McCombs School of Business: Email - McCombs School of Business Monthly News

IN THIS ISSUE
Mad Money—A Hit at McCombs
Carolyn Miles Named New Director of Corporate Relationship Management
Faculty Receive Research Excellence Grants

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"Mad Money" a Hit With McCombs Students
Mad Money Cramer Austin has long been known as the capital of the Republic of Texas, but for a couple days this week Austin—or at least the campus of The University of Texas—became the official center of Cramerica, a nation headed by Jim Cramer and populated by fans of his hit stock-picking show “Mad Money” on CNBC. The effusive Cramer brought his passion for investing and for engaging college students (plus a whole lot of sound effects) to Austin as a part of the show’s “Back to School” tour, which culminated with a taping at the Hogg Auditorium March 20 in front of 800 students, mostly from the McCombs School of Business.
Get the full story.

Carolyn Miles Named Director of Corporate Relationship Management for McCombs
She speaks the corporate language, having worked with energy companies and clients, such as the New York Stock Exchange and Goldman Sachs. Add that to her knowledge of McCombs from her two-year service as senior associate director for MBA Career Services, and Carolyn Miles is a natural fit as the Office of Resource Development’s new director of corporate relationship management. Miles received her master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Indiana University. Prior to coming to McCombs, she managed public policy issues for high-level clients at Public Strategies, Inc., advised companies on strategic communications surrounding issues of investor relations and mergers and acquisitions for The Abernathy Macgregor Group, and worked as an energy consultant with Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Get the full story.

Business Honors Student Earns Texas Exes
President's Leadership Award
Sarina Hickey, a BHP student majoring in finance and Spanish, was one of six undergraduates to win a 2007 Texas Exes President’s Leadership Award. The prestigious award highlights individual students for consistently going above and beyond the call of duty, representing character, leadership and integrity and improving The University of Texas at Austin. With the award, Hickey receives $1,000 and a lifetime membership in the Texas Exes.

Nine Faculty Members Awarded 2006-2007 McCombs Research Excellence Grants
The McCombs Research Excellence Grant program recognizes and promotes research excellence in the McCombs School by supporting influential and high-quality faculty research projects. The grants are awarded based on competitive project proposals and can be used to cover substantive research expenses (such as data-gathering costs, graduate assistantships and database purchases). Criteria for awarding the research grants include the novelty and likely academic impact of the proposed research, potential to significantly enhance the research reputation of the faculty and the school and prospects for facilitating collaboration among faculty members.
Get the list of awardees and their research projects.

Koehler Discusses Lack of "Science" in Forensic Science at Faculty Research Presentation
Don’t koehler believe everything you see on CSI. That was the message delivered by Jay Koehler in his presentation for the Faculty Research Speaker Series March 27. Actually, Koehler is more concerned with the work of real-life forensic scientists than with the fictional ones found on the hit CBS television franchise. “Forensic science isn’t quite as good as most of us have been led to believe,” said Koehler, a professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management.
Video: Watch Prof. Koehler's Faculty Research Series presentation on forensic science. Get the full story.

Spring Exec Ed Course Responding to Market Dynamics
Texas Executive Education programs challenge your thinking and add value to your professional life. Coming up this spring: Responding to Market Dynamics, May 10-11. This program offers you a foundation for designing market-based strategy and provides a set of tools useful in developing a path toward profitability that is synchronous with changes in the market. For complete course description and registration information please visit us online or call us at 800-409-3932.

McCOMBS IN THE NEWS

U.S. News Releases Annual Graduate School Rankings
U.S. News & World Report, March 30, 2007
U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of graduate programs March 30. The full-time MBA program at McCombs was ranked No. 18 for the third year in a row. The Department of Accounting was ranked No. 1 in the specialty section after being listed at No. 2 last year. Other programs and departments at McCombs were ranked as follows: executive MBA, No. 14; MBA for working professionals, No. 5; entrepreneurship, tied at No. 8; finance, tied at No. 14; information systems, No. 3;international, tied at No. 14; management, No. 19; marketing, tied at No. 10; and productions/ops, tied at No. 15. Get the full story.

New Century files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
CNN Money, April 3, 2007
New Century Financial Corp. said Monday it will immediately cut 3,200 jobs, or 54 percent of its work force, as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The Irvine, Calif.-based company also said it agreed to sell its servicing assets and platform to Carrington Capital Management LLC for $139 million, subject to bankruptcy approval. Greg Hallman, a lecturer on real estate finance at McCombs, said the New Century bankruptcy put an exclamation point on the era of investing in securitized subprime debt. “It’s probably over for the time being,” said Hallman. “That market worked for as long as investment banks provided funding. The banks have cut the money off.” Get the full story.

Texas Lawmakers Seek to Avoid New Accounting Rule
The New York Times, March 12, 2007
McCombs Accounting Professor Michael Granof has been a critic of proposed Texas legislation that would allow government officials to sidestep a new national accounting rule that takes effect this year. The rule calls for state and local governments across the country to report obligations for future costs for medical and related benefits that their employees will receive when they retire. Texas, however, is looking to opt out of the process. “Our legislature does crazy things,” said Granof in The New York Times. “We have a law for blind hunters. This is probably the dumbest bill since that.” In an op-ed published in the Austin American-Statesman (March 13, 2007), Granof wrote, “The pending legislation is especially pernicious because it will undermine the authority of the independent accounting board to objectively establish standards. Each state will then be free to set its own rules. Just imagine how reliable financial statements will be when it is the politicians who determine our accounting principles.” Read the New York Times story. (requires a subscription)

Research from McCombs’ Griffin Finds Hedge Fund Returns Unimpressive
BusinessWeek Online, March 19, 2007
John Griffin, associate professor of finance, and his co-author have some bad news for proponents of hedge funds in their new paper “How Smart Are the Smart Guys?” After reviewing the quarterly stock holdings of about 300 hedge fund firms against equity mutual funds from 1980 through 2004, the researchers found that hedge funds failed to deliver except during the Internet bubble. On average, hedge funds outperformed mutual funds by 1.4 percentage points per year, but three-quarters of the outperformance was due solely to inflated technology profits during 1999 and 2000. The remainder without those years is statistically insignificant. The hedge fund returns are also measured before fees, so after the hedge funds’ greater fees, the outperformance would be even smaller. Get the full story.

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McCombs Monthly Archives

	Vol. 8, No. 3 April 10, 2007
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	Make a gift to the McCombs School Annual Fund and help us achieve our goal of becoming the best public business school in the nation. Give now. Related Links
	Hermes Society Matching Gift Program Give Online The McCombs School of Business 2004-05 Investors' Report is now available online. Visit the home page to view the 2004-05 donors and financial information. Terry Townsend BBA '57 Much has changed in 50 Years: One 1957 Alum Reminisces Tuition was just $25 a semester, the Korean War had recently ended, and a class of 60 students was an anomaly. It was 1957, the year Terry Townsend graduated with a BBA. After graduating, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1958 and continued his education at UT, receiving a law degree in 1959. He has remained connected to the University ever since. For the next six years, Terry practiced law and continued to serve in the legislature representing his hometown district of Brady, Texas—125 miles northwest of Austin. One of his first assignments as a representative was acting as a point person for the Texas Exes on matters of interest and leading the student’s fight against approval of a tuition hike, doubling it to $50 a semester. In January 1966, Terry returned to Austin, where he lives still, and put the skills he learned in business school to use, working as a trade association executive, first as president of the Texas Motor Transportation Association for 20 years and later as the president and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association until his retirement in June 2001. “Business school not only taught me, it helped me to think practically and be successful in my career,” Terry says, “When I was in school we had great tenured faculty, and we also had retired generals from the Korean War who had really done and seen a lot. I learned a great deal from them.” While in school, Terry held a 40-hour a week job, first at a bank and later with the legislature. He was also involved with numerous college activities and fraternal organizations. “Being able to balance a limited amount of time and money and make the necessary grades made me so much more prepared when I began my career. At the time, I didn’t appreciate that,” Terry, “but later I realized it was good training, and especially great to get from UT.” His affinity for UT surpasses the business school to admiration for his fellow classmates. Out of his graduating high school class of 60 students from Brady, Terry says five of them attended UT. “We were the original Brady Bunch.” That bunch all went on to be successful—as medical, legal, and business professionals—some of the most accomplished from that area of Texas. And as most UT alumni, Terry is huge fan of Longhorn athletics. As a freshman, he played on the tennis team. He jokes he was ninth out of a team of eight. His love for the sport and UT, however, prompts him to regularly attend matches as well as hold season tickets for Longhorn football, basketball and baseball. Attending UT football victories in two Rose Bowls and baseball championships twice in Omaha remain highlights of his retirement. Along with his wife and other classmates, Terry will reminisce about his UT experiences at the upcoming Class of 1957 50-Year Reunion on April 26-27. For more information on the 50-Year Reunion, visit the Texas Exes web site. Hire McCombs Alumni through the McCombs Job Board Search for a job or promote employment opportunities to both current students and alumni of the McCombs School of Business. Both the Alumni Directory and the McCombs Job Board are accessible through your UT EID (University of Texas Electronic Identification). Click here for more information on finding your UT EID, or contact the Registrar's office at 512-475-7656. If you have any questions, please email us and refer to "Alumni Directory" or "McCombs Job Board" in the subject and content of your message.