2020 Vision - Neeley School of Business

Transcription

VOLUME 17, ISSUE 2
MAGAZINE OF THE NEELEY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT TCU
2020 Vision:
Forging a Clear Path to the Future
CONTENTS
2015-2016 • Volume 17, Issue 2
CONNECT WITH US
3
Facebook.com/
NeeleySchoolofBusinessatTCU
@NeeleySchoolTCU
YouTube.com/TCUNeeleySchool
Dean
O. Homer Erekson
John V. Roach Dean
Associate Deans
William L. Cron
Sr. Associate Dean, Graduate
Programs and Research
J. Vaughn and Evelyne H. Wilson
Professor in Business
Ray Pfeiffer
Associate Dean, Undergraduate
Programs
16
Special Section
3
Neeley magazine is produced
by Neeley Marketing and
Communications
Elaine Cole, Editor and Sr. Writer
Erin Smutz, Creative Director
Jeff Waite, Director
2020 Vision: Forging a Clear Path to
the Future
We don’t need a crystal ball to peer into the
year 2020 to see the possibilities that will
impact the way we live, learn and work.
14 What is your prediction?
We asked alumni and students to tell us
what they think business and business
education will be like in five years.
16 The Neeley School of the Future
Photography
B.J. Lacasse
Erin Smutz
Leo Wesson
In 2020, with your support, the TCU Neeley
School will feature innovative buildings,
classrooms, meeting rooms and activity
centers to engage and excite young minds
and experienced professionals.
In This Issue
2
TCU Neeley School of Business
TCU Box 298530
Fort Worth, TX 76129
neeleynews@tcu.edu
www.neeley.tcu.edu
Dean's Message
18 News at Neeley
ON THE COVER
Neeley students gather in the new Rees-Jones
Hall to look over the TCU Neeley School’s
architectural plans with Dean Homer Erekson,
to provide innovative suggestions and their
unique perspectives on the future of business
education.
24 Faculty News
28 Class Notes and Alumni Profiles
34
On the Scene
36
Annual Report
© 2015-2016 TCU Neeley School of Business
Volume 17, Issue 2 | Neeley School of Business at TCU
1
DEAN'S MESSAGE
Headed for
the Future
Dean Homer Erekson joined Lorrie Forgatch, founder of Lizzie Driver Apparel (left), and Dallisa Hocking,
Neeley director of alumni and constituent relations (right), at the launch event for Neeley Women to the
Power of 10. The group includes female executive alumni and other friends of the Neeley School who
help women reach their full professional potential through networking and professional development
initiatives.
Predicting the future is at best perilous
if not impossible. But preparing for the
future is necessary, so we are embracing the
challenge at the TCU Neeley School in new
and creative ways.
Did anyone imagine, as Bill Gates
predicted in 1999, that we would carry
around devices that enable us to do everyday
business, pay bills on the go, develop online
social networks and even watch TCU
football games? (Well, maybe he didn’t refer
to TCU football games, but he should have.)
At the TCU Neeley School, we are busy
imagining the future of business and the best
ways to prepare our students for successful
careers that will help them shape the future.
Our responsibility is to address not just
the problems of business, but the problems
of the world. In this issue of the Neeley
magazine, we focus on faculty, student
and alumni initiatives and research that are
already looking to the future and making a
positive difference in many ways.
We echo the lyrics of Neil Diamond’s
“Headed For the Future.” “We’re headed for
the future. We’re gonna make it work right.
We’re gonna build a new dream. We’ve got
to make it stand tall. It’s got to last a long
time.”
Won’t you join us in building a Neeley
School that prepares our students to be
leaders who can change the world for good.
O. Homer Erekson
John V. Roach Dean
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Neeley School of Business at TCU | Volume 17, Issue 2
2020
VISION:
Forging a Clear Path
to the Future
By Elaine Cole
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SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
W
hat is your
vision of
the future?
Jetpacks on
campus? Holograms
teaching classes? Artificial
intelligence in the
workplace? Cars that drive
themselves?
We don’t need a crystal
ball to peer into the
year 2020 to see the
possibilities that will
impact the way we live,
learn and work. Just look
around at what we have
today, how far we’ve
come, and how quickly
things have changed in the
previous five years. It’s easy
to see that the future is
closer than we think.
4
2020 VISION
Businesses are adopting purpose into
their profits. Social media is driving sales.
Customers aren’t just buying products,
they are investing in relationships. Data is
helping people find the exact product or
service they need, sometimes before they
know they need it.
As business evolves, so does business
education. Professionals of all ages must be
able to utilize the latest technology, think
critically and creatively, communicate
clearly, motivate across cultures and
generations, and adapt to complex
environments.
The future is upon us. It is up to us to
welcome it with inclusive attitudes and a
willingness to be catalysts for innovation.
The Future of Business
Business is shifting from the usual to the
unknown. Everything is changing: How we
do business, where we do it, with whom, and
how we use the latest technology to do our
jobs and satisfy customers and clients.
If 2020 seems a long way off, just
think of the changes you’ve made in your
life and work over the last five years.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers, where Sean
Morton BBA ’10 Mac ’11 is a senior
associate, recently switched to Google for
email, calendar and collaboration tools.
“Virtual meetings and video calls are the
new normal,” Morton said.
“Five years is like next week,” said Joe
Jordan BBA ’87, owner of Jordan Group.
“According to current product lifecycle
models, that is only 3.3 iPhone versions
from now.”
Jordan pointed to the growth of global
marketing and predicted “an increased need
for cultural understanding and product
application enhancements.”
Tony Scanio MBA ’12, manager of
international operations and logistics for
Christus Health, envisions that the world
will continue to embrace on-demand
SPECIAL SECTION
businesses and services such as Uber.
“I expect to see additional industries move
in this direction. Private jets will no longer
sit or fly empty, food delivery prices will
fluctuate during peak and non-peak hours,
and even in-home doctor visits may become
the norm,” Scanio said.
Imagining future business innovations is
exciting, but there is one already in existence
that everyone agrees will impact every
business, everywhere: big data.
“Based on the increasing amounts of
data generated and personal information
collected, predictive analytics will become
even more advanced in offering targeted
marketing messages to consumers, often
before the consumer realizes he or she needs
something,” Scanio said.
Kirby Thornton MBA ’90, senior manager
of analytics and insights for Pier 1, foresees
new ideas surrounding big data over the next
five years, especially “managing complex
infrastructure and drawing insights out of
data through a variety of new statistical and
visualization tools.”
Accounting Professor Mary Stanford sees
big data making a significant impact on the
accounting profession. “Accountants will
use data analytics, data visualization and
data mining tools to provide information for
making business decisions and evaluating
risks,” she said.
“CPAs need to embrace how technology
can help us manage large volumes of data
in a more timely manner,” Felix Lozano
BBA ’87, partner and director of audit with
Whitley Penn, said. “Looking back over the
last year to make decisions today will soon
be a thing of the past. Businesses and their
owners/shareholders want information today
about tomorrow, not today about yesterday.”
Faculty members in the Department of
Business Information Systems and Supply
Chain Management say big data analytics is
driving fundamental change, along with the
Internet of Things, cognitive computing and
deep learning.
It is all about the customer journey. Smart brands will
need to adapt to emerging trends both digitally and
socially to stay relevant and current.”
Kirby Thornton MBA '90
Senior Manager Analytics and Insights, Pier 1 Imports
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SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
RESEARCH
Eight Lessons Every Sales Manager
Needs to be Successful
Selling has always evolved with
technology, but the current rate
of change is redefining all aspects
of the sales job, especially sales
management.
Add in a younger salesforce with new
ideas about compensation, motivation and
communication, and what is a sales manager to
do? Bill Moncrief and Greg Marshall researched
how social media is impacting sales and
marketing organizations, to help sales managers
better understand and take advantage of the
changing sales world.
Here are eight lessons from their research.
6
1.
Forget the seven basic steps of selling. Embrace social media and
encourage it by creating innovative, effective standards and policies
for social media selling.
2.
Hiring the best job candidate is easier. There is a world of information
available about potential hires – information that goes beyond the
résumé and interview – right at your fingertips. And you can perform
virtual interviews, which saves time and money.
3.
Technology acumen is just as important as personality and selling
ability. Look for a broader skillset when hiring for today’s salesforce,
and provide technology training for older sales personnel.
4.
New hires can be trained online, instead of on the job or in formal
groups. This saves time while providing customized, self-paced
training.
5.
Think beyond the traditional mix of salary, commission and bonus.
Millennials have grown up as gamers who enjoy achieving badges
by competing against others, improving their own performance
and reaching certain levels, all of which can be adapted to a sales
environment, where awards can be accumulated and transferred to
monetary rewards.
6.
Money may not be the only motivator. The old standard of making
money at all costs is changing. If social interaction is important, look
for creative approaches such as gamification. If being recognized
as a top salesperson is the driving force, reward them for prospects
generated on LinkedIn or customer feedback on Twitter.
7.
Replace geographic territories with virtual territories that encompass
global accounts. Since a global workforce translates to inconvenient
conversations from different time zones, adopt the 80/20 rule: key
salespeople handle the 80 percent of sales that come from 20 percent
of customers, while virtual salespeople handle the other 80 percent of
the customers who still contribute to profit.
8.
Accept that you are always on the job. Text messaging, Skype and GPS,
plus whatever innovative technology the future holds, mean sales
supervision is 24/7.
“Social Media and Related Technology: Drivers of Change in Managing the Contemporary
Sales Force.” W. C. Moncrief, G.W. Marshall and J.M. Rudd. Business Horizons, 2015
“Over the next five years, I think the
merger of IT and analytics will help us better
understand and utilize the vast amounts of
data being created across the supply chain, to
better predict downstream demand behaviors
or make good decisions in the face of a
major supplier disruption,” Supply Chain
Professor Jeff Stratman, chair of the INSC
department, said.
But the future isn’t entirely about
technology, data and making money off of
that data. People – and the products and
services they can provide or need – are still
at the heart of business.
Bill Miller BBA ’71, CEO of Houston
Installation Services, believes the “customer
engagement experience will be as important
as the product or service. People will rely
less on internet search and more on their
social networks.”
College graduates want
careers that complement
their personal beliefs,
values and goals instead of
sacrificing their personal
life for their career.”
Susan Sledge
Internship Development Manager
Neeley School’s Alcon Career Center
“Consumer behavior will be of even
greater importance,” Thornton at Pier 1
Imports said. “It is all about the customer
journey. Smart brands will need to adapt to
emerging trends both digitally and socially
to stay relevant and current.”
Marketing Professor Bill Moncrief’s
research supports these predictions. “The
biggest changes we are seeing now and will
see for some time revolve around social
media and new strategies to employ this
rapidly growing media,” he said.
In a recent article in The Wall Street
Journal, Patty McCord, former chief talent
officer for Netflix, detailed how social media
will transform the workplace of the future.
“We have a connection with customers that
we’ve never had before—instant feedback
on how a company is doing. As a result,
you’re going to see a tighter connection
2020 VISION
between what people do and who they serve.
We’re not going to have silo departments
within a company that operate on their own
and never see the outside world.”
Corey Landers BBA ’13, junior brand
planner for Fitzgerald & Company,
visualizes that technology innovations
will lead to innovations in organizational
structure.
“The ability to share documents and
thoughts quickly among multiple people
means silos and hierarchies within
companies will go away. Companies will
become more responsive to market needs,
with a focus on product development and
interactive design that allows them to enter
the market faster, more often and more
in line with consumer wants,” Landers
predicted. “With more young people
attracted to companies like Google and
Facebook that offer transparency and agency
over their work, existing siloed companies
have to adapt to attract the best talent.”
Perhaps the most reassuring prediction
about the future of business is that it won’t
be entirely about making a profit.
“We're seeing the emergence of a purposedriven economy,” Andrew Ripley BBA ’99,
co-founder of PurposeMatch.com, said.
“Millennials will be 75 percent of the global
workforce by 2025, and studies show that
they're passionate about finding meaningful
careers that make a positive impact.”
The Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB International)
cites that business leaders are recognizing
that clearly articulating a social purpose
for an organization, rather than defaulting
to maximizing shareholder wealth, enables
better performance. Today’s businesses
are already integrating purpose into their
culture as a way to engage millennials,
and B Corporations such as Patagonia
and Kickstarter are redefining success in
business.
“College graduates want careers that
complement their personal beliefs, values
and goals instead of sacrificing their
personal life for their career,” Susan Sledge,
internship development manager for the
Neeley School’s Alcon Career Center, said.
“I talk with freshmen and sophomores who
are less influenced by company size or
prestige, and supremely concerned with their
role and ability to impact the organization
and its purpose.”
“High-profile people like Richard Branson
have been vocal about using business to
make a social impact,” Ripley said. “That’s
why we launched PurposeMatch.com, to
help people find purpose and meaning in
SPECIAL SECTION
CPAs need to embrace how technology can help us
manage large volumes of data in a more timely manner.
Businesses and their owners/shareholders want
information today about tomorrow, not today about
yesterday.”
Felix Lozano BBA ’87
Partner and Director of Audit, Whitley Penn
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SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
The future is about more than data
analytics and data scientists. We need
people who understand how data enhances
and increases value, who see what is
possible and can communicate that.”
Bill Cron
Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Research
When students graduate
they should have skills from their
discipline but also understand critical
thinking and the value of diversity of
thought and experiences.”
Aisha Torrey-Sawyer
Director of the Neeley Academic Advising Center
We want to broaden business
education to connect society and
business. For the future, we want
to be more intentional about our
approach. We want to make a global
mindset a requirement.”
Ray Pfeiffer
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs
I hope to be impacting the world in a big way.
I want to be at the front line in the business of
renewable energy. Perhaps I will have started my own
business with renewable energy as a major facet.”
Nick Palko
Entrepreneurial Management Major, Class of 2018
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2020 VISION
We are changing business from
being perceived as a necessary evil
to being a necessary force for good.”
SPECIAL SECTION
I will help organizations attract,
develop and retain the right talent at the
right time to fill critical roles and respond
to ever-changing business conditions.”
Frank Blau
MBA Class of 2016
O. Homer Erekson
John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business
We need to prepare
our students to be agile
with fundamental skills
that can be applied to
whatever the future
holds. I think employers
will have higher
expectations of our
students in the next five
years, especially in terms
of global awareness and
data analytics.”
Meg Lehman
National Employment Recruiter for the
Neeley School’s Alcon Career Center
The year 2020 will be filled
with innovation and new, exciting
technology. I want to find ways to
utilize this fast-paced growth and
apply it in the field of marketing.
My hope is to inspire and motivate
my company to be a step ahead of
innovation.”
Executive MBA students will
continue to question the traditional
ways of doing business. They’ll be
willing to go outside their comfort
zone to find solutions.”
Linda LaCoste
Director of Executive MBA Programs
Mackenzie Hall
Marketing Major, Class of 2018
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SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
their careers based on the impact they want
to make in the world.”
Our professors are already
researching and teaching
about how new technology
makes it possible to gather
real-time biological, social
and psychological data of
employees as they work,
which allows scholars
to make more precise
predictions about what
executives want and need
to know.”
Hettie Richardson
Management Professor and Chair of the
Department of Management, Entrepreneurship
and Leadership
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The Future of Business Education
As the future of business changes, the
Neeley School is adapting by leveraging
strengths, establishing new directions and
changing old mindsets.
TCU Neeley faculty members are
already researching and teaching the latest
advances in leadership, encouraging new
ways of thinking and introducing different
approaches to problems.
“Our professors are already researching
and teaching about how new technology
makes it possible to gather real-time
biological, social and psychological data
of employees as they work, which allows
scholars to make more precise predictions
about what executives want and need
to know: how to motivate and engage
employees; how to create optimal conditions
for encouraging creativity, innovation,
and entrepreneurial behaviors; how to
support employee health and well-being;
and how to cope as organizations and
individuals with increasingly complex,
competitive work environments,” Hettie
Richardson, management professor and
chair of the Department of Management,
Entrepreneurship and Leadership, said. “We
use that research to help guide our students
to become impactful business leaders who
meaningfully shape the world in which we
all work and live.”
One of the best ways to face an uncertain
future is to develop an adaptive mindset.
TCU Neeley teaches critical thinking skills
to students at all levels.
“Critical thinking is vital in a complex
working environment,” Management
Professor Abbie Shipp said. Shipp leads the
FROG Model of Critical Thinking for TCU
MBA students, which stands for: Frame
the issue, Recognize possible approaches,
Optimize the focus, Grow by reflecting
back. “Critical thinkers acknowledge the
complexity of decisions and understand
that information is rarely complete. They
are motivated by facts, observations and
reasoning rather than emotion, habits or
heuristics.”
Examples of how TCU Neeley encourages
critical thinking at the undergrad level
include accounting majors who work on
projects designed to develop their analytical
mindset and technological learning
adaptability, and finance majors who focus
on principles that help them discern value in
2020 VISION
SPECIAL SECTION
RESEARCH
Why Some People Go With the Flow, and Some Don’t
When a teammate wants to slow down on a project, do you gladly slow your progress, or do you resent
not working at your faster pace?
Or, if a teammate wants to go faster
than you desire, do you make every
effort to adjust your speed, or do you
ignore the request and continue
at your own comfortable pace?
Whether you know it or not, you have
a preferred way of working with your
time and a willingness, or not, to adapt
your speed to the speed of others.
Management Professor Abbie Shipp studies
how people relate to time in the workplace. “Traditionally,
workplace time was based on how well people followed schedules
and met deadlines, but given the interdependent, knowledgebased tasks that exist in today’s business environment, progress
now includes interruptions and adjustments to coordinate with
your team,” she said.
Shipp and her fellow researchers developed a tool to measure
what they call synchrony preference, the willingness to adapt one’s
pace and rhythm to create a sense of flow between team partners.
“People with high synchrony prefer affiliation and openness,
they are proficient multitaskers, and they tend to be focused
ever-changing products and regulations.
“Firms constantly come up with new
products that provide different exposures to
cash flows with different risk profiles. New
products lead to more regulation, which
leads to more innovations to maximize
potential profits under the new regulations.
We help Neeley finance students understand
the fundamental values associated with new
financial instruments, so they can develop
value-enhancing policies that benefit
their future firms and society,” Mauricio
Rodriguez, professor of finance/real estate
and chair of the finance department said.
Adapting to an ever-changing business
environment means lifelong learning is
vital for success. Veteran professionals turn
to TCU Neeley Executive Education to
hone their skills in adaptive leadership and
innovation.
“As organizations become more complex,
executives must adapt,” Jim Roach,
executive director of TCU Neeley Executive
Education, said. “Do the old paradigms
fit? Some do and many do not. We help
professionals look at what it means to lead
today. Are they looking at context? Can
they think creatively? Are they providing
on the present moment,” Shipp said. They also are evaluated by
supervisors and coworkers as being more dedicated to their jobs
and contributing more to team performance.
The SPS measurement tool can help supervisors choose team
members to assure the optimal balance of high synchrony. It can
also be used to hire people with high synchrony preference who
will contribute to company performance in meaningful ways,
and help existing employees learn about their preferred style of
working to develop strategies to improve or compensate for those
styles.
As the pace of work has gotten faster, projects more complex
and deadlines less predictable, success depends on the ability to
adapt.
“For professionals to be successful in the rapidly changing
business environment, they must be able to build ideas off
of each other, adjust for changes and turnarounds, and work
interdependently to facilitate the best outcomes for the project
and the organization,” Shipp said.
“Synchrony Preference: Why Some People Go With The Flow And Some Don’t.”
S. Leroy, A. Shipp, S. Blount, J. Licht. Personnel Psychology. 2015
purpose and high-level direction to inspire
and focus their team? How can they leverage
the strength of diversity in their workforce?
TCU Neeley faculty members are experts
in these areas. We are positioned to help
leaders be ready for what is to come.”
Leadership expert Mary Uhl-Bien begins
her executive education class by pointing
out that the foundations of management
are more than 100 years old, developed for
the Industrial Age when the focus was on
physical assets, efficiency and control.
“What leaders need to know now
and for the future is how to enable their
organizations for adaptability, and that
means we have to start with a different set
of assumptions,” said Uhl-Bien, who is the
BNSF Endowed Professor of Leadership.
“At TCU Neeley we are pioneering new
ways to think about leadership that take
the best of what we know about leading
people and combine it with cutting-edge
research findings showing how to design
organizations for agility.”
Meg Lehman, national employment
recruiter for the Neeley School’s Alcon
Career Center, sees business education from
both the employer and student perspectives.
“We need to prepare our students to be agile
with fundamental skills that can be applied
to whatever the future holds,” Lehman said.
“Employers seek students with analytical
horsepower, critical thinking skills, and
the ability to break down and synthesize
information to solve problems. I think
employers will have higher expectations of
our students in the next five years, especially
in terms of global awareness and data
analytics.”
Young professionals of the future
need to embrace “the importance of data
discovery and cross-functional information
sharing to understand the evolving business
model,” Chad Hines BBA ’10, business
strategy analyst for Encompass Health,
said. “Distributing key information across
company borders is crucial.”
Chris Hauck BBA ’83 MBA ’87,
president of Lynx Research Consulting,
envisions that business education will close
the gap between the theoretical and the
practical. Jennifer Dallao MBA ’05, realtor
with Coldwell Banker, agrees.
“Exposure to how decisions are made or
not made in companies, how priorities are
set, how new ideas are developed, nurtured
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SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
and grown into full-fledged initiatives,
this knowledge will give graduates a leg
up and enable them to make an impact in
organizations sooner,” Dallao said.
Dave Rettig BBA ’64, president of
Bottom Line Strategies, said the Neeley
School “does a great job emphasizing
relevance and real-world approaches,” based
on his interaction with students on Interview
Day. “Neeley also does a great job providing
summer internship opportunities, as well
as having developed one of the best bridge
programs I have ever seen for transitioning
students from college into their chosen
fields.”
Providing students with real life
experiences also means preparing them to
address a broader range of problems, not just
business problems. Business education must
enhance value for students, employers and,
ultimately, the world.
In 2014, thousands of researchers,
scholars, students, thought leaders
and executives from around the world
participated in an online “jam” to discuss
the future of business education. One
answer was clear: more informed and
effective management is essential for
addressing global issues such as inadequate
infrastructure, food insecurity, insufficient
health care and environmental degradation.
TCU Neeley already has a seat at the
world table. O. Homer Erekson, the John
V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of
Business, is a member of the Texas Advisory
Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership
Coalition, a network of businesses and
NGOs; foreign policy experts; and business,
religious, academic and community leaders
from all 50 states who support elevating
diplomacy and development alongside
defense to build a better world.
“At TCU Neeley, we recognize that
business education and experience should
be applied to solve a broader range of social
problems,” Dean Erekson said. “We are
RESEARCH
How Can State Governments Prepare for the Future?
Take a Hard Look at the Numbers.
As state government employees move toward retirement, state governments have promised future
benefits such as pensions and health care.
But when Accounting Professor
Elizabeth Plummer researched states’
financial statements to see if they could
actually afford those benefits, the
answer was bleak.
“These future commitments are not
being detailed on current state financial
statements, so it is difficult for state
legislators to understand the magnitude of
the issue,” Plummer said.
Most states point to a yearly budget deficit or surplus, but that
provides little information about the government’s long-term
ability to meet financial responsibilities. In addition, emphasis is
usually placed on a state’s operating fund budget, which generally
represents less than 50 percent of state spending.
Plummer’s research shows how a state’s government-wide
financial statements can be used to provide evidence of a state’s
fiscal sustainability. The research used adjusted total net assets –
assets minus known liabilities and obligations, not including capital
12
assets – to measure whether a state’s past and current revenues are
sufficient to cover past and current costs.
The results suggest that 40 states have postponed paying
for past costs and deferred a median $6.7 billion per state—or
$5,230 per household—to future periods. These deficit values are
also significant when compared with states’ current annual tax
revenues. Sensitivity analysis using adjustments to pension and
OPEB liabilities suggests that 48 states have deferred a median cost
of $20.7 billion per state—or $16,200 per household.
“They are kicking the can down the road for someone else to
pay,” Plummer said. “We’re not saying we have the answer to the
problem, but by putting a number on it, we can provide a way to
help them see the magnitude of the problem. Hopefully, they can
begin to understand the importance of the problem and take steps
to address it.”
“Using Financial Statements to Provide Evidence on the Fiscal Sustainability of
the States.” E. Plummer and T.K. Patton. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting
and Financial Management. 2015.
2020 VISION
As organizations become
more complex, executives
must adapt. Do the old
paradigms fit? Some do
and many do not. We help
professionals look at what
it means to lead today.”
Jim Roach
Executive Director of TCU Neeley
Executive Education
changing business from being perceived as
a necessary evil to being a necessary force
for good.”
“Business education has become too
narrow,” Ray Pfeiffer, associate dean of
undergraduate programs, said. “We want
to broaden business education to connect
society and business. Today, students may
have very little idea what is going on outside
the U.S. or even outside TCU, so we have
to hope they understand how their education
connects with what they’ll be doing in the
future. For the future, we want to be more
intentional about our approach. We want to
make a global mindset a requirement.”
Pfieffer and a group of TCU Neeley
faculty members are ironing out a
curriculum that includes interdisciplinary
collaboration, leadership development,
and effective and ethical management, one
that will put students at the center of world
problems and engage them in devising how
business can be a solution to those problems.
“We see crisis after crisis that can largely
be attributed to narrow-minded thinking
about profit, without understanding the
SPECIAL SECTION
ripple effects of the decisions that businesses
make,” Pfeiffer said. “We want to make sure
our students don’t have those kind of blind
spots. We want them to look at a problem
from a variety of disciplines, not just one.”
Pfeiffer foresees a combination of realworld seminars, required global awareness
classes, integrating disciplines within the
business school, and better assimilation
of arts and sciences with the business
curriculum.
Erekson supports that. “We want to reemphasize the importance of a liberal arts
background, to help business students be
more intentional in choosing classes that
are not just electives but empowering tools
to help prepare them for a global business
environment.”
It all adds up to a richer, more meaningful,
more thought-provoking education and
experience.
“We’ll educate students who are thinkers,
who understand the broader role of business
in society,” Pfeiffer said. “TCU Neeley
students will graduate with the attributes that
employers want, and that the world needs.”
13
SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
What is your prediction?
We asked alumni and students to tell us what they think business
and business education will be like in five years, and where they see
themselves in five years. Here are some of their answers.
I see more influence of the sharing
economy on working spaces:
co-working spaces and versatile,
temporary and shared retail spaces.
Carolyn Phillips BBA ’09
Owner, Alchemy Pops
2020 Vision: Business
Digital channels, improved mobile
experiences and 3D printer
production capabilities will make
just-in-time inventory management
and distribution a reality.
Kirby Thornton MBA ’90
Senior Manager Analytics and Insights, Pier 1
Imports
14
In my industry, oil and gas, I
foresee the use of drones, improved
methods for finding and producing
oil and gas, and improved ways
of eliminating or reducing carbon
emissions and other environmental
concerns.
Ryan Pivonka MBA ’09
Senior HR Manager, Devon Energy Corp.
Corporate moves to "office in a
pocket" will make physical location
less important.
Mark Czarnecki MBA ’76
President, Benchmarking Network Inc.
More employees will be working
remotely. Corporate real estate
managers will continue to shrink
the physical footprint of the
company through benching/
hoteling work areas; yet, employees
will miss the social/physical contact
and begin returning to the office.
Bill Miller BBA ’71
CEO, Houston Installation Services
2020 Vision:
Business Education
Integrating technology into
everyday business tasks, such as
software development and coding,
will become almost as necessary
as being able to run an Excel
spreadsheet or operate Word.
Michael Emerson BBA ’02
Partner, Holland & Knight LLP
2020 VISION
We will continue to stress
entrepreneurial thinking. Change
is happening at a faster pace
every year. With change comes
opportunity, and universities will
continue to educate students on
how to recognize opportunity and
take action.
Jacob Gonzales BBA ’14
Owner, JG Homes LLC
Business schools and businesses
will become more interconnected.
Experienced leaders benefit from
learning the latest tools and ideas
just like young professionals.
Business schools will offer more
options, from part-time degrees to
seminars.
Henry Thompson MBA ’12
Analyst, Stage 3 Separation
Businesses of all types will leverage
big data and use fast prototyping to
innovate and grow, so more focus
on analyzing crowd-sourced data
will be necessary. Additionally, a
drive to develop more customized
products and services will require
more project management and
engineering orientation.
Bill Widmer BS ’77 MBA ’78
Board Chairman, South Bay Waste Management
Authority
I believe there will be a strong need
to teach students how to develop
online leadership.
Jan Birkenholz MBA ’89
Instructor/Consultant, University of
Northwestern-St. Paul
The role of web design and
marketing analytics will influence
every business topic from statistics
to management.
Chuck Bouligny MBA ’06
Partner, Ascend Concepts
2020 Vision: Where Will
You Be In Five Years?
The Neeley School is giving me a
set of tools centered on searching
for my greater purpose and having
confidence in my ability to make a
difference, to allow me to positively
impact the world in a thousand
ways.
Aubree Hutchison, Marketing Major, Class of 2016
With an impending wave of baby
boomer retirements and increased
competition for top talent, I will
help organizations attract, develop
and retain the right talent at the
right time to fill critical roles and
respond to ever-changing business
conditions.
SPECIAL SECTION
The year 2020 will be filled with
innovation and new, exciting
technology. I want to find ways to
utilize this fast-paced growth and
apply it in the field of marketing.
Companies that embrace change are
companies that thrive; therefore,
my hope is to inspire and motivate
my company to not only embrace
change, but also be a step ahead of
innovation.
Mackenzie Hall, Marketing Major, Class of 2018
In five years, I hope to be impacting
the world in a big way with
my major in entrepreneurial
management and minor in energy
technology management. I want to
be at the front line in the business of
renewable energy. In the year 2025,
perhaps I will have started my own
business with renewable energy a
major facet.
Nick Palko, Entrepreneurial Management Major,
Class of 2018
Frank Blau, MBA Class of 2016
There is no substitution for hard
work, dedication and the desire
to persevere, but not without a
fun-loving attitude. I look forward
to seeing that kind of atmosphere
spread throughout our country and
even the world.
Tim Davis, Structures Engineer, Southwest
Airlines, PMBA Class of 2017
15
SPECIAL SECTION
2020 VISION
The Neeley School of the Future
In 2020, with your support, the TCU Neeley School will feature innovative buildings,
classrooms, meeting rooms and activity centers to engage and excite young minds and
experienced professionals. As we work toward our goal, here are a few examples of our
vision for this $100 million project.
The Neeley School will be a rallying point
for North Texas business professionals to
motivate students and share ideas.
We cannot afford to think small
or be content with the status
quo. You can help us build the
future by investing in a space
where business, innovation
and values-centered life come
together for the greater good.”
O. Homer Erekson
John V. Roach Dean of the TCU Neeley School
To see a glimpse of the future
Spencer and Marlene Hays
Business Commons, visit
www.neeley.tcu.edu/boldfuture.
16
2020 VISION
SPECIAL SECTION
Innovative classrooms will spur new ways of thinking, learning and teaching.
Students can gather in comfortable, informal
areas to collaborate, network and brainstorm.
A smart-learning lab will support creative study of
consumer behaviors and merchandising activities
with the latest in visualization technology.
The 200-seat hall will host speeches, talks, lectures and
special events, with separate space for receptions.
17
NEWS AT NEELEY
TCU Accounting Ranks Top 15 and Top 40 in the Nation
In the Public Accounting Report’s 2015 ranking, the TCU
accounting program ranks among the best in the nation.
Among schools of similar size (16 to 21 accounting faculty
members), the TCU Master of Accounting ranks 12 after being
unranked in 2014, and the undergraduate accounting program jumps
to 13 from 17 in 2014.
Overall, the TCU MAc ranks 35 in the nation after being unranked
in 2014, and the undergraduate accounting program jumps seven
spots to 36 for 2015.
The rankings are based on accounting professors’ assessment of
accounting programs at all U.S. colleges and universities.
“I attribute this increased recognition to the successful
implementation of innovative changes in our programs and
curriculum, especially the Professional Program in Accounting
which provides a seamless transition from undergraduate studies to
graduate,” Mary Stanford, chair of the accounting department, said.
“When you put together talented students with well-regarded
faculty and staff dedicated to student success, the stage is set for firstclass programs,” Dean Homer Erekson said. “Add to that a creative
professional development program and strong relationships with
the accounting profession, and opportunities emerge for excellent
internships and career placement.”
18
#12 #13
IN THE NATION
IN THE NATION
MAc
Accounting
Programs of Similar Size
Programs of Similar Size
#35 #36
IN THE NATION
IN THE NATION
All Universities and Colleges
All Universities and Colleges
MAc
Accounting
NEWS AT NEELEY
TCU MBA Ranks Among Best in the Nation and World
TCU MBA alumni and students have something to brag about
again this year. The TCU MBA program continues to shine in
influential rankings produced by The Economist, Bloomberg
Business and The Princeton Review.
The Economist ranks the TCU Neeley School No. 2 in the
world for MBA faculty quality and in the top 25 in the world
for MBA career services, out of 100 MBA programs around the
world and among only four Texas universities included. Overall,
the TCU Neeley School ranks 61 in the world and 38 in the U.S.
The Economist bases 80 percent of the MBA rankings on faculty
quality, career services, alumni network, educational experience,
salary increase and other criteria, and 20 percent on responses from
students and alumni.
In the Bloomberg Business MBA ranking, the full-time TCU MBA
program jumps 11 spots to 38 in the nation, and the part-time MBA
program debuts at 26 in the nation. Bloomberg Business bases 35
percent of the MBA rankings on employer feedback, 30 percent on
alumni feedback, 15 percent on student feedback, and 10 percent
each on job placement and starting salary.
The Princeton Review’s “Best 295 Business Schools: 2016
Edition” recommends the TCU Neeley School as one of the best in
the nation to earn an MBA. The schools aren’t ranked overall from
1 to 295, but TCU Neeley ranks highly in several Top 10 specialty
rankings, including No. 7 for Most Competitive MBA Students and
No. 9 for Best Administered MBA programs. The rankings are based
on student surveys.
#2
IN THE WORLD
MBA Faculty
The Economist
#26
IN THE NATION
Part-time MBA
Bloomberg Business
#61 #38
IN THE WORLD
Full-time MBA
The Economist
IN THE NATION
Full-time MBA
Bloomberg Business
19
NEWS AT NEELEY
Neeley Entrepreneurship Program Ranks Top 25 in the
Country Five Years in a Row
The Princeton Review surveyed thousands of colleges for the Top 25 Colleges for Entrepreneurship 2016, featured in the December 2015 issue
of Entrepreneur. TCU Neeley ranks 20th in the U.S. for strength and value in teaching and supporting entrepreneurial thinking, and for the success
and achievements of students, alumni and faculty. TCU Neeley also ranks 20th in the country for entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report.
The importance TCU Neeley places on entrepreneurial thinking is evident.
• 44 entrepreneurship-related courses
• 26 faculty members teaching in the Department of Management,
Entrepreneurship and Leadership
• Two entrepreneurs-in-residence, Brad Hancock, the Davis Family
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and Michael Sherrod, the William M. Dickey
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
• $78,550 in cash prizes awarded in 2015 by the Richards Barrentine Values
and Ventures® Competition
• $4,500 awarded to TCU students by the Bill Shaddock Venture Capital
Fund, the TCU Elevator Pitch Competition and other competitions
• Coleman Faculty Fellows teaching entrepreneurial skills across all TCU
majors
• 90 companies started by graduates in the last 10 years
• $1,917,075 in funding raised by graduates starting new businesses over
the past 10 years
• The largest student organization at TCU (Entrepreneurship Club at TCU)
20
NEWS AT NEELEY
TCU MBA Hosts 1st
PepsiCo Invitational
Business Competition
MBA students from 14 top universities across the U.S.
came to TCU in September to compete in a marketing and
finance case competition judged by PepsiCo executives.
MBAs from TCU, Duke, Vanderbilt, Texas, Houston,
Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rice, SMU, Maryland,
A&M, UTD and Washington-St. Louis competed for cash
prizes and the opportunity to prove themselves to PepsiCo
executives. Frito-Lay CEO Tom Greco was among the
judges along with Steve Hill, global head of innovation
and investment at KPMG.
Each team consisted of four MBA students from
different schools, randomly assigned. TCU MBAs were
on two of the winnings teams: Morgan Ferguson’s team
won second place for $5,000, and Kyle Tilley’s team won
third place for $3,000. A team of students from Illinois,
Iowa, Vanderbilt and SMU won first place and $10,000.
Case competitions are a valuable experience for
students. “There is no substitute for wrestling with real
business problems, developing effective solutions and
presenting to successful executives,” said Bill Wempe,
executive director of graduate programs at the Neeley
School.
“I have a lot of confidence that the ideas that came out
of this competition are going to be implemented out in the
marketplace,” Frito-Lay's Greco said.
21
NEWS AT NEELEY
Find the Business
Frogs in Your City
Do you know where the Neeley alumni
are in your city? We can help.
Neeley alumni are following their
career paths all across the country. To
help them find each other and students,
we’ve established committees in Horned
Frog-heavy areas across the U.S.: Fort
Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Northern
California, Southern California, Seattle,
New York City, Washington DC, Denver,
Chicago and Kansas City.
These committees, headed by members
of the Neeley Alumni Executive Board, plan
and host events for alumni, students, parents
and friends.
Over Fall Break, NorCAl committee cochairs Phillip Homza BBA ’10 MAc ’12 and
Kaity Wegen BBA ’14 hosted a technologythemed event featuring James Beshara,
CEO and founder of Tilt, for visiting Neeley
Fellows and local alumni.
“Katie and I wanted our first event to
unite local alumni from different graduating
classes and show the Neeley Fellows
what it is like to live and work in the Bay
Area,” said Homza, senior global asset
management assurance for Ernst & Young.
The Seattle committee hosted a Fall
Break alumni/undergrad networking event
at the Center for Wooden Boats, located on
Lake Union in the shadow of the Seattle
skyline.
“Everyone was impressed with the venue
and there was a lot of positive energy in the
22
room,” said Jace Thompson BBA ’08 MBA
’13, manager of PNW budgets for BNSF
Railway and chair of the Seattle Committee.
The Chicago Committee launched in
July. Since many students come to TCU
from the Chicago area and return there
after graduating, the committees hopes to
“capitalize on that momentum and build a
strong and enduring network in Chicago,”
said Kyle Emmons BBA ’05, managing
partner with Motte Partners, who co-chairs
the committee with Scott Moore BBA ’81,
associate partner with Aon Hewitt.
The NYC Committee is planning their
first event for spring featuring TCU alumnus
Mark Bezos, who is involved with his
brother Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon,
in their Blue Origin venture, a private
aerospace company. The NYC committee is
co-chaired by Erik Harsemma BBA ’98, real
estate broker with Brown Harris Stevens,
and Ryan Hoff BBA ’11, associate of coinvestment for AlpInvest Partners. Abby
Osvog BBA ’11 co-chaired the committee
until her recent move back to Fort Worth.
“While a student at TCU and even more
as an alum, I truly recognize the power of
the TCU network and am passionate about
connecting fellow Horned Frogs with each
other,” Osvog said. “Activating our Neeley
network in key cities across the country will
continue to help more students achieve their
goals of working for top-notch companies
across the country and globally.”
Dallisa Hocking, director of alumni and
constituent relations for the TCU Neeley
School, said she is encouraged by the
interest from alumni and constituents in the
12 committee locations. “Clearly people
want to connect with Neeley and with one
another, so we look forward to planning
and activating events in their cities and
continuing to increase engagement in new
and meaningful ways.”
NEWS AT NEELEY
Accounting Professor Sandy Callaghan Named 2015 Neeley
Alumni Professor of the Year
Sandy Callaghan, associate professor of accounting, joined
the TCU Neeley School in 1998 and has received numerous
teaching awards.
“Recently a student said to me: ‘I think you really like your
job.’ Why wouldn’t I?” Callaghan said. “As a TCU professor, I
have the opportunity to nurture the intellectual spirit in students.
Every day I teach topics I am passionate about. Yet, by far
the best aspect is the relationships that I have developed with
current and former students.”
Recent graduate Amy Otte BBA ’15, financial analyst at
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said, “Dr. Callaghan did not teach
with the end goal that students find the right answers, but rather
that students learn to think critically for themselves. She held
us to a high standard and we learned that we should have those
same high expectations for our own work.”
Phillip Homza MAc ’12, assurance senior at Ernst & Young,
said Dr. Callaghan is a “prime example of why TCU is one of
the top universities in the US. Her classes are challenging and
engaging. She takes a genuine interest in her students’ career
goals and aspirations, and has an incredible ability to relate to
her students and see their full potential.”
Callaghan holds a PhD in accounting from Michigan State
University, MPA from the University of Texas at Austin, and
BS from TCU. She is past president of the American Tax
Association.
Neeley Entrepreneurship
Center Announces New
Director for Values and
Ventures®
Matt Smilor, a graduate of the TCU Executive MBA program,
will oversee the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures®
Competition, an annual event for undergraduate students around
the world to pitch plans for profitable enterprises that impact
society in meaningful ways.
“The ingenuity, creativity and innovative concepts that young
entrepreneurs bring to this competition from around the world
are amazing and inspiring,” Smilor said. “I hope to continue to
grow the competition’s prestige and impact.”
Smilor’s experience includes managing programs in
telecommunications and hospitality, and consulting for
small businesses and start-ups. He has been involved in the
growth, logistics and success of multiple projects, planned and
implemented major events, and collaborated with a wide range
of people and organizations.
23
FACULTY NEWS
HEAD
of the
CLASS
Students look to classroom leadership to help them realize their full potential.
Meet the newest faculty members who deepen our already academically rigorous curriculum.
Brad Harris
Assistant Professor of
Management
Department of Management,
Entrepreneurship and
Leadership
Michael Hitt
Distinguished Research Fellow
Department of Management,
Entrepreneurship and Leadership
An expert in strategic management, international
strategy and strategic entrepreneurship, Hitt
taught for 27 years at Texas A&M, and previously
at Arizona State, UT-Arlington and Oklahoma
State, before coming to TCU. He is a renowned
researcher and author of numerous publications in
prestigious academic journals, including Academy
of Management Journal, Strategic Management
Journal and Journal of Operations Management.
Recent articles include “Resource Based Theory in
Operations Management Research,” “When More is
Not Enough: Executive Greed and its Influence on
Shareholder Wealth,” “The Dark Side of Leadership:
Toward a Mid-Range Theory of Hubris and Greed in
Entrepreneurial Contexts” and “All Things Great and
Small: Organizational Size, Boundaries of the Firm
and a Changing Environment.
He is consulting editor for Strategic
Entrepreneurship Journal and recently was editorin-chief of Oxford Research Reviews. He is on the
editorial advisory board of 13 academic journals.
Hitt has won numerous awards for research and
teaching, including Thomson Reuters Highly Cited
Researcher 2014 and 2015, The World’s Most
Influential Scientific Minds 2014 and Lifetime
Achievement Award for Scholarship from Texas
A&M Mays Business School. He has served as a
visiting scholar at universities around the world.
He holds a PhD in Organizational Theory/Behavior
from the University of Colorado, and MBA and BBA
from Texas Tech University.
24
Harris’ research expertise
focuses on leadership, effective
teamwork, organizational
socialization and human resources.
His work has been featured in
numerous outlets, including the
upcoming book Proactivity at Work and
several leading journals such as the Journal
of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology and
The Leadership Quarterly.” His articles include, “I Cannot Afford to Have a
Life: Employee Adaptation to Feelings of Job Insecurity” and “Getting What’s
New from Newcomers: Empowering Leadership, Creativity and Adjustment in
the Socialization Context.”
Harris has won awards of excellence in teaching and research. He holds a
PhD from Texas A&M University, MBA from the University of Florida and
BBA from Texas Tech University.
Yashoda Bhagwat
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Department of Marketing
Bhagwat’s research and
teaching focus on marketing
strategy, customer relationship
management, services
marketing and retailing. She
has been published in Journal
of Marketing and Marketing
Science. Her publications include
“Regaining ‘Lost’ Customers: The
Predictive Power of Marketing” and
“Assessing the Influence of Economic and
Customer Experience Factors on Service Purchase
Behaviors.”
She has received honors for both teaching and research, including 2014
Graduate Teaching Instructor Teaching Excellence Award, 2013 AMA-Sheth
Doctoral Consortium Fellow and 2012 SMA Doctorial Consortium Fellow.
Bhagwat holds a PhD in Marketing from Georgia State University, MS from the
University of Alabama and BA from the University of Michigan.
FACULTY NEWS
Grant Farnsworth
Assistant Professor of Finance
Department of Finance
Farnsworth’s research focuses on financial institutions such as hedge funds, mutual funds and
venture capital. He was a quantitative researcher for Chicago Alternative Investment Partners
and head of quantitative modeling and strategies for Delaware Street Capital Quantitative Group
before turning to academics. His research, “Liquidity Costs, Return Smoothing, and Investor
Flows: Evidence from a Separate Account Platform,” was published in Management Science.
He taught at Pennsylvania State and received the Smeal Competitive Research Grant four
years in a row. He holds a PhD from Pennsylvania State, MS in finance from Northwestern
University, and BA in economics and BS in mathematics from Brigham Young University.
Sarang Sunder
Jeremy (JJ) Kovach
Sunder’s research focuses on customer relationship
management, salesforce management, emerging markets and
diffusion modeling. He has been published in Harvard Business
Review, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing Research
and Journal of International Marketing. His publications
include “Who’s Your Most Valuable Salesperson,” “Measuring
and Managing a Salesperson’s Future Value to the Firm” and
“Leveraging Distribution to
Maximize Firm Performance
in Emerging Markets.”
Sunder received the
SEF/Neill Rackham
research grant in
2015 and was
honored as the
ISMS Doctoral
Consortium Fellow
in 2014. He holds
a PhD and MS
from Georgia State
University, where he won
the 2014 GTA Teaching
Excellence Award.
Kovach was operations manager for Barricks Manufacturing
and design leader and Six Sigma black belt for GE Lighting
Systems. His research and teaching center on new product
development, cross-functional project management, operations
strategy, technology management and closed loop supply chains.
His research, “Firm Performance in Dynamic Environments: The
Role of Operational Slack and Operational Scope,” was published
in Journal of Operations
Management. He won the
OM Division Chan Hahn
Best Paper Award
from the Academy of
Management in 2013.
Kovach holds
a PhD from
Georgia Institute
of Technology and
MS and BS from
the University of
Tennessee.
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Department of Marketing
Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management
Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain
Patti Jordan
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Supply Chain
Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain
Jordan’s experience includes 30 years in distribution operation, business planning and process
engineering with Webco Industries and seven years as inventory manager, product support
manager and senior systems analyst for American Airlines. Her research covers supply chain
and operations management with an emphasis on the applications and integration of strategic
information systems, business analytics and project management to create a competitive
advantage. Her research, “When the Dark Ones Become Darker: How Promotion Focus
Moderates the Effects of the Dark Triad on Supervisor Performance Ratings,” was published in
Journal of Organizational Behavior.
Jordan holds a Doctorate of Philosophy, MBA and BS from Oklahoma State University.
25
FACULTY NEWS
Xiaoyan (Winnie) Wen
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Department of Accounting
Wen previously taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she won the
undergraduate teaching award. Her research focuses on financial reporting, voluntary disclosure,
management forecast, earnings management, information quality and capital structure. Her most
recent research, “Capital Structure Efficiency, Information Quality, and Accounting Biases,”
was published in Management Science. She also has been published in Journal of Accounting
Research and Contemporary Accounting Research.
Wen holds a PhD and MS in accounting from Carnegie Mellon, and MS and BS in finance
from Tsinghua University.
Danyelle Ackall
John Nelson
Ackall has more than 18 years of
HR experience in employee relations,
management coaching, change
management, training and policy
creation with MedStar, Catholic
Charities, DeVry University and
Trammell Crow. She holds a SPHR
certification and is a member of the Fort
Worth Human Resource Management
Association. She earned an MS in human
resource management from the University
of Texas at Arlington and BS from Texas A&M
University.
Nelson has more than 25 years of experience
in product strategy, solution development,
product marketing, customer engagement and
pre-sales support for IBM. He led development
and marketing teams at IBM and launched
complex technologies throughout his career.
He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering and
MSME from the University of Minnesota, and
BA in mathematics and physics from Luther
College.
Lecturer
Management
Jamie Laws
Lecturer
Accounting
A member of the Texas Society
of CPAs, Laws has 15 years of
experience as accounting manager
for Residential Recovery Partners,
property accountant for Greystar Real
Estate Partners, assistant controller for
Inland American Communities, senior
accountant for Crow Holdings, senior
auditor for Travis Wolff & Co. and staff
auditor for Elliott Davis & Co. She holds an
MS and BBA in accounting from the University
of Texas at Arlington.
26
Lecturer
Business Information Systems
FACULTY NEWS
Prof Speaks
Larry Lockwood, Ph.D., CFA,
in the finance department
at the Neeley School of
Business at Texas Christian
University in Fort Worth,
Texas, recommends investors allocate
2% to 5% of their portfolios to gold for
diversification.
“It must be considered a long-term
position,” Lockwood says. “Gold often
has low correlation with traditional
investments.”
Forbes
October 25, 2015
There is no hard data on
how frequently employers
rehire workers who’ve
left to go elsewhere, but
“it is growing, and smart
companies are the ones pushing it the
most,” said Abbie J. Shipp, an associate
professor of management at Texas
Christian University. “We’re updating
the image of what employee-employer
relationships look like.”
The New York Times
July 25, 2015
Michael Sherrod, in his fifth
Legislators are considering
adding NASCAR races, a
new rodeo championship,
the Ultimate Fighting
Championship and
presidential debates to a list of
marquee events eligible to receive tax
incentives to come to Texas.
“It may help with the willingness of
a city to host it,” said Steve Mann, an
associate finance professor at TCU’s
Neeley School of Business. “If the
event costs the city, they won’t use
that as a reason to turn down the
event with this. But are these events
we would not get without the funding?”
Gold, silver and platinum.
These precious metals
are already conducting a
stealth rally in 2015, says
Paul Irvine, the Kleinheinz
endowed chair in international finance
and investments at Texas Christian
University’s Neeley School of Business.
“As ‘permabear’ [and Swiss fund
investor] Marc Faber puts it, he’d like
to short central banks in 2015 but can’t
do that directly. The best way to short
central banks is to own gold, silver
or platinum. You should already be
positioned,” Irvine says.
U.S. News & World Report
Star-Telegram
January 28, 2015
February 21, 2015
Pleasant or not, motherdaughter shopping trips
could be an essential
step toward relationship
building, according to a
study co-authored by Julie Baker,
professor of Marketing at Texas
Christian University.
“All of this conflict, compromise, and
information exchange can translate
directly to more revenue for the
stores. As mothers and daughters
continue to bond, they are more likely
to spend more money than if they had
gone shopping alone, as their shopping
habits influence one another.”
Dr. Thomas Moeller, a
professor from TCU's
Neeley School of Business,
told FOX 4 the bankruptcy
process can be very fluid. At
any given time, the deals could change
and another company or investor
could come in and save the day for
RadioShack, but so far, that doesn't
appear likely.
Fox 4 News
February 2, 2015
year as William M. Dickey
Entrepreneur-in-residence
at TCU’s Neeley School of
Business, said Bass had his
eye on Blue Bell as early as the 1980s.
“Sid Bass has always been interested
in the Blue Bell brand because
it’s such an iconic one. I believe
that Bass believes it is still a great
investment now, for his children and
grandchildren. It’s a brand that he’s
always believed is valuable to Texas
and valuable to keep in Texas, as an
independent company. All of those
things came together in a perfect
storm, and Sid Bass wasn’t about to let
that opportunity go by.”
[Companies could use]
genetic testing for
personalized leadership
development rather than
hiring. William Becker, an
assistant professor at Texas Christian
University’s Neeley School of Business,
imagines genetic test results acting like
“the personality profile card you keep
on your desk during meetings,” he says.
“This could be the more advanced
version.” Move over, Myers-Briggs.
Star-Telegram
Yahoo News
October 31, 2015
Dallas Morning News
June 26, 2015
Industry analysts predicted
for months that if
RadioShack did not have
a successful holiday retail
season or receive a large
infusion of cash, bankruptcy and
possibly liquidation of the company
was imminent.
“It’s unfortunate that a brand with
such an iconic stature has gotten to
this point. But we’ve seen that with
other brands just as prestigious,” said
Robert Leone, a marketing professor at
TCU’s Neeley School of Business, in
December. “Times have changed, and
they haven’t changed with it.”
Star-Telegram
February 2, 2015
July 7, 2015
27
Class Notes
Send us your news, honors, awards, weddings, births
and announcements. Visit neeley.tcu.edu/classnotes
to submit your latest and greatest.
2015 and on KRLD's Texas Road
Tripping. In addition, they have
launched a Downtown Walking
Tour, a Downtown Bike Tour and
a Cultural District Tour.
Mary Lee Torbert BBA ’76 was
1940s
Steve Benton BBA ’73 joined Elder
Clyde L. Hall MBA ’47 was granted
a Doctor of Humane Letters by
Austin College. He served on the
Austin College faculty from 1950
until retirement in 1988.
1950s
Charles Lowry BBA ’52 and his
wife, Peggy Sue Watson, are
enjoying retired life on their ranch
in Mt. Vernon, Texas. Charles
and 14 other family members are
proud to be TCU alumni.
1960s
Tom Moore BBA ’65 is the CEO
of Reel Funds International Inc.,
which will release at least 100
movies and TV series on DVD
and streaming from its library of
2,000 titles over the next year
Mary Staudt BBA ’67 retired
from James Avery Craftsman in
September 2015. Mary joined
James Avery in 2011 and worked
in real estate development, adding
to her career spanning more than
50 years.
1970s
Dan Walsh BBA ’70 was promoted
to senior lending officer at Moody
National Bank, headquartered in
Galveston, Texas.
Tim McClendon BBA ’72 was
honored as one of seven charter
members of the distinguished
faculty by the National Alliance
for Insurance Education and
Research. As an insurance agent
in Fort Worth, Tim has served as
an insurance speaker around the
country for more than 30 years.
28
Financial Safety Center as an
investment executive. The center
is funded by a $4 million, fiveyear grant from the W.W. Caruth
Jr. Foundation at Communities
Foundation of Texas. Spotlighted
in Forbes Magazine, the center
is a collaboration of The Senior
Source, the Dallas County Probate
Courts and the District Attorney’s
Office.
James L. Hass BBA ’73 retired from
the U.S. Air Force in 2004 as
Colonel and continues to work as
an aerospace military consultant
for Advanced Testing Technology
Inc. James presented the Colonel
James L. Hass Award at the 2015
Logistics Officer Association
Symposium in Washington, D.C.
in October.
David Dickson BBA ’74 was elected
president of the Waco Foundation,
a community foundation
managing more than $75 million
in assets. David is an attorney
in Waco, Texas, and adjunct
professor at Baylor Law School.
Dennis Knautz MBA ’76 was named
2015 Fort Worth Business CEO
of the Year – Public Company.
Dennis, president and CEO
of Acme Brick Company, has
been with the company more
than 33 years and also serves on
TCU’s College of Science and
Engineering’s external advisory
board.
Jan Norton BBA ’76 and son
Charles Norton celebrated their
first year in business as Authentic
Fort Worth. Their flagship tour,
Fort Worth Ghost Bus Tours,
was featured on the cover of
Fort Worth Business in October
featured in Tulsa Magazine on
August 29, 2015, for her interior
design business, MLT Design
LLC.
Bryan L. Austin BBA ’77 returned
to Fort Worth after 20 years in
Chicago, Illinois and Gainesville,
Florida, to join mLevel Inc.
as vice president of product
evangelism. mLevel is a
funded start-up headquartered
in Chicago and focused on
game-based learning in Fortune
500 organizations. Bryan was
formerly the chief game changer
for Game On! Learning.
Bill Widmer MBA ’78 completed
the Escape from Alcatraz 1.5 mile
swim in 37:31, finishing 80th out
of 834 participants. Bill remains
the board chairman for the South
Bay Management Authority
and a fifth-year councilman for
Atherton, California.
1980s
Brian Robeck BBA ’80 and his wife
Grace announce that daughter
Lauren will be playing volleyball
for University of Carolina
Greenboro in 2016.
Lorna Donatone MBA ’82 will
assume the role of president and
CEO of Sodexo North America
in January 2016. Lorna has held
several key leadership roles in
the company, including CEO of
Schools Worldwide, president
of Spirit Cruises, president of
Schools Division and most
recently President and COO
of Sodexo Education. Lorna
is a member of the Neeley
International Board of Visitors.
Fehmi Zeko BBA ’81 MBA ’82
joined Bank of America as vice
chairman of the TMT group.
Fehmi is a member of the Neeley
International Board of Visitors.
Jack E. Robinson MBA ’82 recently
moved back to Knoxville,
Tennessee, after 35 years in
Fort Worth, to be closer to his
grandchildren.
Mark Pierce MBA ’83 celebrated
24 years as a wealth advisor with
Thrivent Financial. He and his
wife Debbie M.Ed ’85 have three
children: Martha, director of
audience development at ATTN
in West Hollywood, California;
Hannah, currently in medical
school; and Jonathan, TCU class
of 2017. Mark and Debbie live in
Springfield, Illinois.
Fred Streck BBA ’83 is president
of the Fort Worth chapter of
the National Board of Trial
Advocates and a member of the
Texas State Bar's Personal Injury
Trial Law Advisory Commission
of the Texas Board of Legal
Specialization.
Bruce Funk MBA ’84 runs a CPA
firm and theatre company, in
addition to writing local history
books. Bruce recently sang with
the Choral Artist Society of
Frederick at TCU.
Don Baker MBA ’86 earned his
PhD in training and performance
improvement from Capella
University in May 2015.
Randy Rapp MBA ’87 was named
chief credit officer of Texas
Capital Bank.
J. Devin Zakrzewski MBA ’87
became president and CEO of
Allegian Insurance Company in
February 2015. Devin and his
wife, Suzan, have been married
for 28 years, have two children
and reside in Boerne, Texas.
Suzy Hankins BBA ’88 was elected
president of the Texas Bed &
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CLASS NOTES
Weddings & Engagements
3
1
2
4
5
6
1. Brittany Benditz BBA ’11 MAc ’13 and Chad Fox were married
on August 15, 2015, outside of Houston, Texas. 2. J. Trevor Heaney
BBA ’07 and Katherine Mangum TCU ’06 were married on June
6, 2015, in Kansas City, Kansas. 3. Cynthia Dorado BBA ’10 was
engaged to Gregory Johnson Jr. on the beach in Mexico. 4. Yasmin
Ettefagh Micek BBA ’11 MAc ’13 and Scott Micek BBA ’12 MAc
’13 were married on April 18, 2015, at the TCU Chapel and Fort
Worth Club. 5. Ingrid Glaser BBA ’02 and Chris Bernacki were
married on September 20, 2015, in Dripping Springs, Texas. 6.
Carolina Avalos BBA ’09 was engaged to Kevin Bretécher in August
2015. 7. Ted Kreder BBA ’08 MBA ’13 and Katie Giangreco TCU
’09 were married on June 7, 2014, in Fort Worth, Texas. 8. Dennis
Breheny BBA ’10 and his wife, Megan, were married on July 3,
2015, in McKinney, Texas.
7
Breakfast Association. Suzy and
her husband Keith Hankins BBA
’88 joined the industry in 2012
when they purchased a small
boutique hotel, Ant Street Inn, in
Brenham, Texas. They recently
opened Back Lot Gallery in
Brenham, which features various
solo artists.
1990s
Kristin Runyan BBA ’90 published
her second book, Change, Inc.:
An Agile Fable of Transformation
8
on how to take the principles
and tools of Agile to the entire
company. It is available on
Amazon.
Kirby Thornton MBA ’90 joined Pier
1 Imports as senior manager of
customer insights and analytics.
Previously, Kirby spent six years
at Empower Media Marketing, a
Cincinnati-based media agency,
as insights director.
Jonathan Bohlmann MBA ’91 is
a professor of marketing and
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29
CLASS NOTES
ALUMNI PROFILE
“The investment management industry of
the future will play a vital role in the lives of
people, with a landscape that is increasingly
complex due to an aging population where some
have accumulated significant wealth, and the
prospect of living much longer into retirement.
The industry will also come under increased
regulatory and profitability pressure. To navigate
these events the industry will need to attract
creative and talented individuals to solve very
complex problems.”
Tom Atteberry BBA ’75
Partner, First Pacific Advisors LLC, Los Angeles
Tom Atteberry is a renowned fixed-income strategist who has
been interviewed by Fortune, Money Magazine, Bloomberg TV and
CNBC . But his main skill is talking to people.
Tom studied money and banking at TCU while he worked at
KTCU and the TCU TV lab, honing his people skills alongside his
math skills.
“To do a newscast, you had to write it, direct it and then do it. We
had to be our own actors. We also made commercials,” he said. Tom
remembers when the Western Company tasked the TCU TV lab to
create a video annual report.
“Here we were, a bunch of college kids directing these corporate
execs: here’s where you sit, here’s what you say, here’s where you
look in the camera.”
Those experiences made Tom comfortable giving direction and
advice, which is an important part of his career success, especially
since he deals predominantly with bonds.
“With stocks, people are familiar with the companies, but when
you talk about bonds and interest rates, the more mathematical
and abstract the more difficult it is for people to understand,”
he said. “For example, as chief investment officer in a trust
department, I was the investment person talking to someone
running a small business, or to an 85-year-old widow. I needed to
succinctly explain it to someone who is not a finance expert.”
Tom originally had dreams of being in the broadcast business
when he graduated from TCU in 1975 with his degree in business,
perhaps someday owning a radio station. He spent several years
as a salesman for a radio station in Arlington before he took a long
look at his career path and decided to make a change.
“I remembered when my dad gave me some stock in the
company he worked for when I was little. He would bring home
The Wall Street Journal and show me the stock price,” Tom recalled.
“I was fascinated by how it went up or down. Obviously I didn’t get
it at time, but it introduced me to investing.”
Tom took his communications and selling skills, and his
business degree knowledge, and landed a job in the investment
30
management business. After a few years with Dallas brokerage
firm Kidder Peabody, he moved to Missouri to be chief investment
officer for Mercantile Bank, and three years later moved to
Cincinnati to Fifth Third Bancorp in the trust department.
“I knew I had found my niche,” Tom said.
Tom is now a partner with First Pacific Advisors in Los Angeles,
managing the multi-billion-dollar FPA New Income fund.
As a rock star in the investment world, Tom’s success is evident.
He attributes part of that to his conservative approach. A 2014
Forbes article talked about Tom’s “contrarian instincts.”
“I’ve never been one who follows the crowd. Just look at my
career path,” he said. “I tend to look at things differently and over
time. I ask questions. What if it doesn’t work? What if I lose? My
career became more focused on bonds versus stocks. Stocks tend
to be optimistic. With bonds, you’ve lent this person or entity
money, so what happens if they don’t pay you back? I look at what
you have to lose first.”
The other part of Tom’s success is his “gift for gab,” as Forbes
writer Steve Schaefer called it.
“I had always enjoyed the ability to invest in something, and
now I am responsible for a $5.5 billion fixed income mutual fund,
lending money to businesses and individuals and governments. I
even enjoy some of the mathematics, believe it or not. But I really
do enjoy going out and talking to people about what we do and
how we do it,” he said. “I’m very comfortable talking to people. I’m
comfortable talking to crowds, talking to CNBC, reporters in my
office…and a lot of that came from my time moonlighting in TV
and radio at TCU.”
His advice to students: “Go play with the really cool stuff offered
by TCU. One of the things that is so positive about TCU is that they
let you play with things. I didn’t major in radio-TV, but the school
let me take electives associated with KTCU and the TV Lab. The
Educational Investment Fund was just starting in the Neeley School
when I was there. It’s a great opportunity for students.”
CLASS NOTES
innovation at North Carolina
State University. Jonathan also
coordinates the Innovation and
Design Faculty Excellence
program.
Ray Gao MBA ’96 joined
Kelly Lewis BBA ’93 moved
back to Houston, Texas, from
Virginia Beach, Virginia, with
her husband, Stewart, and son,
Colten, as senior director of OE/
workforce planning and analytics
for McKesson, a Fortune Global
500 company with the 11th
highest revenue in the U.S.
Jim Flint BBA ’93 MBA ’97 is
president and founder of Local
Search Group, a Houston-based
digital marketing company that
specializes in the automotive
industry. Local Search Group
recently earned a spot on the Inc.
500 list of America’s fastestgrowing private companies and
fastest-growing ad agency in
Texas.
David B. Rottino MBA ’93 is
executive vice president and chief
financial officer of both LINN
Energy LLC and LinnCo LLC.
Leslie Smith Young BBA ’95 and her
husband, Michael, and son, Jack,
6, welcomed Julia Lynn Young
on February 3, 2015. Leslie is a
stay-at-home mom and Michael
is a partner in a law firm that
specializes in business litigation
and estate disputes. The family
resides in Sherman, Texas.
Dr. Ursula Y. Christian’s MBA ’96
doctoral dissertation “Software
Project Management: Software
Metrics Classification Decisionmaking” was published in
the International Journal of
Information Technology and
Business Management in
June 2015. Dr. Christian is
the simulation and systems
integration laboratories site senior
manager at Lockheed Martin
Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas,
where she, her husband and two
children, Majesty, TCU Class of
2018, and Champion, reside.
Jennifer Glickman Gamez BBA
’96 and husband, Dan TCU ’93,
announce that the Gamez Law
Firm was accredited with an A
rating by the Better Business
Bureau and made the San Diego
Union-Tribune’s “Best of” list for
2015. Jennifer manages the San
Diego-based law firm.
Births
SugarCRM as a solution architect
(technical lead) for the EMEA
region. Ray also teaches at the
European University in Munich.
2000s
Michael Del Toro Navarro BBA ’00
recently moved his family back
to Fort Worth after a decade in
Dallas County. Michael joins
Fort Worth ISD as a fourth grade
dual language enrichment and
bilingual teacher at E.M. Daggett
Elementary School, where his
three children attend.
Amy Shackelford BBA ’00 hosts,
plans and coordinates private
events for more than 15 years
in Fort Worth with Sedona
Productions. She recently
launched Spirits by Sedona, a
cocktail service specializing in
superior service, functionality
and design for the discerning host
who desires the highest level of
service and unequaled handcrafted cocktails.
Jason Bird BBA ’01 earned his
MS in Global Supply Chain
Management from the University
of Southern California, Marshall
School of Business, in Los
Angeles, California. Jason now
works for Alpine Electronics
of America as a supply chain
planning supervisor in McAllen,
Texas.
Dawn Hennessey BBA ’01 and her
husband Bill TCU ’98 welcomed
William “Pearce” Hennessey on
June 23, 2015.
1
2
1. Jack C. “Chris” Blair BBA ’02 and wife, Emily, welcomed
another son, Adrian Blair, on October 19. 2. Michelle Hunt Arnold
BBA ’06 MAc ’07 and her husband, Jeff, welcomed Harriet "Hattie"
Anne Arnold on June 15, 2015.
Marcus Kain BBA ’01 launched a
new grief support group ministry
in August 2015, designed for
young adults ages 18-40 who
have lost a loved one to help them
navigate through the grieving
process. For more information
visit https://www.facebook.com/
gyakck.
Jack C. “Chris” Blair BBA ’02 and
wife, Emily, welcomed another
son, Adrian Blair, on October 19.
He weighed 10 lbs. 13 oz. and
was 19.75 inches long.
Ingrid Glaser BBA ’02 and
Chris Bernacki were married
on September 20, 2015, in
Dripping Springs, Texas. Neeley
alumni in attendance included
Matt Campbell BBA ’01, Vivian
Mannhart Campbell BBA ’02,
Carla Kumse Hughes BBA ’02,
Jeff Griffing BBA ’01 and Reuben
Reynoso BBA ’02. Neeley alumni
not pictured included Samina
Nawab Baker BBA ’02 and Nick
Baker BBA ’02.
Kyle Dean BBA ’03, president and
CEO of Dean & Draper Insurance
Agency LP, in Houston, Texas,
will serve as president of the
Independent Insurance Agents of
Houston (IIAH) from September
1, 2015, through August 31, 2016.
Kyle has worked in the insurance
industry since 2005. He assumed
a leadership role at the agency
when his father, Bob Dean,
suddenly passed in 2013.
Dave Johnson MBA ’03 has semiretired and moved to Jackson,
Wyoming. Dave is starting a
consulting company and devoting
more time to his passion for
photography.
Ruben Reynoso Jr. BBA ’02 started
a nonprofit soccer academy,
FC Victory Academy, in a
lower-income part of Dallas to
give underprivileged children
ages 6 to 13 the opportunity to
train and compete as part of an
academy soccer program under
the guidance of experienced
soccer coaches. The program will
also teach social responsibility,
leadership, spirituality and
academics.
Ray Carpenter MBA ’04 was
promoted to senior vice
president at AT&T in El
Segundo, California. He will
lead a new team responsible
for all financial operations of
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31
CLASS NOTES
AT&T Entertainment and Video
Services.
Jen Dallao MBA ’05 now works
in residential real estate after 10
years in corporate finance and
marketing. She’s excited to help
fellow Horned Frogs with their
real estate needs.
Abe Issa BBA ’05, founder and
chief executive of Global
Efficient Energy, wrapped up
2015 with multiple awards
including No. 32 on the Inc.
5000 list of America’s fastestgrowing companies; No. 3 Top
Energy Companies, No. 2 Top
Texas Companies and No. 2
Company in the Dallas Metro
Area. Abe was a finalist in the
EY Entrepreneur of the Year
2015 Award (Dallas/Fort Worth
Region) and honored by the
2015 Stevie Awards with the
Silver Stevie for Maverick of
the Year and Executive of the
Year. Abe also was honored by
the CEO World Awards with the
Environmentally Sustainable
Leader Award.
Trent Capps BBA ’06 joined
FanPrint as director of operations,
leaving behind the world of real
estate to pursue his passion of
sports and entrepreneurship.
Daniel Verboski BBA ’06 accepted a
commission as a foreign service
officer with the Department of
State. Daniel completed several
months of training and is now
representing the United States as
a diplomat in Brasilia, Brazil.
Michelle Hunt Arnold BBA ’06
MAc ’07 and her husband, Jeff,
welcomed Harriet "Hattie" Anne
Arnold on June 15, 2015. Proud
maternal grandparents are David
and Lynn W. Hunt, TCU class of
1978. Hattie already loves her
Horned Frogs!
32
J. Trevor Heaney BBA ’07 and
Katherine Mangum TCU ’06
were married on June 6, 2015,
in Kansas City, Kansas. They
celebrated with more than 80 of
their TCU classmates, friends and
family in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Tim Bates TCU ’03 MBA ’08 is
starting a commercial brokerage
firm after starting and running a
local home building company for
10 years. Tim will continue to
work with Glendarroch Homes as
well. The new firm will focus on
leasing office space for building
owners, helping businesses find
space for their needs (tenant
rep), and buying and selling of
commercial real estate assets.
Peter Wirth BBA ’08 joined AYCO,
a division of Goldman Sachs,
as vice president of corporate
development for the southwest
region.
Carolina Avalos BBA ’09 was
engaged to Kevin Bretécher in
August 2015. The couple will
marry in Miami on April 18,
2016.
2010s
Dennis Breheny BBA ’10 and his
wife, Megan, were married on
July 3, 2015, in McKinney,
Texas. Dennis was recently
promoted to area sales manager
within Glazer’s Distributing
as part of the E. & J. Gallo's
MDP program. He manages two
district sales managers, 12 sales
representatives and more than
$12 million in annual revenue.
Cynthia Dorado BBA ’10 was
engaged to Gregory Johnson Jr.
on the beach in Mexico. They
will marry in September 2016.
Kel Mabatah BBA ’10 worked for
his dad’s businesses in Houston,
Texas, and Nigeria before being
severely assaulted in December
2014 at a compound in Nigeria.
Kel’s family transported him back
to Houston where he underwent
four brain surgeries, which left
him paralyzed on his right side
and diminished his ability to
speak. Through hard work, daily
rehabilitation and therapy, Kel
continues down the road toward a
full recovery.
Clayton Thomas BBA ’10 and his
siblings, TCU finance major
Kristen Thomas and Colin Thomas
TCU ’14, cycled through Europe in
August 2015.
Mant Hawkins EMBA ’11 and CEO
of 4D Circle spoke at TEDxSMU
to share the success of his
company’s business model. 4D
Circle is building the first office
building of its kind in downtown
Fort Worth. The building will
make more energy than it uses,
cost less to build, last longer
and be healthier to work inside.
4D Circle also retrofits existing
buildings.
Daniel Gandarilla MBA ’12,
director of talent and team
development and interim chief
learning officer for Texas Health,
received the bronze Trailblazer
Award in Chief Learning Officer
magazine’s 2015 Learning in
Practice competition. The awards
recognize learning leaders who
demonstrate excellence in the
design and delivery of employee
development programs.
Robert Stam MBA ’12 co-founded
an innovative mattress-inflation
product sold under Windcatcher
Technology, which was featured
on an episode of “Shark Tank” on
October 30. Rob was unable to
appear on the episode because he
was serving in Afghanistan with
the Army National Guard.
Brittany Benditz BBA ’11 MAc
’13 and Chad Fox were married
on August 15, 2015, outside
of Houston, Texas. The couple
resides in Dallas where Brittany
is finishing law school.
Zach Freeman BBA ’13 celebrated
the two-year anniversary of his
values-based moving company,
Veterans Moving America, which
only hires veterans.
Yasmin Ettefagh Micek BBA ’11
MAc ’13 and Scott Micek BBA ’12
MAc ’13 were married on April
18, 2015, at the TCU Chapel and
Fort Worth Club. The couple
celebrated their union with both
a Catholic and Persian ceremony.
They currently reside in Houston,
Texas. Yasmin is a CPA at
Deloitte & Touche and Scott is
an investment banking analyst at
Goldman Sachs.
Ted Kreder BBA ’08 MBA ’13 and
Katie Giangreco TCU ’09 were
married on June 7, 2014, in
Fort Worth, Texas. The Kreders
relocated to Franklin, Tennessee,
and both work at Nissan North
America. Ted is a senior
financial analyst and Katie is
the supervisor of social media
customer engagement.
Markus C. Decker MBA ’14 joined
RMS Medical as an international
sales executive. Together with a
Sweden-based colleague, Markus
will manage international sales
for the growing U.S.-based
company. Markus lives near
Stuttgart, Germany.
Cole Frederick MAc ’14 received
the Texas State Board of Public
Accountancy’s special award for
outstanding achievement on the
Uniform CPA Examination. Cole
was one of ten Texas candidates
who passed all parts of the
examination at the initial sitting
with the highest cumulative
scores.
Glenn Isbell MBA ’14 is senior
vice president for the customer
support and service organization
at Bell Helicopter.
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ALUMNI PROFILE
CLASS NOTES
“Google will be part of the core curriculum
of business education for the future. Its
influence on our lives and way of thinking
requires a deeper understanding of it to
be successful in business. It’s more than
just looking up information. It’s knowing
whether someone who clicked on your ad
walked into your store.”
Jim Flint BS ’93 MBA ’97
President and Founder,
Local Search Group
Jim’s experience at TCU Neeley allowed him to earn positions at
Nike and Toyota, which led to founding his own company, Local
Search Group. Over five years, Jim has grown and evolved Local
Search Group into a thriving digital marketing business recently
named to Inc. 500's list of fastest-growing private companies.
Jim came to TCU as a baseball player, majored in psychology,
worked in the computer lab in Moncrief Hall where he lived, and
then returned for his MBA.
“My first accounting class ever was in grad school, so I had to do
the extra work. I had a numerical disparity that Dr. Vigeland and Dr.
Pfaffenberger helped me turn into a strength over time,” he said.
Jim had his choice between the full-time and part-time program.
He chose the Professional MBA, which put him in classes with older,
more experienced professionals who were holding down full-time
jobs while studying.
“I had a lot of energy and ambition, but being the youngest kept
me humble and hungry,” he said. “The challenges they had keeping
their day jobs were significant. I made sure I was a value-added
person who was able to get a lot of work done for the team. One
thing I have always believed is that when you have a seat at the
table, make sure you are contributing.”
For his day job, Jim was hall director at Milton Daniel residence
hall and a graduate assistant for the TCU women’s basketball team.
“Not a lot of places allow you to do that many different things at
a high level with a high degree of responsibility. That helped me
grow,” he said.
At Milton Daniel, Jim watched over 11 direct reports and several
hundred residents.
“I had to delegate, have accountability and make sure we had
the right culture in the dorm. When you are living in a community
with someone, it’s a good thing to know who they are. I made
sure we got to know everyone’s names the first week of school. If
you don’t know someone’s name, you’re not giving them a good
collegiate experience, much less actually getting to know them.
Putting names with faces is a skill set that still helps me today.”
Jim founded Local Search Group in Houston in 2010 to help
companies get the right visibility to the right person at the right
time, using Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook and Twitter.
He started programming computers in third grade when his
father brought home an Atari 800XL. During his automotive
marketing career, his fascination with Google’s algorithms led him
to develop software that lets consumers find relevant inventory
quickly and with a high degree of relevance. Although he built it for
dealerships, he knew it would worked outside that environment, so
he spun off his own company.
“From an entrepreneurial perspective, there is nothing like living
it,” he said. “It’s one thing to study it, and another thing to see what
happens with cash flow in real life. All the preparation in the world
is good, but when you are in moment, that’s when it matters most.”
Jim started small and has continued to grow. As of August 2015,
Local Search Group’s three-year growth rate was 4,312 percent.
He began by focusing on the automotive industry and has now
expanded to private aviation, political campaigns and live events
such as Grand Prix and comic cons.
“The car business is like New York: If you can make it there
you can make it anywhere,” he said. “It’s exciting for the team to
expand our knowledge to different industries and support different
businesses.”
His advice to students: “If you are going into marketing or
advertising to avoid numbers, that’s not going to happen anymore.
There is too much big data, and your ability to interpret that info
becomes the differentiator between good and great marketing. It is
a key skill set that will make you valuable to an organization.”
33
ON THE SCENE
1
3
4
5
1 Neeley School juniors and seniors spent fall break in Seattle on
a networking trip organized by the Alcon Career Center. They
visited Amazon.com, Microsoft, Starbucks and Nordstrom.
6 Neeley School alumni and friends received a warm welcome and
insider tour of Google headquarters while touring businesses and
tasting wine in Northern California during the summer.
2 Three Horned Frog family members cycled through Europe in
August 2015. Finance major Kristen Thomas, Clayton Thomas
BBA ’10 and Colin Thomas TCU ’14 show their TCU pride in
front of the remnant of the iron curtain on the boarder of Austria
and Hungary.
7 TCU MBAs visited Walgreens headquarters in Chicago to learn
about its integration with Boots and tour a flagship store.
3 BNSF Neeley Leadership Program sophomores participated in
the Assessment Center business case analysis activity. Students
received feedback regarding decision-making, group problem
solving and communication skills from business leaders at BNSF
Railway, Citi and private equity firms.
4 The TCU Graduate Real Estate Club toured Integrated Real
Estate Group's flagship community, Watermere at Southlake, and
discussed the future of real estate with CEO Rick Simmons.
5 Neeley Fellows spent fall break in San Francisco visiting
Salesforce, Dropbox, Google and RedSeal.
34
2
8 Neeley EMBA students and alumni from classes of 2014, 2015
and 2017 took the ALS Association Ice Bucket Challenge to
support Collin Hadley EMBA ’14 who was diagnosed with ALS
in October 2014.
9 Neeley Fellows sophomores participated in a teambuilding event
with one of the founders of Four Day Weekend improv comedy
team Dave Wilk. He led a workshop on “Yes, and...” the theory of
building on others' ideas.
10 TCU MBAs took a tour of Southwest Airlines to learn more
about its internship program.
11 BNSF Neeley Leadership Program juniors learned about business
in Chicago and visited a variety of companies that included
JPMorgan, Paycom, Yahoo, Mosaic, IES Abroad, Aon, 1871,
GCM Grosvenor, McDonald’s and Ulta Beauty.
ON THE SCENE
6
7
8
10
11
9
35
2015 ANNUAL REPORT
UNDERGRADUATE
2,065
Total Students Enrolled
16% West
PRIOR RESIDENCE
11% Midwest
55% Southwest
2% Northeast
2% Mid-Atlantic
23
9% South
Countries
5% International
GRADUATE
378
Total Students Enrolled
BY PROGRAM
90
MBA Full Time
112
Professional MBA
49
Energy MBA
36
16
PRIOR RESIDENCE
61
Texas
Executive MBA
Master of Science
Supply Chain
Management
81%
11%
50
Master of
Accounting
Outside Texas
8%
Outside U.S.
14
Countries
CAREER SERVICES
UNDERGRADUATE
$56,736
Average Starting Salary
96%
Employed or enrolled in graduate
school within 90 days of graduation
$5,463
Average Signing Bonus
GRADUATE
$89,579
Average Starting Salary
93%
Employed within
90 days of graduation
$8,018
Average Signing Bonus
ALUMNI NETWORK
24,795
TOTAL ALUMNI
72%
3%
TEXAS
OUTSIDE U.S.
25%
88
OUTSIDE TEXAS
COUNTRIES
18
ALUMNI CHAPTERS
out of
every
TCU
students
comes through
the Neeley
School
2015
3,350
2008
1,741
STUDENTS
STUDENTS
Every year, more students apply
to the Neeley School of Business.
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Ft. Worth, TX
Permit No. 2143
Texas Christian University
Neeley Magazine
TCU Box 298530
Fort Worth, TX 76129
Address Service Requested
FAMILY AFFAIR
TCU business major Abby Quinn and her parents, Cynthia Collins Quinn TCU '77 and James Quinn
BBA'78, proudly display their Horned Frog pride (and graduation years) on their hands at the
homecoming football game.
40

2020 Vision - Neeley School of Business

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