money, and a lot of investors had the misperception that hedge funds would never lose money.
I think we’re in a bit of denial to think the banking system can be rescued without making some hard decisions. And, I think that the model the regulators use in Texas — closing down insolvent banks and selling off the good parts of the franchise — is where we have to go. We have to admit that there are a number of banks that are insolvent and that need to be put into different hands.
What have we learned from this financial crisis that might help us going forward? I think we were in a very benign economic environment for a long time. How we got to where we are now is a long discussion, but everyone assumed things were going to stay the same. They looked at risk over the past 10 years, and, based on that, they didn’t think they were taking too much risk. But, that isn’t a great deal of historical perspective. I think the best investors have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of history. At the same time, the most common thing you hear everyone say is that past results don’t guarantee future performance. But you have to take a forward-looking view, as well, not just at the rewards, but also at the risks.
You see a lot of value in looking at things from different perspectives. The best thing I can do as a leader is encourage people to think independently. You can’t always follow the crowd. You have to question whether common wisdom is true. I learned a lot about this from Kent Anderson, a great adjunct professor at the Jones School who shared his real-world experience. That was invaluable. Anderson debunked the common wisdom that bigger is better in banking. When you actually run the numbers, smaller banks have higher returns on assets. Synergy in banking doesn’t hold. That’s something that stayed with me for a
long time. Much of the time, “common wisdom” does not hold true. The problem is that if people say something enough, it becomes accepted as true. At our firm, we question everything and find the facts to prove or disprove what’s assumed to be “wisdom.”
Is there any advice that you would like to share? I always ask anyone who presents an investment idea, whether they’re internal or external, to tell me how I can lose money on the deal. If you haven’t thought through the ways you can lose money, you haven’t completely thought through the investment. If someone tells me, “You can’t lose money; it’s a sure thing,” I tell that person to go back and think some more.
[
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Imagination is the key element.
What would surprise people about your business? Imagination is the key element, which may be surprising because, on the surface, it does not seem like the most creative business in the world. But, you must be able to imagine what could happen next. You have to create different scenarios and work through the ones that are likely to happen. Hand-in-hand with imagination is being an independent thinker — independent thinking backed up by good research.
Some people might think you have a stressful job. But you seem to be having fun. I have a lot of fun at work. This is my chosen profession. I would do this if my firm was tiny or 10 times the size we are now. This is what I do, and I love it. The negative of the past few years in hedge funds is that many people got into the business because it seemed like a fast moneymaking opportunity, but it wasn’t their profession. I think the ones who view this as a profession will be the only ones around for the long term.
After earning a degree in economics from Texas Christian University in 1984, he worked as an analyst in the investment banking area of Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup). Then oil prices cratered, falling to about $6 per barrel by the mid-1980s, from their 1981 peak of more than $100, according to Friezo. On top of that, the stock market crash on Black Monday — October 19, 1987 — saw
From
Energy toEquity
Michael Friezo ’88 by Karen M. Kroll
In the early 1980s, the oil and gas markets in Houston and much of Texas were doing great. After all, the price of oil in the U.S. had skyrocketed in the wake of the Iranian revolution and other developments. About that same time, Michael Friezo took his father’s advice and headed from New Jersey to Texas for college. “He told me that the streets are paved with gold,” Friezo says.
business.rice.edu
the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop more than 22 percent in a single day.
weighs in on the economic crash
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Today’s students will play a part in finding solutions to these challenges. A Move to Capital Markets
Exploring the Economic Crash
Given the rapid decline in both the energy and equity markets, Friezo made the pragmatic decision to head back to school at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. After graduating from Rice in 1988, Friezo began his journey in the energy field. At Salomon Brothers’ New York office, he handled investment banking for the oil and gas industry. In 1996, he moved to Credit Suisse First Boston’s equity capital markets area, where he acted as a liaison between companies raising capital and the institutional investors that purchased equity and equitylinked offerings. Again, his focus was the oil and gas industry, as well as new companies in the energy and power sectors. For instance, if an energy company wanted to go public, Friezo would coordinate the transactions among the company, the bankers, and the buyers.
Drawing from his experience both on Wall Street and within the energy industry, Friezo points to a range of factors that contributed to today’s economic woes. One was the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, in 1999. That allowed banks to own other financial companies and invest in or underwrite securities. To get business, many banks began treating their loans like loss leaders in a grocery store. Then, to offset declining margins on loans, they moved aggressively into investment banking, including trading in such securities as collateralized debt obligations.
Seven years later, Friezo joined his current employer, Deutsche Bank, as co-head of the equity capital markets business; he now is the sole head. In this role, in addition to managing a 50-person group, he’s responsible for new equity and equity-related issues from natural resource companies. To be sure, the current economic turbulence, which stretches across the globe and is hitting almost all industries, is broader, deeper, and potentially more serious than the oil bust of the 1980s. But, Friezo says, some similarities can be found. business.rice.edu
At the same time, the U.S. government took steps to boost the percentage of Americans who were homeowners. While in itself not an unworthy goal, this initiative helped lead to the creation of instruments like mortgage-backed securities, in which groups of mortgages were bundled together and sold. Bundling mortgages is a way to create a viable secondary market for them and lower the overall risk of default, as the risk that a single mortgage holder will default is greater than the likelihood that everyone in a group will be unable to make his or her payments. However, Friezo notes, the designers of mortgage-backed and other similar securities failed to consider the degree to which the various risks associated with them were correlated. As has become painfully clear, a failure in one area, such as subprime mortgages, can reverberate across markets and industries.
Risks and Gains As governments, businesses, and individuals work through the recession and credit crunch, many are deleveraging, or cutting their debt loads. Ultimately, that’s all to the good, Friezo points out, as many relied too heavily on credit to fund their purchases. He cautions, however, that cutting back carries its own risks in the short term. Many of our purchases helped boost economies in other parts of the world, such as
India and China, because the goods we acquired were manufactured there. With the money gained from their exports, these governments could purchase the bonds the U.S. government was issuing. That’s particularly true for the Chinese, who accounted for about two-thirds of bond purchases. If manufacturing production in China and elsewhere heads down due to declining demand from the United States, it will be more difficult for these countries to continue accumulating our debt. “So, the cost of funding the stimulus package will go up and debt will get more expensive,” Friezo says. The stimulus package can help, but Friezo believes that it probably will take longer to work than people would like, and it’s less focused and more pork-ridden than is optimal. Add in the challenges facing us with energy security, funding for Social Security, and an expensive, fragmented health care system, and the outlook is sobering.
Looking Ahead “Today’s students will play a part in finding solutions to these challenges,” Friezo says. One key, of course, will be gaining a thorough understanding of finance and economics. Equally important, today’s scholars need to be able to put these concepts into a broader context. “We still actively look for kids with well-rounded academic experience. We do the New York Times test,” Friezo says. He will ask an applicant to discuss current topics in politics, business, sports, and the arts. “People like to do business with people they like,” Friezo says, and those relationships typically start with conversations about the news of the day. Fortunately, Friezo notes, graduates of the Jones School appear to have a good handle on the realities of commerce, and more than hold their own, even in the sometimes brutal world of Wall Street. He adds that Rice University is now a standard recruiting ground for top-notch finance firms.
Learning to Lead There is no doubt MBA courses provided Friezo with a firm understanding of business and financial concepts. Group case studies and presentations especially helped enhance his communication and interpersonal skills. “It’s the ability to listen, articulate problems, and come up with a coherent solution that clients are really looking for,” he says. “You need a solid grounding in economic theory, but you really need good interpersonal skills to lead in business.” It was while he was participating in a variety of smallgroup projects at the Jones School that Friezo began to appreciate and develop his talent for organizing and motivating his colleagues — attributes that have been key to his success. He notes that many workers are brilliant at the technical aspects of their jobs, but fall short of becoming leaders of their organizations because they aren’t able to work with others to effectively develop, communicate, and execute company strategy. Students must learn that once they’re in the business world, they’re part of something larger than themselves. “It’s not about you,” Friezo says. Instead, workers at all levels need to come together to reach the organization’s goals. On a broader level, Friezo adds, the skills that students in the Jones School gain through their coursework — thoughtfully framing problems, identifying causes and possible solutions, and then building a consensus to address them — will be key to turning around the economy.
Jones Graduate Student Alumni Association (JGSAA) 2008-09 Officers and Board Members PRESIDENT Erich Bell ‘03 Assistant Controller Quantum Energy Partners PRESIDENT ELECT Bob Parkey ‘88 President & CEO ICO, Inc.
Board Members: Mike Andries ‘02 (Past President) Principal Consultant mABC LLC Landy Haile ‘03 Triad Real Estate Consulting Group, LLC Joe Branch ‘04 Sr. Manager, International Marketing Partnerships National Basketball Association Lisa Kudchadker-Gordon ‘02 Materials Manager BP David Case ‘05 Associate JP Morgan Chase Priscilla Plumb ‘01 Director Hewlett-Packard Company Francisco Castro ‘02 CEO Aliant Capital S.A. de C.V. Julie Davidson ‘04 Consultant Cogent Compensation Partners, Inc. Mark Courtney ‘94 Director CIMA Energy, LTD Nkem Ogbechie ‘03 Cappello Capital Corporation Ted Dimitry ‘02 Director GEM Insurance Agencies, L.P. Kathryn Young ‘04 Vice President, Operations Sirius Solutions Kelly Enos ‘84 CFO EquaTerra Jack Ledford ‘02 Project Manager KBR, Inc. Carolyn Galfione ‘97 Financial Advisor & CFO Linscomb and Williams Doreen Stoller ‘91 Executive Director Hermann Park Conservancy
Update Your Contact Info! Visit JonesAlumni.com
Dear Fellow Alumni,
After two major shocks, Hurricane Ike and the economic collapse, the JGSAA Board is quickly shifting its focus to help alumni successfully navigate this difficult economy through increased career support. We are working closely with the Jones School, the Career Management Center (CMC), and Alumni Relations to provide attractive alumni opportunities that will ultimately enhance the school’s profile. Enhanced Career Services Most recently, the Board’s Continuing Education and Career Management Committee met with the CMC to offer alumni perspective on initiatives that would best maximize efforts to assist all Rice MBAs in managing their careers amid turbulent times. These results include: • Executive recruiter event – featured several top headhunters and placement specialists through a partnership with MBA Council of Houston • 9th Annual Career Rodeo – premier event attracted 160 alumni and students and 30 companies • Alumni Resume Workshop – featured individual career counselors working with alumni to polish and refine resumes • MBA Focus & JobBug – online search tools and job postings for alumni
Greater Networking Opportunities It is also the Board’s priority to build more opportunities that facilitate networking throughout the Jones School alumni community and beyond. To enhance and increase opportunities for alumni interaction with other Jones School alumni, current students, non-Jones MBAs, and the greater Rice community, we focused on events catering to a broad array of alumni interests including:
• Increased exposure to the Rice community with key developments: the revived Jones School business track within the Rice Alumni College Weekend and Maury Bronstein’s ’97 election to the board of the Association of Rice Alumni (ARA)
• Regular meetings of alumni groups in Austin, Los Angeles, and New York City, including collaborations with MBA alumni from other top business schools
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Notes
1970s/1980s
My hope is that every alum is able to take part in at least one of the many offerings available to Jones School alumni. The best way to know about all Jones School offerings is to ensure your contact information is up to date at JonesAlumni.com.
Stephanie Rudd (BA ’76, MBA ’78) is currently an
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestion, feel free to contact me, Shaheen, or any Board member. Be sure to visit JonesAlumni.com for a calendar of Jones School activities. Thank you for your dedication — it’s been an honor serving you.
Erich Bell ‘03 JGSAA President, 2008-2009 Erich.Bell@alumni.rice.edu
Go to the lost Alumni link and help us reconnect with your classmates.
David Weinberg ’87 serves at M Moser Associates as the director-head of office in New York City.
managing director at Tradewinds Global Investors, LLC in Los Angeles where she serves as a portfolio manager for two products and as a global media analyst.
Kerwin Drouet ’76 is the
In closing, I’d like to congratulate Dave VanHorn ’00 and Jay Hawthorn ’05 as this year’s alumni service award winners, recognizing their consistent and inspiring dedication of time and talent to furthering the Jones School’s mission.
Help us find lost alumni!
Joann Barry ’89 was named
• 1060 LinkedIn Jones School members (up from 500 last summer) encompassing more than 25 percent of all Jones alumni
• Alumni Dinner on April 3 which featured Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO Jim Turley ’78 • Dean Bill Glick’s Inaugural State of the School Address, “The Journey to Business School Excellence,” held at the Jones School and available to online attendees
Class
and log in to the alumni directory.
owner of Tollway Partners, Inc. in Houston.
adjunct professor in the Jones School where she works with teams of students on real projects submitted by companies to utilize the skills they have obtained.
1 Michael W. Tankersley ’78
is approaching the close of his second year serving as the first Inspector General of the ExportImport Bank of the U.S. He and his staff of 10 are responsible for audits and investigations of a government agency that provides $14 billion/year of credit support for U.S. exports to more than 150 countries. Serving has been a great privilege, and one that by tradition, and unlike other presidential appointees, he didn’t have to resign when the new administration arrived in January. More on inspecting and generalling at www.exim.gov/oig. To keep things interesting, he married Karen Cornell in December of 2008 and is commuting to D.C. from Dallas. Karen, an Aggie, is busy as the general counsel of Lehman Brothers
Bank. In their spare time, they provide guidance to seven children between them and express constant thanks for the three who have left the family payroll. If you are ever in D.C., give Michael a call! Award-winning Shah Gilani ’81 is the primary designer of
Gilani Furniture, Inc. where he is responsible for furniture and lighting design, and marketing.
Pamela Reiland ’82 is
senior vice president at GulfStar Group, a boutique investment and merchant banking firm headquartered in Houston that offers financial advisory services to the middle market companies.
Kelly Enos ’84 is the CFO at EquaTerra which is headquartered in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Peter Tellegen ’85 is the CFO at Complete Energy Holdings LLC in Houston which was established to capitalize on attractive investment opportunities for power generation assets. Clayton Chambers ’86 is
a partner at Davis/Chambers & Company, Ltd. in Houston which specializes in business valuation.
Todd Garner ’89 is the
owner of Pinnacle Royalties, Ltd., oil and gas acquisition firm in Dallas.
Amrish Macedo ’89 is the owner of Predictis LLC in the hospital and health care industry in Philadelphia and a consultant with Merck.
1990s
Jeff Miller ’90 is the director
of slot marketing at the MGM Mirage in Las Vegas.
Frances Davidson MooreJones ’90 launched a new business to help people communicate with foreign workers through flash cards. The business, www.TranslatedPhrase.com, will expand to publish multi-language communication cards for medical, education, construction, and other industries.
Mark McMeans ’92
recently cofounded Brasada Capital Management, a longshort equity hedge fund manager in Houston, along with three other principals who worked together for many years at AIM Investments (now Invesco Aim). He has enjoyed staying involved with the school over the years: he was president of the Alumni Association in 1999 and currently
serves on the Wright Fund advisory board. Being involved gives him “an excuse to come back to campus occasionally and to feel all the brain waves emanating from the Jones School.” He lives in Sugar Land with his wife of 20 years, Sarah, and their four kids.
Mark Courtney ’94 is the
vice president-business development at Cima Energy in Houston.
James Lee ’94 is the founder of Preferred Finance Partners which provides accounting and finance assistance and outsourcing to all sizes of companies since 2004 in Kansas City, MO. Kathy Orr ’94 is currently the assistant vice president of Aon Consulting in New York City. Dave Saunders ’94 is
the founder and CEO of PAVA Group in Silicon Valley. Last year, he accurately called a global market crash. He has met with former Professor Steve Currall in London about the crash and trust and systemic risk and alumni Chad Kinzelberg ’90, who is managing his venture capital portfolio. He is preparing PAVA clients for a continued worsening of the global deflationary depression while working on several projects: co-authoring a paper with FINRISK on how to correctly assess counterparty risk in deflation, running an analyst firm, starting an NGO for investment in sustainable agriculture, and working with companies at the intersection of science and agriculture. PAVA continues to advise traditional Swiss clients on how to manage their technology businesses through a depression.
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Jones Journal spring 2009 33
Jones School Recent Accolades
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Notes 2
If you would like to get in touch with Dave or receive a copy of the company newsletter, please email him at Dave@pavagroup.com.
Amy Oates Fitzgerald ’95
has been the marketing director for Naked Juice of PepsiCo in Los Angeles since 2007. She has worked for PepsiCo the past eight years.
Paul May ’95 is the cofounder of BuzzStream which helps businesses get found through search engines, blogs, and media.
Julie Neymeyer ’95 is the owner of Avenue Homes in Houston. Neil Folsom ’96 is the owner of Folsom Enterprises, Inc. in Dallas.
Fran Vallejo ’96 is the new vice president and treasurer of ConocoPhillips. Erik Akopiantz ’97 is the
COO of Paranet Solutions, LLC in Dallas where he leads Paranet’s Managed Services and Professional Services business units.
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The Mid-Continent Companies, Ltd. in Houston and president of Van Pelt Enterprises, Inc.
Robyn O’Brien ’98, founder
2000s
of AllergyKids, authored a new book, The Unhealthy Truth (Random House 2009). Her story has appeared in The New York Times, CNN, and most recently the Today Show.
Pierce Owens ’98 of CB
Richard Ellis (CBRE) was promoted to vice president. Pierce joined CBRE in 2003 and is an investment specialist with the firm’s Portfolio Services team. He was named 2005 CBRE-Houston Rookie of the Year. In 2007, Wal-Mart Realty awarded Pierce and the Portfolio Services team its “Broker of the Year Award.” The same year, he earned the Certified Commercial Investment Members certification (CCIM).
2 Maya Houston ’99
is proud to announce Sabina Elizabeth, who was born Feb. 27, 2008 and welcomed by big sister Celia and brother Paul. She is thrilled to start with the Houston Public Library Foundation in July 2009.
Patrick Van Pelt ’99 is currently the managing director at
director at Alvarez & Marsal in the Houston office, an independent global professional services firm.
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, and big sister Claire, are happy to announce the birth of Frederick “David” Rosenberg, who was born Jan. 8, 2009.
Robert Bobo ’03 is senior
vice president and director of Surety & Energy CID at Lockton Companies. Additionally, he is a regional vice president for the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, a member of the board of directors and a member of its Finance Committee. Robert remains an active participant with Rice providing key executive corporate speakers and sponsors to the annual Women in Leadership Conference for the National Association of Women MBAs.
Marty Blick ’01 is president
of Mirror Publishers in Houston.
Ted Dimitry ’02 joined the
and husband Bradley Sabloff welcome Bryce, Cooper, and Darcy (from left to right) on May 12, 2008. “The Americans now outnumber the Canadians in our household.”
8 Ellen (Sykora) Dylla ’04
of Benchmark Electronics, Inc. and David Dylla are proud to announce the birth of Abigail Marie Dylla. She was born January 19, 2009, weighed 5 lb and 15 oz, and was 18.5” long.
Haile ’03 and 6 Marta Landy Michael ’03
are proud to announce the newest member of their family, Ethan Landy Haile, born Dec. 19, 2008. She weighed 7 lb and 7 oz and was 21” long.
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Nkem Ogbechie ’03 and
his wife Angela are proud to announce the birth of Masina
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Laura Schilling ’03 graduated from Halliburton’s President’s Leadership and Excellence Program, a year-long development program, and was promoted to investor relations manager in Houston. She has been with Halliburton for the last five years in various roles in sales and marketing.
Ron Akhtar ’04 was named innovations and new products manager at Reliant Energy in May 2008.
3 Audrey Fersten ’02
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business.rice.edu
’02 and Scott ’04 5 Sarah Rosenberg
CEO of Air Liquide’s health care division.
Hays Companies’ new office in Houston as an account executive on Feb. 2, 2009. He brings experience in the procurement and management of insurance brokerage products and services in the area of energy risk management. Founded in 1994, the Hays Companies is a privately held insurance brokerage firm. The Houston office specializes in energy- and marine-oriented commercial insurance and risk management services. For more information, visit hayscompanies.com.
Nnenna Anastasia. She weighed 7 lb and 14 oz and was 20” long. They, including their first daughter, Manaia Adaoha Henrietta, live in Camarillo, CA. Nkem is currently vice president of Cappello Capital Corp., a boutique M&A investment bank, and Angela has moved from management consulting to supply chain management and operations where she works for Deckers Outdoor Corporation.
and wife are proud to announce the birth of Christian Fields born on Feb. 5, 2009. Bart is currently controller of Global Physics Solutions, Inc.
Wayne Bohannon ’00 is
7th for ‘Best in Finance’ The Financial Times Global MBA 2009
4th worldwide for finance salaries The Financial Times Executive MBA 2008
Tull (BA ’94, MBA 10 Ryan ’04)
4 Bart Fields ’02
Aaron Stain ’99 is a senior
22nd in starting salary/bonus U.S. News & World Report 2009
Rice MBA best in Southwest Expansión 2009
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Paul Forgue ’98 rejoined Alvarez & Marsal Consulting as a senior director in the Restructuring and Turnaround group. His practice is national in scope, and he is working out of the firm’s San Francisco office. He can be contacted at pforgue@ alvarezandmarsal.com.
38th nationally U.S. News & World Report 2009
Michael Finger ’04, his wife, Gabi, and Sydney welcome Sean Robert, born Sept. 24, 2009. They currently live in Irvine, CA.
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Proud parents Daniel
Fu ‘04 and Irene Chang ‘07 and
big brother Matthew welcomed Jonathan Allen Fu, who was born Dec. 8, 2008. He was 7 lb and 5 oz and 20” long.
and his wife Wendy celebrated the birth of their son, Ronan Edward Tull, on Sept. 16, 2008. Ronan was 21” long and weighed a healthy 8 lb and 0.5 oz. Excerpted and edited from the Houston Chronicle obituary:
Paige Kristina Ziegler ’04
passed away in Houston, Texas, Dec. 1, 2008. She was 33. Paige was vice president at Merrill Lynch in their Markets & Investment Banking Division. She was a member of Junior League of Houston and Boston University. Her greatest gift was her ability to make and keep wonderful and lasting friends by being that very good friend herself. Paige spoke often of her fond experiences and friends at Rice. She will be missed by the Jones School community and everyone who knew her.
Bo Bothe ’05, who was named
to Houston Business Journal’s premier awards program, ‘40 under 40’, is the president and chief creative officer for BrandExtract, LLC located in Houston.
Henry Chen ’05 has been a
resident physician at the University of Colorado Health Services Center since June of 2005.
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20th in faculty research The Financial Times Global MBA 2009
An update from
Carole Riekert ’05
The MBA for Executives Class of 2005 developed a real esprit de corps during our time at Rice. Many in the class not only work together now, but also maintain ongoing relationships. The ladies in the class have a fall retreat and meet for lunch every few months in Downtown and Greenspoint. There have even been a few golf outings. We have begun having get-togethers quarterly on the third Thursday of January, April, July, and October. Many of us remain affiliated with the school through the Jones Partners and the Rice Alliance as well as speaking to the MBA for Executives and Professionals classes when invited. This exemplifies sustained engagement from alumni. Congrats to the Class of 2005 Rice MBA for Executives!
Michael Swail ’05, his wife Kate and two daughters Marry and Madison welcomed Tennyson Taylor Swail who was born at 2:29 pm on Nov. 20, 2009. She weighed 6 lb and 12 oz and was 19.5” long. Mom and baby are doing great. “Dad is now seriously outnumbered.” Rakhee Das ’06 is the founder and head of U.S. operations at Vystara which specializes in mergers, acquisitions, business development, and market research in the U.S. and India.
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Top marketer in education American Marketing Association 2009 - Houston
11 Vijay Raghavan ’06
with American Express and his wife Nisha are proud to announce the birth of their new baby boy, Kieran Jude Raghavan. He was born on Jan. 5, 2009 in New York City. He weighed 6 lb and 14 oz and was 20.5” long.
Sean D. Self ’06 is president of Nimbic Systems LLC in Stafford, TX. He is currently working on a protective device that surgeons can use to dramatically reduce the incidence of infection in surgery.
Charles “Doug” Ardoin, Jr. ’07 is the physician-in-chief of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.
12Eric Bethea ’07
of Cogent Compensation Partners, Inc. in Houston and his wife Alana Bethea are happy to announce the birth of their new son, Eric McGregor Bethea, II, born Dec. 12, 2009.
Rauli Garcia ’07 was appointed the CFO of the Houston Grand Opera.
Rob Lee ’07 has served as
managing director at the Royal Bank of Scotland since May 2008.
13 Robert Mardock ’07
Jude Michal, son of Rachel and , was born Aug. 30, 2008. They currently reside in Tacoma, WA, where Robert works for Strategic Workforce Planning.
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Jones Journal spring 2009 35
AlumniResources
Visit JonesAlumni.com to learn more about the opportunities and resources for alumni. Alumni Career Services Lifelong career support for alumni throughout their careers; confidential access to job postings as well as avenues to recruit top-caliber students at the Jones School.
Lifelong Learning Discounts on Rice Executive Education open enrollment programs; custom programs for your corporation; class audit opportunities; lecture series; Rice “Alumni College” weekend featuring a Business Track.
Online Networking Resources See JonesAlumni.com for directions to join these online networks: Jones School Alumni Directory and official Jones School groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Save the Date!
Networking Opportunities Rice Business Network (RBN) Connect with fellow Rice alumni for a monthly networking lunch. Share business referrals and career opportunities while broadening your network with the Rice alumni in the Houston area. Corporate Investors Talk to your company today about the networking opportunities and other benefits of joining the Corporate Investors’ annual membership program. Jones Partners Join the Jones School corporate affiliates program and network with people from a variety of industries at events throughout the year. MBA Council of Houston The Jones School is a member institution of the MBA Council therefore all alumni are invited to Council programming events. These events provide
Mentor a second-year Rice MBA student who is seeking first-hand information about prospective careers from professionals.
The Jones School is actively seeking ambassadors from around the world to represent the school in attracting top-tier candidates to the Rice MBA program.
• Share professional and life experiences with future alumni • Provide guidance in an ongoing relationship
Dean’s State of the School Address Feb. 26, 2009
Michael W. Tankersley ’78 and Professor Duane Windsor
Dr. Doug Ardoin, Jr. ’07, Joel Ephross ’85, Rauli Garcia ’07, and Dean Bill Glick
Dean Bill Glick
Jerlyn Mardis ’82
Gregory Broussard ’01
Wendy Montoute ’05
Class of 2002 alumni
The Jones School is proud to announce a collaboration with the Wharton Club of Houston. The Wharton-Rice MBA Alumni Network is designed to assist MBAs who are seeking employment opportunities and career advancement. All member schools of the MBA Council of Houston are invited to attend these meetings. Details are available at WhartonRice.JonesAlumni.com.
Jones Alumni Volunteers for Admission (JAVA)
• Cultivate a deeper connection through an open forum
business.rice.edu
Wharton-Rice MBA Alumni Network
Alumni Mentoring Program
Through the mentoring program, alumni:
Rice Homecoming & Reunion Nov. 7-9, 2008
Jones Alumni Real Estate Club A club for Jones alumni who are interested in building their network in the real estate community via monthly happy hours and other events.
Roger Ford ’83
Rice Homecoming 2009 on November 13-15. Come back to Rice and reconnect with old friends and faculty. A full list of Reunion events will be posted to JonesAlumni.com.
AlumniGet Involved Share your professional and life experiences with future leaders in a variety of ways.
a great opportunity to network with other MBAs in the area from member institutions that include HBS, Wharton, MIT, Texas, Tulane, and Kellogg.
AlumniEvents
JAVA ambassadors may:
• Interview prospective students
Alumni-Student Lunches The Alumni-Student Lunch Series is an opportunity for current students to meet with alumni during lunch sessions. Lunches provide students an informal setting to gain insight into professional areas of interest and to engage the alumni in current happenings at the Jones School.
• Represent Rice at recruiting events • Counsel admitted students during the decision-making process
Jones Alumni Dinner April 3, 2009
for more
information
about alumni involvement opportunities, visit JonesAlumni.com.
Dean Bill Glick and Keynote Speaker Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley ’78
David VanHorn ’00, Jay Hawthorn ’05, and Erich Bell ’03
Professor Randy Batsell and April Sharr ’06
Adjunct Professor Stephanie Rudd ’78 and Maury Bronstein ’97
Associate Dean and Professor Jeff Fleming
Bob Parkey Jr. ’88
nonprofit organization us postage
paid
permit #7549 houston, texas
P.O. Box 2932 Houston, TeXas 77252.2932
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