IN THIS ISSUE
MBA Real Estate Team Wins Texas Shoot-Out
Online Networking Survey
MBA Student Resume Books Available

Don't Miss These Exciting Upcoming Dates!

Summer Chapter Receptions	June 2007	Read more...
3rd Annual MMA Awards Celebration	September 28	Read more...
Reunion 2007, Classes of 1997 and 2002	November 9-11	Read more...

CLASSES OF 1997 and 2002: Save the Date! Mark your calendars for November 9-11, 2007 to reconnect with your classmates at your reunion. We look forward to seeing you in Austin in November!

McCombs MBA Real Estate Team Wins Texas Shoot-Out
MBA students from McCombs won the $10,000 first-place prize in the second annual Texas Shoot-Out real estate competition April 20. Sponsored by the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties of North Texas, the case involved a dilapidated mall with environmental issues in Chicago. Options were: sell, redevelop or scrape. The winning McCombs team consisted of first-year MBA students Amy Sta. Maria, Nurith Galonsky, Luis Castellanos, Richard Roberts, Ammanuel Metta and David Childress. The Southern Methodist University team took second place, earning $7,500. Texas Christian University’s team won the $5,000 prize. Also competing were teams from Rice University and the University of North Texas.

Wheeler Named to Newly Created COO Position for Executive Education
Bob Wheeler has been selected to be the chief operating officer for Executive Education. Wheeler will continue his responsibilities as the director of the Texas Evening MBA through the end of the academic year. Wheeler, as chief operating officer, will have day to day responsibilities for the internal operations of Executive Education and work closely with the program directors and offices in helping meet their needs. Prior to his role as director of the Texas Evening MBA, Wheeler served as the assistant dean and director of the MBA Program at Penn State.

San Diego State Team Takes Global Moot Corp Competition and $100,000 Prize Package
A patented optical displacement sensing technique claimed the grand prize at the 24th annual Global Moot Corp® Competition, held at the McCombs School May 5. Omega Sensors from San Diego State University beat out 34 teams from top MBA programs around the world to claim the prize package of $25,000 in cash and $75,000 in business services, including consulting from the McCombs faculty. The San Diego State team will also open the NASDAQ Stock Market Aug. 10, along with Rob Adams (right, in picture), director of Moot Corp and management lecturer at McCombs. Get the full story.

McCombs Student and Alumni Profiled by Forte Foundation
The Forte Foundation, an organization dedicated to inspiring women to pursue business careers, recently featured profiles on three phenomenal McCombs women in its most recent newsletter. Jamie Lipmann, marketing senior; Sara Martinez Tucker, MBA ’79; and Heather Kennedy, MBA ’99, discussed opportunities to positively influence the world through business. Whether it's working on corporate social responsibility issues, public policy or a combination of both, these women have used their careers to affect social change.  Read the profile on Jamie Lipmann, marketing senior.
Read the profile on Sara Martinez Tucker, MBA ’79.
Read the profile on Heather Kennedy, MBA ’99.

Students Win $25,000 at Oak Ridge National Labs Competition
A team from The University of Texas at Austin won $25,000 at the Nano Idea to Product competition held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory April 2-4. The business contest brought together 15 teams from 12 universities to pitch nanotechnology-based products and business concepts to a panel of judges from industry, academia and venture capital firms. The team’s winning concept is an intelligent, nano-sized drug-delivery device, known as NANOTaxi, which can target tumor cells and release an FDA-approved drug only in the presence of a cancer-specific enzyme. Formed in a class at the McCombs School of Business, the team includes Nicholas Rojeski, MBA ’07, and three others from UT Austin—two students from engineering and one from physics. “While we are a seed-stage company, the NANOTaxi could potentially improve cancer treatment as we know it,” said Rojeski.

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.

Hermes Spring Fling: A Huge Success
On April 19, over 2,000 students, faculty, and staff attended McCombs’ 4th Annual Hermes Spring Fling, a community building event featuring raffle prizes from area businesses, games, refreshments, music performed by Carolyn Wonderland and Shelley King, and free ice-cream and limited edition Hermes Spring Fling t-shirts. The function was sponsored by ConocoPhillips and Frito-Lay. Visit the Hermes Spring Fling website or take a photo tour of this year’s event.

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. 

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.

Executive Education Offers Certificate Programs
Texas Executive Education programs provide the opportunity to study varied areas of concentration and cover critical topics for managers and executives. We offer three certificate programs: the Institute for Managerial Leadership, a General Management Certificate and a new program this fall in Energy Finance. For complete course description and registration information please visit us online call us at 800.409.3932.

Take Our Survey Regarding Online Networking Resources
In an effort to continue to provide an alumni network that is valuable and easily accessible to you, we are conducting a short survey to gather your opinion regarding online networking resources. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts. Your feedback will help us create a stronger McCombs MBA Alumni Network. Take the survey.

MBA Student Resume Books Available
Do you have internship or permanent positions available? Hire McCombs MBA students. Resume books are available by emailing mbaalumni@mccombs.utexas.edu. Please indicate if you are seeking interns or full-time candidates.

Texas MBA Football Tailgate Sponsorship Opportunity—We need you!
Texas MBA Football Tailgates are current student and alumni networking events prior to each home football game designed to promote school pride and a sense of inclusion within the larger UT community. The tailgates also serve as an opportunity for corporate sponsors to interact with 1st and 2nd year students in a less formal environment.  If you are interested in learning more or to secure a particular game, please contact Leah MacDougal at Leah.MacDougal@mba08.mccombs.utexas.edu

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS
Alumnus Named President-Elect of the Texas Lyceum Leadership Organization
The Texas Lyceum is a non-profit leadership organization composed of 96 members. The newest President-Elect, John Boettiger (MBA '92), will also serve as Chairman and Immediate Past Chair for the Texas Lyceum for a four-year term. Boettiger is Principal for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP in Houston, and a press release from Deloitte notes that, “Boettiger provides clients with transaction solutions that include: valuation opinions, purchase allocations, due diligence, financing and deal process management.” Boettiger also belongs to the American Society of Appraisers, the Institute of Management Consultants and the CFA Institute, and is and respected author and speaker.

Company Founded by Alumnus Wins Texas Emerging Technology Award 
Xtreme Power, Inc., founded by Michael Breen (MBA ’94) has been awarded the Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant, totaling $2 million, to help the company commercialize its large-scale load leveling products. The company, located south of Austin in Kyle, is involved in high-efficiency energy design and maintenance. Breen, who is also the company’s CFO, says, “This program is important to us because it allows us not only to accelerate our growth and level of service but also to provide employment opportunities for Texans.”

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.