John Nash, BBA ’82, has worked with The Hanover Company for the last 33 years, 23 of which he has served as president. He also serves as one of the leaders for our McCombs Houston Chapter. We spoke with John about his experiences at McCombs, as well as his outlook for engaging McCombs alumni and current students.
Please talk about your experience as a student here at McCombs. Why you came here, groups you were involved with, favorite class/teacher, etc.
Both of my parents graduated from UT in the early 50’s so I grew up a Longhorn fan and attending UT football games. I have a sister that is two years older than me who was also attending UT when I was in high school.
Life was simpler in the late 70’s – I never knew I should look at other options. I pledged a fraternity as a freshman and also got involved in the Student Union. I was on a Student Union Committee that was responsible for putting on events at the Student Union and we decided to have a “Battle of the Bands” event. We had about 10 or 12 bands sign up and I was put in charge of finding the judges. I ended up lining up DeLoss Dodds (his first year as UT’s Athletic Director), Wally Pryor (the “Voice of the Longhorns” who was the announcer for many UT sports event, including football games), and Jerry Dean (he was then teaching a popular course called The History of Rock and Roll).
Recently, I got an email from McCombs and it was fun to see that Linda Golden is still a professor. I remember taking several classes from her.
Please provide a brief summary of your career path since graduating.
After graduating from UT, I attended Law School at SMU and then moved back to Houston as a young Real Estate attorney where I went to work for Andrews & Kurth. It was the mid-80’s and the Savings & Loan Crisis was in full swing. My first assignment as a young lawyer in 1986 was working on a deal for The Hanover Company (a multifamily apartment developer headquartered in Houston). I represented The Hanover Company for 10 years and joined the company as president in 1996. I have been at Hanover for over 23 years and been involved with the company for 33 years.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I have been blessed to work with amazing people and been able to play a role in building a national real estate company with over 500 employees and a current development pipeline in excess of $7 billion. We have built some fantastic projects and helped transform neighborhoods and skylines.
How have you stayed involved with the school as an alumnus?
I have gotten more involved recently. I am currently one of the chapter leaders for Houston McCombs Alumni. We are trying to reinvigorate the Houston Chapter and before the pandemic, we were planning events and restarting a monthly lunch program with speakers and discussing raising money to cover a McCombs scholarship. I have also joined the Texas Real Estate Center Advisory Council as an Executive Member where we are focused on providing guidance and financial support to the center and the McCombs real estate program. In 2019 I was a guest lecturer for a McCombs real estate development class that was half MBA students and half Graduate Urban Planning students that was a really fun experience.
What are your goals for the future, career wise and in relation to McCombs?
I have been thinking about ways to get more McCombs Alumni involved here in Houston, especially some of the older alumni. I want to start a mentor program and have five younger graduates assigned to a more senior alum. I envision these people meeting 5 or 6 times over a year and really developing a mentoring experience about careers, leadership and life in general. I believe it can be extremely rewarding for everyone involved.
Any other community involvement, hobbies or tidbits you’d like to share?
I have really become an avid fly fisherman. I have been fly fishing in Russia (Kamchatka) on a wilderness exploratory float trip for large rainbow trout, in the Bahamas for bonefish, in the Seychelles (Cosmoledo) for giant trevalle and bonefish, and in Guatemala for sailfish and yellowfin tuna. I am looking forward to a fly fishing trip to the Amazon in February next year.
