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The McCombs School of Business 2005-06 Investors' Report is available online and lists the 2005-06 donors and financial information.
 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.
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Top Stories
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/.
Clement Research Analyzes the Stock Analysts
 Michael Clement, associate professor of accounting, lectured on “Who are those high-paid stock pickers?” Feb. 12, as part of the Faculty Research Presentation Speaker Series. Clement researches analysts’ behavior and performance, and examines which characteristics are shared by the most accurate earnings forecasters. “Anytime I see someone making that much money, I wonder if they really are that good, and if some are actually better than others,” Clement said.
Read more, and watch a video of the lecture.
Kachelmeier Named Top Editor at Accounting Review
 Accounting Professor Steve Kachelmeier has been named the next senior editor of the Accounting Review and will assume his new role this spring. In his career, Kachelmeier has investigated a wide variety of issues involving auditing, financial reporting, international accounting, management accounting and taxation. Kachelmeier served as an associate editor at the Accounting Review (1999-2002) and Accounting Horizons (2003-06), and he has also been a member of the editorial boards of five academic journals.
McCombs Doctoral Student Wins $25,000 Grant from Deloitte
Michael Crawley, an accounting doctoral candidate at McCombs, was recently one of the 10 scholars nationwide to receive the Deloitte Foundation’s 2008 Doctoral Fellowship Program grant. Each of the Deloitte Foundation Doctoral Fellows will receive $5,000 during his or her final year of course work and $20,000 during the subsequent year of completing a dissertation.
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.
Join the New McCombs MPA Alumni Network Groups
The Texas MPA Program Office and McCombs Alumni Relations invite you to join the new McCombs MPA Alumni Network groups in LinkedIn and Facebook. Members can benefit by communicating with other Texas MPA alumni, accelerating their careers and businesses, viewing professional professional profiles and learning about upcoming opportunities to network.
Group name: McCombs MPA Alumni Network
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/59753/0146671C14B7
Facebook: http://utexas.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10497306501
We look forward to seeing you in one or both of these groups. If you have questions about joining or suggestions on how to strengthen the MPA Alumni group, please e-mail us at mpaalumni@mccombs.utexas.edu.
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.
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).
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Last Updated
Wednesday, July 23, 2008