BHP Students Honored for Leadership and Service

Congratulations to all of the students recognized at the McCombs Honors Convocation today. Here is a list of the BHP students who received awards at the event. In addition to these individuals, we were proud to honor many of you for your outstanding scholastic achievements and want to congratulate all business students and organizations who were honored with an award this year.

Three BHP students were also recognized this month by the Texas Parents Association as finalists for the Outstanding Student Awards. Charlie Adkins, Varun Bhatnagar and Amy Enrione were among a group of six finalists from across campus for the award!

McCombs BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board Award

Amy EnrioneRising Star Leadership Award – Amy Enrione

This award is presented to a graduating McCombs undergraduate or MPA student who has proven an established commitment to service within the McCombs School through outstanding scholarship and achievements, as well as exemplary leadership and community involvement. The recipient demonstrates significant growth potential as a future leader in the McCombs community.

 

BHP Award

Rachel HuynhConrad Doenges Award – Rachel Huynh

This award is given to a Business Honors senior, who in the judgment of their peers and the BHP faculty and staff, have distinguished themselves in academics and leadership.

 

 

MIS Award

Omaj NajeedEleanor Jordan Award – Omar Najeed

This new award is given to one student every year who has demonstrated exceptional academic performance and leadership capabilities within the MIS department.  The award is named for Professor Eleanor Jordan, who was instrumental in establishing and nurturing the MIS program at UT Austin.  With more than 30 years of service to the University, Eleanor’s contributions impacted hundreds of students and faculty members. Every year, the MIS faculty select a student that reflects Eleanor’s dedication and enthusiasm.

Undergraduate Business Council Awards

Mitchell Group

George Mitchell Business Leadership Award  This award recognizes students who have exhibited strong leadership within the McCombs School. There are two winners per class.

Freshmen – Margaret Berno, Phoebe Lin

Sophomores – Rachel Diebner

Junior – Vishal Bhat

Texas BBA Program Awards

Leadership Group

BHP Outstanding Service Award – Jenny Scouller, Hayden McMurrey

BHP Student Leadership Award – Miriam Petsch, Catherine King

BBA Career Services Service Award – Shanna Liu

BBA Study Abroad Service Award – Natalie Parma

BHP Professors Host Students in their Homes for HBA Events

Each year, the Honors Business Association (HBA) coordinates Dinner with a Professor (DWAP) events for BHP students. These are some of our most popular events. Students and professors enjoy getting to know one another outside of the classroom. For the professors, it is also a chance to share their interests and life outside of academia with the students. This month, two of the most anticipated DWAPs were held – the MIS professor event with Professors Agarwal and Konana, and the Finance professor event with Professor Beverly Hadaway. Below, two students who attended the events share a bit about the experience.

Management Information Systems Professors’ DWAP

2016 Konana DWAP 3Professor Agarwal turns on the black light. Professor Konana turns up “Dhoom Machale” on the speakers. These MIS professors surely know how to throw a dinner party.

Mere hours earlier, on Sunday, April 10, over 40 BHP students arrived at Professor Agarwal’s house for the annual Konana-Agarwal DWAP. The dinner started off with a few delicious appetizers. With samosas galore, students chatted with the professors and each other. After a while, Dr. Agarwal announced that dinner was served and students flocked to the dining room to get a plate of some delicious Indian food. Dr. Agarwal’s wife even made a homemade chickpea dish! Once everyone’s food settled, the party really got started.

2016 Konana DWAPDr. Agarwal turned down the living room lights and brought out the black lights and some party music. The night started off
with some traditional Indian dancing and music. Dr. Konana even offered extra credit to whoever would dance at first. Then, after a bit, students danced to some throwback tributes like “The Cupid Shuffle” and “You’re a Jerk” with the professors. All in all, it was a great night full of delicious food, new friendships and some groovy dance moves.

-Written by Katherine Gaard and Tonya Chen

 

Finance Professor’s DWAP

“How do you stop this thing?!”

Hadaway eventJaiying’s panicked cry from the driver’s seat of a moving golf cart elicited limited alarm and rolling laughter from the group of BHP students gathered at Dr. Hadaway’s ranch and vineyard this past Saturday. This LWAP was one for the scrapbooks, and not just because of that picture that captures Jiaying’s golf cart driving skills (or lack thereof).

Dr. Hadaway gave the students a tour through her beautiful vineyard and vegetable gardens. Students also had the chance to try out their artistic abilities by decorating a tile for the LWAP, which has become somewhat of a tradition at this event over the past couple of years. The students chose to decorate this year’s tile with a drawing of Dr. Hadaway’s dog Bell. Their tile can be seen in the group photo above.

Hadaway 16 DWAPIndeed, Bell has a very significant role on Dr. Hadaway’s ranch; the ranch is named “No Rules Ranch” because of Bell’s newfound freedom upon her arrival at the ranch. On “No Rules Ranch”, Bell is free from traditional rules that encumber city dogs and is able to run leash-free to her heart’s content. Bell, however, is not the only one who has had a ton of fun at that ranch; the students who were able to attend this year’s event can definitely attest to that!

-Written by Jena Mrochek

BHP Students Placing at Case Competitions

BHP students have been participating in national case competitions this spring and we are pleased to report that they have been doing very well! Congratulations to all of the students who have placed at recent competitions!

 

National USC Stock Pitch – 1st Place

Team members: Phoebe Lin (BHP), Vishal Bhat (BHP), Arjo Mozumder and Karna Venkatraj

*The team competed against top schools nationwide, including NYU, USC, UC Berkeley and University of Michigan

National Undergraduate Supply Chain and Operations Case Competition – 1st Place

Team members: Mickey Li (BHP), Amy Yu (BHP), Nick Sajatovic, Juhi Amodwala

*The team competed against schools nationwide, including University of Michigan, Purdue, BYU and Arizona State

Point72 Stock Pitch – 2nd Place, Best Freshman Team

Team members: Jonathon McClanahan (BHP), Jack Butler (BHP), Meenakshi Baddela, Max Huang

Best Freshman Team: Harsha Kethireddipalli, Reese Davis, Sagar Segal, Matthew Wu

-This competition was only for UT undergraduates and was put on by USIT and sponsored by Point72 and Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Seeking Alpha Ultimate Stock Pitch Competition – 3rd Place

Team members: Sunny Pamidimukkala (BHP), Austin Patridge (BHP), Hans Uy(BHP),  Anurag Bansal (BHP)

*The team competed against top schools nationwide, including Columbia, Georgetown and Fordham

Student Spotlight – Suchi Sundaram

SuchiLike many BHP students, Suchi Sundaram came into BHP knowing exactly what she wanted to do after graduation. She wrote her admissions essay about her aspirations, which included eventually serving as the Secretary of State. Suchi, who is now a senior studying BHP and MPA in the program, even secured an internship the summer after her freshman year with a congresswoman in Washington, DC. Out of around 200 interns on the Hill that summer, Suchi was one of only three freshmen interns. She was immensely grateful for the experience and felt it was life-changing for her; not only was she able to learn key communication and interpersonal skills, but she also realized she did not want to pursue a public sector role upon graduation.

“I realized I wanted to do something involving more technical or quantitative skills, ideally utilizing those skills to help others,” said Suchi. That fall, she took the BHP Sophomore Lyceum course and had the opportunity to hear Amy Bell speak. Amy is a BHP alumnae working for JPMorgan as Executive Director of Sustainable Finance. Her work connected with Suchi, and it clicked for her that she could work in impact investing and satisfy her desire to do quantitative work while helping others.

She set up an informational interview with Amy over the phone, and Amy graciously spent nearly an hour providing key insights into her career path. She helped Suchi discern what path she should take to work in a position similar to hers. She suggested Suchi start her career in investment banking and then work her way into impact investing. After the call, Suchi pursued and secured an internship with JPMorgan in investment banking. Amy even met with Suchi again prior to her interview to give her advice about the recruiting process.

Suchi’s extracurricular experiences at UT have also helped to prepare her for the future. She got involved in Global Brigades her sophomore year and went with the group to Ghana, where she was able to help spread financial awareness and create sustainable business plans to empower local communities. She has also served as president for the Indian Cultural Association, spearheading a grass-roots recruitment initiative as well as a national Bollywood Dance Competition called Jhalak. “These experiences have been invaluable to me; they taught me how to lead. As a leader, you really have to be able to listen to everyone and unify a vision,” she said of her prior leadership experiences.

For the past year, Suchi has been focused on developing a social finance fund at UT. Similar funds exist at peer institutions, and she has been researching those models to try to determine which model would work best for UT. She continues to research this area with a McCombs Business, Government, and Society professor. Last year, she presented her findings to the Dean of McCombs and is currently talking to social enterprise organizations on campus to increase support for the cause.

“I was very confused for my first two years, but now I feel like I have really figured out my path,” she said. Suchi’s path is not uncommon for BHP students. Many come into the program feeling pretty certain about their path, only to determine that they want to pursue something else. Through internships, being active in organizations, advising appointments, and guidance from alumni of the program, students are able to find their path and set themselves up for success.