IN THIS ISSUE
 Four from McCombs Earn Endowment Appointments
Koonce Elected to Academy of Distinguished Teachers
Six Named to McCombs Advisory Council

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
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