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Rudy
Garza
MBA ’06
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Alumnus Praises
Texas MBA DFW Program
Despite having a full-time finance job at Frito-Lay, Rudy Garza knew he needed an MBA to solidify his professional career.
Being based in Dallas-Fort Worth, he wanted a quality program that was available locally. He found what he was looking for with the Texas MBA at Dallas/Fort Worth program, which is offered on alternating Fridays and Saturdays. With a plethora of executive education opportunities nearby, McCombs rose to the top.
“There are many options in the DFW area to get an MBA,” Garza says. “For me, McCombs was the number one option.”
Garza praised the top-notch faculty for providing an intensive and rewarding learning experience. Respected professors like Bob May, Jim Nolen, Jim Fredrickson and John Doggett all greatly affected him.
“The access to leading professors and knowing our program wasn’t a watered down version of the full-time MBA program is what made my experience great,” he says.
Since completing the program in 2006, Garza has stayed connected to McCombs and was recently recognized for his efforts by winning the Alumni Service Award at the DFW MBA Alumni Chapter winter reception in 2008.
He has taken a hands-on approach with helping Frito-Lay recruit McCombs graduates, and has helped establish a bridge from his company not just to the main campus, but to the DFW program he knows so well.
“I think Frito-Lay sees the importance of maintaining a relationship with the full-time program in Austin, and also with the DFW program in the company’s own backyard,” Garza says. “Being an alumnus from that program, I have a vested interest in seeing that program succeed.”
Now he serves as a Group Finance Manager for PepsiCo’s (Frito-Lay’s parent company) foodservice division and manages the South region sales team, which in addition to Frito-Lay, also sells Gatorade, Quaker and Tropicana products.
A trip abroad to Singapore and Thailand while with McCombs helped open his eyes to the broad scope his company encompasses.
“My company sells products that are consumed by people every day throughout the world,” Garza says. “It was interesting to see how those products were being marketed and consumed in the various regions of the countries we were able to visit.”
He takes pride in being a part of a company that has a worldwide presence and enjoys his role in bringing consumers the products they know and love. Finance, he says, touches every part of the business.
“In finance, I’m always working with a functional partner (Sales, Marketing, R&D and/or Operations) to drive profitable sales growth and deliver our productivity targets,” he says. And as he and his high school sweetheart prepare to adopt a child from El Salvador, Garza takes comfort in having a stable and rewarding job and can thank McCombs for part of his success.
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Top Stories
Texas MBA Alumnus Orbits Earth as Shuttle Crew Member
Astronaut Gregory H. Johnson, MBA ’05, and his fellow Endeavor shuttle crew members launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center March 11, beginning a mission to the International Space Station. Johnson, who earned his MBA in the Texas Executive MBA program, is making his first flight aboard the space shuttle. A colonel in the Air Force, Johnson is a top test pilot who has logged more than 4,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft. As a McCombs student, he received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.
Maltz Joins McCombs as Director of Development
 Mary Ann Maltz recently joined the Development and External Relations office at McCombs as the new director for development. She has worked in development for the past 15 years, at the March of Dimes in Austin, the College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin, and most recently at the Dell Children’s Medical Center. With the Development and External Relations office, she will be responsible for coordinating major gift and annual giving efforts on behalf of McCombs.
Texas Executive Education Offers Customer Loyalty Course, April 29-30, 2008
The only way companies make money is through their customers. Too often, we lose touch with our customers and forget how important they are to the success of the organization. In New Strategies for Creating & Managing Customer Loyalty taught by John A. Daly, Ph.D. and Raj Raghunathan, Ph.D., you will examine what customer focus means, why customer retention is so vital to the firm and what it takes to achieve customer loyalty. Topics: why customer focus matters financially; defining customer focus; critical principles of customer loyalty; challenges to understanding customers’ needs and wants; and retention strategies that build loyalty. To register, please visit the Web site or call 800-409-3932. UT alumni, past participants of Texas Executive Education and teams of three receive a 10 percent discount. Teams of five or more receive a 20 percent discount.
MBA Students Win UNC Real Estate Development Challenge
First-year MBA students (left to right) Brian Kaminski, Beau Longino, Michael Searls and Kevin White took first place at the University of North Carolina Real Estate Development Challenge in Chapel Hill, taking home a $5,000 prize. McCombs competed against many of the top schools from across the country, so please join us in congratulating them on this very impressive accomplishment.
Brandl’s Macro Updates Look at Bear Stearns Fallout
 Michael Brandl, senior lecturer in finance, brings his popular Macroeconomic Updates newsletter, which has more than 2,000 subscribers, to the YouTube generation. In three recent postings, Brandl discusses the ramifications of the Federal Reserve actions in negotiating a Bear Stearns buyout and the differences in the economic policies of the presidential candidates. Read the issue. Watch Brandl on YouTube:
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Some MBA students had the chance of a lifetime Feb. 15, when they met with Warren Buffett in his home city of Omaha, Nebraska. During the Q and A session, the students received the following advice from Buffett: I know a woman in her 80s, a Polish woman forced into a concentration camp with her family. She says, “I am slow to make friends because when I look at people, I have one question in mind: would they hide me?” If you get to be my age and have a lot of people that would hide you, then you can feel pretty good about how you’ve lived your life. I know people on the Forbes 400 list whose children would not hide them. “He’s in the attic, he’s in the attic.” Some of them keep compensating by joining boards or getting honorary degrees, but it doesn’t change the fact that no one will give a damn when they are gone. The most powerful force in the world is unconditional love. Read more.
The Mind Trust Seeks Candidates for Education Entrepreneur Fellowships
The Mind Trust is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to dramatically improve public education for underserved students by empowering education entrepreneurs to develop or expand transformative education initiatives. The Mind Trust’s Education Entrepreneur Fellowship is a nationally unique incubator for transformative education ventures. The Fellowship offers promising education entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and launch their break-the-mold education ventures and the support necessary for success. Fellows receive two years of salary, benefits, coaching, customized training, a travel budget and more. The Mind Trust plans to select three highly capable people to join the second cohort of fellows in early December 2008. Visit www.themindtrust.org for the application form and more information on the Education Entrepreneur Fellowship.
MMA Network News
Alumni Return to McCombs for the 3rd Annual MBA Alumni Business Conference
“Leadership and Management in the 21st Century” was discussed at the 3rd Annual McCombs MBA Alumni Business Conference, March 27-29. Peter Zandan, MBA, Ph.D., kicked off the conference with a keynote presentation on aligning business and public interests. Zandan is the Senior Advisor at Public Strategies, Inc. and he shared their recent findings on the public perception of an MBA degree (see Austin Business Journal story below). Distinguished UT and McCombs professors offered various sessions throughout the day on Friday and the conference concluded on Saturday with Professor John Daly’s discussion of influence and advocacy. Alumni from a wide range of classes (1976-2007) attended the conference and traveled from all over the country—Arkansas, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, New York and Virginia. The conference offered an additional day for alumni to meet with career coaches and to network with attendees at a welcome reception. For more information, visit the conference Web site.
 2008 Exchange Magazine Now Online
The 2008 issue of Exchange magazine is now online. Top stories include “The Zandan Brand,” a profile of McCombs alumnus and visionary entrepreneur Peter Zandan; “An Eye on Design,” which examines the importance of great product design; “It’s [NOT] Easy Being Green,” a look at the emergence of sustainability in the business world and how McCombs alumni are part of the trend; and “Marketing ROI,” in which McCombs researchers discuss how marketing executives can prove their worth to a company.
Alumni Invited to 4th Annual McCombs Big Hats, Big Hair Charity Event
The Graduate Business Council invites you to the 4th Annual McCombs Big Hats, Big Hair charity event, April 17, 2008, 7:30 p.m. at Third Base (1717 West 6th Street). The evening will feature a Texas hold ’em tournament, silent auction and much more. 100% of the proceeds will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas. For tickets ($5), registration for the poker tournament or to donate an item for the silent auction: please email Lyria Gonzalez at Lyria.Gonzalez@mba09.mccombs.utexas.edu.
Alumni in the News
 Brown Selected for Leadership California CIT Program
Leadership California is a network of accomplished women dedicated to advancing the leadership role women play in impacting business, social and public policy. The organization has selected Oakland resident Linda Brown, MBA ’74 as one of 60 women leaders from across California for its Class of 2008 California Issues and Trends (CIT) Program.
Media: MBAs Not Holding As Much Clout in the U.S.
Austin Business Journal
Peter Zandan, senior adviser with Public Strategies Inc., recently set out to discover what the average American really thinks of MBAs. Turns out, most Americans are downright blasé about the advanced business degree. Read more.
Dallas Library Names Exhibit After McCombs Alumnus
The Dallas Public Library will create a Fine Books Exhibit Gallery in honor of Ken Jonsson, MBA ’93. Jonsson had been active with the Friends of the Dallas Public Library for many years prior to his death at age 41 in 2005. At the time of his death, Jonsson was employed by Dallas-based John McStay Investment Counsel.
McCombs in the News
Media: U.S. News Releases Annual Graduate School Rankings
U.S. News & World Report, March 28, 2008
U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings of graduate programs March 28. The full-time MBA program at McCombs was ranked No. 18 for the fourth year in a row. The Department of Accounting was ranked No. 1 in the specialty section for the second straight year. Congratulations! Other programs and departments at McCombs were ranked as follows: executive MBA, No. 13; MBA for working professionals, No. 25; entrepreneurship, No. 9; finance, tied at No. 15; information systems, No. 3; international, No. 11; management, tied at No. 15; marketing, No. 9; and productions/ops, No. 15; supply chain/logistics, tied at No. 21.
Media: MBA “Games” Lead to Real-World Investing Success
CFO.com
A recent story on CFO.com highlighted the growth of MBA-based investment funds that give students experience with managing real assets and included the McCombs MBA Fund. Amrita Dukeshier, a second-year MBA student, said in the story that she probably would not have the job that she has lined up at Fidelity were it not for her experience working on McCombs’ $16-million fund covering the energy markets. “What we do in the fund is exactly what an equity analyst does,” she said. Read more.
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McCombs Monthly Archives
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Last Updated
Wednesday, July 23, 2008