Category Archives: Program News

An Utterly Amazing Alumni Speaker Visits BHP Sophomores

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Written by Victoria Bennett

Lynn Utter, CEO of First Source, recently visited the Honors Lyceum course attended by all Business Honors sophomores. In a lively conversation driven by student questions, Lynn shared her experiences navigating the business world as a woman and her path to her current success.

Lynn began her academic and professional career as a student on the Forty Acres. She is Business Honors Program alum, so she was once in the same position as the sophomores in the class, and she encouraged students to both maximize and enjoy their time in the program. After her time at UT, Lynn took the next step in her education at Stanford Business School where she earned her Master’s in Business Administration. She then began her professional career as a manager at Strategic Planning Associates in DC.

As she walked the class through her path to the role of CEO, Lynn revealed that her career path has been defined by tough decisions. She emphasized the importance of knowing what decisions are best for yourself, as she shared the story of her move to Denver during her time with the Frito Lay Company. Despite the fact that first position she took did not immediately advance her career, she knew it was the right career step for her at the time, and eventually led to her position as Area Vice President. Lynn’s story is full of these kind of decisions, as she pivoted through numerous leadership roles. Following her time at Frito Lay/PepsiCo Lynn worked at Coors Brewing Company both in Operations and as a Chief Strategy Officer and Knoll as a President and Chief Operations Officer, all preceding her time as CEO at First Source.

In her time as CEO of First Source, a US leader in packaging and distribution of specialty candy and snacks, Lynn led the company through mergers and managed full strategic and operating responsibility. Most recently, she transitioned into the role of Chief Talent Officer of Atlas Holdings LLC, where she works closely with the company’s partners and portfolio company leaders.

Throughout the session students were curious to hear Lynn’s advice and asked numerous questions about her biggest challenges and lessons. She talked about the importance of finding community in the workplace and she described the close bond she had with the other women in her office. In this conversation, she emphasized the importance of not only finding coworkers or peers who will support you, but also give you honest and critical feedback when necessary. She shared about her experience on numerous boards outside of her job, including the boards for WESCO, Merchants Metals, and numerous non-for-profit boards. In reference to these experiences, she encouraged Business Honors students to find work they are passionate about despite their busy schedules.

With her lively personality and years of experience and wisdom, Lynn Utter created a fun and informative class experience for the sophomores. Students loved hearing from a fellow BHP alum, and were inspired by her and her work.

Program News: Interview With New BHP Director Andres Almazan

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Andres Almazan

Professor Andres Almazan is the new Director of the Business Honors Program. Appointed by Dean Hartzell, Professor Almazan has taught Finance and Economics at the University of Texas at Austin for the past twenty years. As the new Director, Almazan says he is “looking forward to immersing [him]self in the BHP community and sharing very special moments in students’ lives.” Taking over the mantle from Professor Prentice, Professor Almazan demonstrates the same enthusiasm towards starting a new semester. “I feel that I will learn a ton from the students, from the rest of the BHP team, and from the undergrad McCombs community. Having a leadership role in a program like BHP is indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity. I can’t wait for the school year to start!”

Professor Almazan has historically been recognized for his great teaching by graduate schools both here at McCombs and elsewhere. When asked about the differences in teaching undergraduates and graduates, Professor Almazan highlighted compelling points about the advantages he sees in teaching undergraduates. “In both cases, my teaching style and philosophy has been very similar. I always have high expectations about my students’ performance and I think it is fair that they have high expectations about my performance in class,” says Almazan. “I want to establish clear pedagogical objectives, to develop critical thinking, and to offer the students state-of-the-art knowledge of the subject matter. With that being said, undergraduates may have a relative lack of professional experience compared to graduate students. This, however, is amply compensated for by their energy, passion, and ability to learn new ideas with very little preconceptions. Having the opportunity to teach a student relatively early in their life allows me to have a greater impact on the student’s mind.  This is particularly true with subject matter like Finance that requires students to develop new ways of thinking about problems.”

Professor Almazan also believes that the Business Honors Program is successful because of the quality of students enrolled in the program. “Our main strength is having access to a pool of students of superb talent. Our students have the potential to think and behave as the leaders that our firms and our society demand,” says Almazan. “We must do everything in our hands to enhance students’ human capital and ensure that such potential materializes. To accomplish this objective, we must keep doing the many good things that we now do in BHP without losing sight of what is happening in the business world and in society.  Our permanent and long-run challenge is to ensure that we are keeping up with our mission of making our students systematic thinkers, individuals who act with integrity and conscientious leaders.

When asked what he would like students to know about him, Professor Almazan was quick to highlight his personal investment in the well-being of students. “They should know that I care,” says Almazan. “This means that I strongly value the success of the BHP community and fully identify my success as BHP director with the success of the BHP students.  I embrace this responsibility and look forward to giving my best to accomplish what I consider as a very noble goal.”

An interesting fact about Professor Almazan is that he has a multitude of global experience. “When I arrived to the US in 1991, I could spend months without paying attention to what was happening in other parts of the globe,” says Almazan. Now with a background replete in experiences such as teaching in London, presenting at conferences in Amsterdam, Montreal, and Beijing, and being a dual Spanish-American citizen, Professor Almazan is well-aware of what students need to compete on the global stage. “Nowadays, globalization is a reality in business and in everyday life. We recruit, compete and measure our success in the global arena.  We prepare ourselves to address challenges that affect the whole world and should embrace such challenges with passion and an open mind.”

One of Professor Almazan’s major goals of his first year is to engage with students and let them know that he is here for them. “I want to be visible to the students and available as another resource to them. I want to become a familiar figure in the program,” says Almazan. How does he plan on starting? “I will meet freshmen in a kick-off event, teach all sophomores this semester, organize some town-halls for upperclassmen and ensure that all students can visit me if they wish to do so. I plan on having an open door policy in my office — to be frank, this will be the policy even after the first year.  I want to know what is going on in students’ experience in BHP and I want students themselves to talk to me about it. Of course, I will also be delighted to participate in students’ initiatives and events. In fact, I would like take this opportunity to invite the students to visit me and to ask students to invite me to their activities as well.”

Finally, Professor Almazan has a unique and ambitious long-term vision for the Business Honors Program. “Technology is playing a more crucial role every day. We can seize this opportunity to be more interdisciplinary without losing any of our current strengths. It is paramount that we keep the special character of BHP, a program that produces visionary business leaders who act with integrity.  If we do our job, we will be among the top business programs in the world, and we aspire to be second to none. Since I see no ceiling in the achievements that our students can reach, I set my expectations accordingly. I firmly believe that the sky is the limit.”

BHP MIS Professors Bond with Students at Annual Dinner Event

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BHP MIS Professors Bond with Students at Annual Dinner Event

This week, BHP freshmen went to Clay Pit Indian Contemporary Cuisine for the annual, and much anticipated, MIS Dinner with a Professor, with professors Ashish Agarwal and Prabhudev Konana. The dinner started with Mango Lassis and Samosa for all, while Dr. Konana and Dr. Agarwal underwent the enormous task of ordering food for everyone at the table, family style. Students feasted on Naan, Biriyani and even some lesser known Indian cuisine like Dhingri Mattar Paneer and Channa Saag.

Student were delighted to listen to interesting conversation about the professors’ personal life, advice and insights.

BHP freshman, Josh De Anda, says, “Dr. Konana talked about the value of a math or economics background in business, cultural differences he’s seen, and the state of American higher education.”

Specifically, Dr. Konana explain how so many top traders and bankers have backgrounds in economics and math since these fields are the building blocks for the kind of financial modeling that they do. He discussed how he incorporates those concepts into his course for that reason, to give BHP students a leg up.

Dr. Agarwal spoke about his favorite music, hobbies, adolescence and schooling, as well as his philosophy on teaching. Students compared their favorite Guns and Roses and Led Zeppelin songs with Dr. Agarwal, as well as opinions on cold vs. warm calling.

It was a great night full of learning and laughs and at the end the students surprised the professors with a  card thanking them and expressing how wonderful they thought the event was! Dinners with a Professor are organized by the Honors Business Association, and supported by BHP fundraising efforts.

BHP Students Honored for Leadership and Service to McCombs

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BHP Students Honored for Leadership and Service to McCombs

Congratulations to all of the students recognized at the McCombs Honors Convocation this past Friday. 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.

McCombs BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board Award
Rising Star Leadership Award – Sai Yeluru

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
Conrad Doenges Award – Sai Yeluru

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.

Undergraduate Business Council Awards

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 – Nivva Emmi

Sophomores – Siji Deleawe, Daniel Madden

Juniors – Daniel Miyares, Megan Tran-Olmsted

Barbara Jordan Business Leadership Award – This award recognizes seniors who have been committed to leaving a legacy of mentorship, leadership and passion at the McCombs School. There are two students selected each year for this award.

Seniors – Mackenzie Moore, Eric Saldanha

Texas BBA Program Awards

BBA Outstanding Service and Leadership Awards – Erika Rodrigues, Jon Burstain, Rakshana Govindarajan, Mackenzie Moore, Aasim Maknojia, Kenny Young, Kobi Nasesk, and Callie Blumenfeld

 

McCombs Teams Dominate at National and International Case Competitions

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McCombs Teams Dominate at National and International Case Competitions

Ashley Akin, Swetha Davuluru, Anushka Madhuvarshi, and Rebecca Ortiz

This past weekend, McCombs sent a team comprised of four BHP sophomores, Ashley Akin, Anushka Madhuvarshi, Swetha Davuluru and Rebecca Ortiz to the University of Washington Global Business Case Competition in Seattle. The competition featured a short and long case. The UT Austin McCombs Team won their bracket for the short case and took second place for the long case.

Twelve teams from around the world competed at the event. The competitors included American University of Beirut (Lebanon), Maastricht University (Netherlands), Peking University (China), Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador (Ecuador), Thammasat University (Thailand), Universidad Panamericana (Mexico), University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong), University of Sydney (Australia), Western University (Canada), University of Arizona and University of Washington. The long case focused on global expansion for Amazon Web Services. The winning team was Thammasat University, but Texas was a close second.

“We were so much more invested in the product of our work because we had a whole week of bonding with the other participants,” said Rebecca Ortiz. “It was humbling to hear the experiences that led each international team to Seattle, and to present to a full auditorium about a case that particularly challenged us. When selecting the countries for our solution, we had to consider so many factors, yet create a cohesive strategy and story. The fact that there were no overlapping countries presented by the four finalists really shows the diversity of thought we saw during the week.”

Also this month, the USC Value Investing Group hosted its third annual USC Stock Pitch Competition and two UT teams took home first and second place. Twenty teams from across the country competed. Eric Sun (BHP sophomore), Nick Marchenko (BHP freshman), Dhruv Dhuper (BBA freshman), Joseph Buschmann (BBA senior), and Bryan Goh (BBA junior) took first place. They are all members of the University Securities Investment Team, a group which also financed their travel to the competition. Daniel Chen (BHP Senior), Michael Everett (BHP junior), Jackie Ye (BHP junior), and Reese Davis (BHP junior) took second place at the event.

“Competing at USC was an amazing experience,” said Eric Sun. “We got to meet a lot of students from around the country and watched some amazing stock pitches. Given the caliber of everyone there, we were shocked and ecstatic when we made it into the finals and even more so when we won! I definitely learned a lot from this experience and know more about the economics of the international tobacco market than I ever thought I would.”

Congratulations to all of these students on these impressive wins!

Eric Sun, Nick Marchenko, Dhruv Dhuper, Joseph Buschmann, and Bryan Goh