QUICK LINKS Alumni Web Site Give to McCombs Update Your Address B-School Alumni Directory McCombs News Texas Exes Online Services McCombs Merchandise We've got t-shirts and other McCombs wearables in the online store. From executive gifts to t-shirts to travel items - we've got something for the current or future business mogul! Investment Opportunity 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 2005-06 Investors' Report is available online and lists the 2005-06 donors and financial information.  ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT  Joe Griffith BBA ’78 Alumnus Describes Positive Aspects of Change Joe Griffith has never been a stranger to change. Growing up the son of an Air Force pilot, Griffith, who now lives in Dallas, called everywhere from Austin to Niagara Falls to California home. After graduating from McCombs with a BBA in finance, change followed him into his professional life—this time in the form of mergers. In 1982, Griffith began working at Texas Commerce Bank in Austin, which was acquired by Chemical Bank in 1987. Then in the 1990s, Chemical and Chase Bank merged. Next JPMorgan and Chase joined forces and later, JPMorgan Chase and Bank One. JPMorgan Chase is now the largest bank in Texas, with 20,000 local employees and 445 Chase branches in the Lone Star State. For the current head of JPMorgan Real Estate Banking nationwide, the flurry of deals and mergers only strengthened his business savvy. “Any transition is difficult. But regardless of where you go, there are challenges and with challenges come opportunities,” Griffith says. “Given the breadth of the product capability and reputation of JPMorgan, I really can’t imagine a better place to be.” Considering his history of constantly shifting addresses, Griffith learned the value of finding and holding onto familiar things in a changing world. When he stepped foot on the Forty Acres as an undergrad, Griffith was unsure of what he wanted to do. He decided to take what he knew and run with it. Having worked as a teller and bookkeeper at a bank in Big Spring, Texas during high school, he got a taste for banking and the social opportunities that came with it. “I liked having exposure to all kinds of business,” Griffith says. “Banking gave me opportunities to work with people.” Griffith’s passion for helping people has also inspired him to get involved in his community. After moving to Dallas-Fort Worth, he has continued volunteer service with the Real Estate Council, a foundation that fundraises and supports development for underprivileged neighborhoods around the Metroplex. In 1995, he became involved with fundraising activities for the Dallas Red Cross and served as chairman of the board from 2003-2005. “It was rewarding,” Griffith says. “This chapter gets moving whenever there’s a disaster in the area.  From the Oklahoma City bombing to Hurricane Katrina, you name it, the Red Cross is there.” He travels frequently for business to Chicago and New York. But for Griffith, the product of so many military moves, there are definite rewards to putting down roots in one place. Today, he’s happy to call Texas home and enjoys the three-hour drive to Austin.  He often returns with his wife Mavis for Longhorn sports, along with semi-annual meetings for service on the McCombs Real Estate Finance and Investment Center’s Associate Council. 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.

You are receiving this e-newsletter because you are a McCombs undergraduate alumnus or friend, so stay plugged in to what is happening at the school by updating your profile and preferences. Spring 2008 MBBA Launch Receptions AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center Taking Reservations Faculty Excellence Honored Shell Donates $225,500 to UT Austin Save the Date!  Attention Class of 1958  Mark your calendars for the Class of 1958 Reunion May 1-2, 2008.   We look forward to seeing you in Austin in May! For more information, visit the Texas Exes' or McCombs' reunion Web sites. Top Stories Spring 2008 MBBA Launch Receptions This spring, the McCombs BBA Alumni Network will host launch events in Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, San Antonio and San Francisco. These networking receptions will include appetizers and a cash bar. Attend one of these exciting events and reconnect with classmates, learn what is new at McCombs and the University and find out how you can get involved with an organization that will benefit you for the remainder of your professional career. City Date Time Location RSVP Austin Thursday, March 20, 2008 6:00-8:00 pm InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel 701 East 7th Street Austin, TX 78701 Austin RSVP Dallas Tuesday, April 22, 2008 6:00-8:00 pm Royal Oaks Country Club 7915 Greenville Ave Dallas, TX 75231 Dallas RSVP Houston Thursday, April 3, 2008 6:00-8:00 pm Zula Restaurant Capitol at Main Houston, TX 77002 Houston RSVP New York Thursday, April 24, 2008 6:30-8:30 pm The Yale Club 50 Vanderbilt Avenue New York, NY 10017 New York RSVP San Antonio Thursday, April 17, 2008 6:00-8:00 pm Paesano’s Italian Restaurant 555 East Basse, Suite 100 San Antonio, TX 78209 San Antonio RSVP San Francisco Tuesday, April 1, 2008 6:00-8:00 pm Roe Restaurant 651 Howard Street San Francisco, 94105 San Francisco RSVP Reserve Your Room Now: AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center Taking Reservations The AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, scheduled to open Aug. 1, 2008, is now taking individual room reservations. This center and soon-to-be-home of McCombs' Executive Education Program will attract business professionals and students world-wide. Only footsteps away from the Blanton Museum of Art, Texas State History Museum, Texas Capitol and the Tower, the center will feature four-star accommodations and give guests access to all the resources Austin and The University of Texas at Austin have to offer. For more information, visit http://www.meetattexas.com/. Faculty Excellence Honored The Undergraduate Business Council and the Undergraduate Programs Office celebrated eight McCombs faculty members Feb. 12 at this semester’s Faculty Honor Roll ceremony. To make the honor roll, faculty must garner exceptionally high marks on student-completed surveys. IROM senior lecturer Dean Bredeson (right) received the highest overall rating and was given a $1,000 award donated by Lockheed Martin. The other honorees were: Robert Duvic, distinguished senior lecturer in finance; Brian Lendecky, accounting lecturer; Kristie Loescher, management lecturer; Lillian Mills, associate accounting professor; Gretchen Charrier, accounting lecturer; Gail Gemberling, IROM senior lecturer; and Paul Newman, accounting professor. Shell Donates $225,500 to UT Austin Shell Oil Company has contributed $225,500 to support academic programs at UT Austin. The grant benefits both undergraduates and graduate students in the university’s McCombs School of Business, Cockrell School of Engineering, Jackson School of Geosciences and College of Natural Sciences. With this contribution, Shell has given the university more than $19 million in gifts and research grants. Alumni Involvement Opportunities  Green Means Go 5k Run/Walk April 27th, 2008 The Green Means Go 5k Run/Walk will bring McCombs’ BBA, MBA, MPA, faculty, alumni and staff together for a fun community-wide effort to raise awareness and have a positive impact on our environment.  Green Means Go will raise funds to offset McCombs’ carbon emission by donating all proceeds to a non-profit company funding renewable energy.  For more information, please e-mail jessica.allen@bba06.mccombs.utexas.edu. GBSA Seeks Alumni Involvement GBSA (GLBTQ Business Student Association) is a new organization designed to offer professional and networking opportunities to GLBTQ students through corporate interaction and community-building events. There will be an Alumni Dinner on Saturday, April 5. If you are interested in participating in this event or in receiving messages about future alumni intiatives, please e-mail utgbsa@gmail.com.  Alpha Kappa Psi Swings for Charity Saturday, March 29, 2008  Alpha Kappa Psi’s annual golf tournament, Swings for Charity, will be held at Shadow Glen Golf Club in Austin, benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Alpha Kappa Psi is currently looking for alumni participants, donations, and sponsorships. Please visit http://golf.utakpsi.org/ for more information and registration forms, or contact Jennifer Johnson, Director of Golf Tournament at 832-276-0655 or Jennifer.Johnson@bba05.mccombs.utexas.edu with any questions.  McCombs In The News Accountants Can Count on Jobs The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6, 2008 While U.S. markets are getting squeezed, talk of recession continues, and Wall Street firms hand out pink slips by the hundreds, accounting firms are expected to buck the trend. The Big Four accounting firms plan to hire roughly the same number—or more—of interns and entry-level employees for 2008 as they did last year. “Whether firms are prospering or in distress, they must file reports, such as financial and tax,” said Stephen T. Limberg, director of the professional accounting master's program at the University of Texas at Austin, which won U.S. News & World Report’s top ranking for accounting programs. In 2007, UT Austin had 310 undergraduate- and graduate-level accounting students, up 15 percent from five years ago. Read more (subscription required). Does Option Demand Spur Market Volatility? Wall Street Journal, Feb. 20, 2008 Options offer investors protection against sharp moves in the value of their stock. But some observers think surging demand for options may be increasing the frequency of big market swings. Through options, investors get the right to buy or sell stock at fixed prices. The Wall Street banks that broker those deals end up taking the other side of the trade. If their clients make money, the banks lose. To offset that exposure, banks have to “delta hedge” That means selling stock when clients make bets that prices will fall and buying stock when clients stake out positions that will pay off if prices rise. “I see derivatives activity occasionally accentuating a trend that exists for good and cogent reasons,” said Ehud Ronn, McCombs finance professor. “In the equity markets, if individuals are dynamically hedging put options, then as prices fall they would sell more and indeed accelerate the process.” Read the article (subscription required).  View more McCombs School of Business News Online... McCombs Monthly Archives