Four from McCombs Earn Endowment Appointments
The following endowment appointments have been approved by the provost effective Sept. 1, 2007: Robert Parrino (right)—Lamar Savings Centennial Professorship in Finance; Michael Clement—KPMG Faculty Fellowship in Accounting Education; Raji Srinivasan—The Spurgeon Bell Centennial Fellowship; and Frenkel ter Hofstede—Collins Hill Jr. Fellowship. Congratulations to these recipients for being recognized for their contributions to the McCombs School of Business.

Six Selected to be Inducted into University of Texas Alumni Elite by Texas Exes 
The Texas Exes announced the 2007 University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award recipients. Of the six chosen, three are business school alumni: Ambassador Tony Garza, BBA ’80, is the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and the former chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission; Mark McLaughlin, BBA ’52, is a successful rancher, banker and attorney in the San Angelo area; and Charles Tate, BBA ’68, is the chairman and founder of Capital Royalty, L.P., a private equity firm in Houston targeting investments in the health care industry, and is also a member of the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame. The six recipients will be honored at a presentation in Austin on Sept. 28, 2007.

Kusin and Konana Discuss Issue of Offshore Outsourcing
The issue of offshore outsourcing by U.S. firms continues to be a hot-button topic of discussion. Recently, Gary Kusin, BA ’72 and former CEO of FedEx Kinko’s, and Prabhudev Konana (pictured left), associate professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management at McCombs, discussed Konana’s research on the subject for a radio segment now appearing on American Airlines in-flight entertainment.

Six Named to McCombs Advisory Council 
New Advisory Council members will begin their terms Sept. 1, 2007. The new members, chosen from 44 nominees, are: R. Paul Kinscherff, MBA ’85, MAF ’85, and vice president of finance and treasurer at The Boeing Company; Hugh E. “Skip” McGee III, JD ’84, managing director and head of Global Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers; Roderick N. Reed, MBA ’80, vice chairman of Investment Banking at JP Morgan Securities; Thomas L. Ryan, BBA ’87, president and CEO of Service Corporation International; Stacy J. Smith, BBA ’85, MBA ’88, vice president and CIO at Intel Corp.; and Gary M. Weed, MBA ’79, vice president and downstream controller at Exxon Mobil Corp.

Koonce Elected to UT Austin's Academy of Distinguished Teachers
Professor Lisa Koonce of the Department of Accounting has been elected to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. The Academy was established in 1995 to recognize tenured faculty members who have made sustained and significant contributions to education, including a distinguished teaching record. There are only a few faculty members selected for this prestigious award every year, and Koonce is the ninth McCombs professor to be so honored. Current McCombs faculty who are members of the Academy are Professors Anitesh Barua, Keith Brown, Michael Granof, Ross Jennings, Jay Koehler, Prabhudev Konana and Robert Prentice.

Morrice Selected to Succeed Shively as Chair of IROM Department
Doug Morrice will become chair of the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management Sept. 1, 2007. Morrice joined the McCombs faculty in 1990 and, during his career at McCombs, has built a strong reputation as an accomplished teacher, scholar and service contributor. Morrice has also served in several administrative roles, including graduate adviser and as the director of the Supply Chain Management Consortium.

Hughes to Replace Carner as Director of Business Foundations Program
Regina Hughes, senior finance lecturer, has been announced as the new director of the Business Foundations Program. As of June 1, Hughes will replace William Carner, senior marketing lecturer, who is leaving McCombs.


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McCOMBS In the News
Texas Leaves Taxpayers in Lurch Over $50 Billion in Benefits
Bloomberg, April 19, 2007
Texas owes state workers $50 billion in future retirement benefits and refuses to acknowledge the obligation. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs says she won’t follow a new national accounting standard that requires states and cities to disclose the estimated costs of benefits promised to retired workers, such as health care and life insurance. The government would need to set aside $4 billion a year over the next decade to keep from falling short on what it owes, according to a report by the state’s Legislative Budget Board. Disclosing its future costs may force Texas to raise taxes, increase borrowing, sell assets or cut programs to come up with the money. Refusing to recognize them may jeopardize the ratings on $22 billion of outstanding bonds and prompt investors to demand higher yields when they lend to the state. “If they don’t report it, they don’t have to do anything about it,” Michael Granof said. “It’s much easier to just push it off to the next generation.”  Get the full story.

The Cost of Peace of Mind
Yahoo! Finance, April 26, 2007
Jim Schenke is a married 40-year-old home owner with a toddler. He makes an extra payment each year toward his fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage. But he doesn’t contribute to his employer’s 403(b) plan. “The only company I owe money to is my mortgage lender, and I’m going to be beholden to them for as short a time as I can be,” he said. But a new study suggests Schenke might be better off putting that extra cash into his company’s retirement plan. Researchers, including Jennifer Huang, McCombs assistant finance professor, found that at least 4 in 10 homeowners would build more wealth by putting additional mortgage payments into a tax-deferred retirement plan, such as a 401(k) or 403(b). Switching the money to retirement savings would save U.S. households up to $1.5 billion a year, they estimate. “We’re not telling people they should save more—the study is about making optimal use of savings,” said Gene Amromin, financial economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Huang’s co-author. Get the full story.