Category Archives: Program News

Students in the sophomore lyceum course were visited by Brett Biggs, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Walmart International. Biggs has been with Walmart for 14 years and has held various positions there moving around from strategy, M&A, Sam’s Club and Walmart’s treasury operations and capital markets. He has a vast understanding of Walmart’s operations and finances, which he was able to share with the students.

Biggs attended Harding University and majored in accounting. He stressed the importance of an accounting background, suggesting that students take at least 12 hours of accounting, not merely the six required for their BHP degree. Knowing how to interpret the numbers and how to relate to people are a winning combination, he told them.

His first job after graduation was with Pricewaterhouse in Dallas as an auditor. He went on to pursue an MBA from Oklahoma State University, then took a job as an M&A analyst for Leggett & Platt, where the company completed about 100 deals over four years. He joined Walmart in 2000 working in their M&A division. He joked that he was known by some  as “chief schmoozing officer” because he travelled all the time building a pipeline of relationships for joint ventures and acquisitions.

He showed a willingness to be thrown in the deep end, so the speak, and take calculated risks in his career and he was thus moved around by management and given new opportunities. “It is important to have the judgment to bring in the right people at the right time, be able to collaborate and have the humility to ask for help,” said Biggs.

One example he used was moving from finance to operations. Biggs served as senior vice president of operations for Sam’s Club, leading all facets of Sam’s Club operations in the southern part of the U.S., encompassing 230 clubs and 40,000 associates. He never would have thought of himself in operations, but at the urging of his CEO, he tried it and loved it, learning a great deal along the way. He relied on his team for help during this transition.

Being in operations meant that he had to handle many more personnel issues. When asked by a student about the most challenging situations he has encountered in his career, Biggs said the toughest decisions are around people. “It is most rewarding to watch your people do well, but most difficult to have to part ways with people who aren’t doing well,” he said. He talked about how much Walmart cares about their talent and how much time they invest in growing that talent and giving them opportunities to progress through the organization taking on roles with greater complexity and scale.

Biggs answered questions from students ranging from Walmart’s long-term strategy, partnerships in other countries and charitable endeavors. “There are so many opportunities to do good and help others when you are a company this size,” he said when discussing initiatives from sustainability, to jobs for veterans, to women’s economic empowerment. He also touched on Walmart’s big plans for E-Commerce and how they plan to compete with online giants like Amazon in the near future, saying to stay tuned for news in the future.

The students in the class enjoyed learning more about Walmart and Biggs’ roles at the company. Biggs described the culture at Walmart as “pay-it-forward,” saying that people will make time to help you and give you advice. We thank him for making time for our students and sharing with them his unique career path and advice!

BHP students had the unique opportunity to hear from ExxonMobil’s Vice President of Public and Governmental Affairs, Ken Cohen, last week during their sophomore lyceum course. Cohen has worldwide responsibility for the company’s public policy, government relations, communications, media relations, and corporate citizenship activities, all of which he touched on during his extended Q&A session with BHP Faculty Director Robert Prentice.

Cohen has been with ExxonMobil for 37 years. He earned his law degree from Baylor University, then had a short stint as a professor at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University before making the move to ExxonMobil. He has moved around quite a bit during his 37 years, but said he has enjoyed each role he has undertaken along the way. He encouraged students to find a work situation in which they are enjoying what is in front of them every day, and are not spending their time thinking about what they want to be doing next. “There is no typical day when you are dealing with the public, government, and media, and I have enjoyed every challenge,” said Cohen.

Students in the class learned more about the main functions of Cohen’s department, which include maintaining ExxonMobil’s “license to operate” in countries and communities across the world, negotiating access to resources, and reputation management. Cohen touched on recent headlines and explained how world events come into play in the work he does. ExxonMobil is the largest foreign investor in Russia and has major operations in the Middle East, so current events in those areas are a major focus of his work. These two examples alone shed light on the complex set of challenges Cohen and his team deal with on a daily basis.

In addition to his role as VP, Cohen also serves as Chairman of the ExxonMobil Foundation and the ExxonMobil PAC. He answered questions from students related to both areas. Students didn’t hold back on questions related to climate change, fracking, and PAC contributions. Cohen answered each one thoroughly and openly discussed the challenges ExxonMobil faces in the area of geopolitics, specifically related to controversial fracking practices.

One policy area that ExxonMobil is paying special attention to right now is education. Cohen said the company is closely following what is happening with higher education standards, specifically at UT Austin, because of ExxonMobil’s hiring interests and a desire to keep up the rigorous standards that have produced top employees for the company.

The sophomore lyceum class has a focus on leadership and ethics, so Cohen also discussed the qualities he feels are important in leadership: honesty, clarity, and being a good team member. In addition to exhibiting these traits himself throughout the discussion, he also mixed in a good dose of humor, keeping the students engaged. BHP students in the sophomore lyceum course will hear from 10 executives this semester, all of whom will offer great insight into their industries and valuable advice on leadership. Many thanks to Ken for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak with our students!

BHP is now in its third year of a new alumni/student mentoring program which connects sophomores and juniors in the program with alumni who have been in their shoes and want to give back to the next generation of BHP students. We have had great participation from both students and alumni and encourage any alumni of the program to sign up here by this Friday if you want to be matched with a student this year.

*Note that the student registration for the program is now closed

BHP Junior Sayli Khadilkar was paired up with Class of 2009 alumna Maggie Wallace last year. Sayli said the experience proved to her that one of her favorite things about BHP – the supportive, ‘pay-it-forward’ culture – carries on even beyond graduation. The two have never met in person, but have had a productive mentoring relationship through phone calls and emails.

Sayli signed up for the Alumni Mentor Network because she knew it would be a great opportunity to get to know a BHP alum. And she hoped to gain insight and advice that would help her through the rest of my time at UT and with her future career goals.

For Maggie, she wanted to pay it forward, saying that she received a lot of guidance from both older students in the program and BHP Alumni, and that those mentors played a critical role in helping her figure out how to spend her time at school and what to do after graduation.

Students are matched with mentors based on their majors, career path, and other interests. Sayli and Maggie definitely clicked and found their common interests. “We learned that we were in the same study abroad program in Paris and that we both love many of the same restaurants in Austin,” said Maggie. “It has been wonderful to develop a personal relationship with Sayli”

“I was very surprised by how real my mentor was with me,” said Sayli. “I asked my mentor anything from interview tips to study abroad travel advice, and felt completely comfortable asking seemingly silly questions. I loved how candid our conversations were, and really appreciated that my mentor was always willing to help me.”

Maggie is a strong advocate for the program. “I definitely recommend the Alumni Mentor Program to other BHP alumni. Not only is it a way to give back to the BHP community, but it’s a lot of fun to relive what it was like when I was going through it years ago. I believe that mentoring is the best way to use one’s own experiences, both successes and failures, to help shorten the learning curve for others.” She says it is most important to her that Sayli knows she is there to support her and listen to her, not only to give her advice. “I want to be available to help here navigate stressful times and make the decisions that really count.”

Sayli is grateful for this constant support from her mentor. “Participating in this program has made me realize how lucky we are to have a strong alumni network and how important it is to continue to give back to the program even beyond graduation,” she said. “The Alumni Mentor Network has been a really valuable experience for me, and I can’t wait to be a mentor in the network after I graduate.”