Commencement Keynote Speakers

Undergraduate (BBA) Programs

May 10, 2024
8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Moody Center

Leon Chen, BBA '01 

Leon Chen is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Tiff's Treats. Tiff's Treats was founded in 1999 when Tiffany Taylor accidentally stood up Leon Chen for a date. As an apology, she baked and delivered a batch of warm cookies, and the concept of warm cookie delivery was born. Tiff and Leon, just 19-year-old sophomores at The University of Texas at Austin at the time, opened Tiff's Treats with $20, a cell phone and a dream. Since then, the business has grown to over 100 retail distribution locations and counting in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma, and California, with more than 1,700 employees. The founders are now married and the business continues to grow, but Tiff's Treats has the same core mission: creating memorable moments with treats baked to order and delivered warm.

Leon has served on several nonprofit boards, including Foster Angels of Central Texas, The Fifty, and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. He is a mentor with SKU, an Austin-based consumer packaged goods incubator, and he sat on the board of directors for Epic, which was acquired by General Mills in 2016. In 2022, Leon and Tiffany co-authored their first book, It’s Not Just Cookies: Stories and Recipes from the Tiff’s Treats Kitchen, published by Harper Horizon. The book tells the story of how they built the business and includes over 25 recipes. Leon has spent the past twenty-five years growing Tiff’s Treats, and the past nine years as dad to the couple’s twins.

Master of Business Administration (MBA) Programs

May 10, 2024
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Gregory Gym

THEODORE T. WANG  MBA '96
Founder, Puissance Capital Management

Ted started his career at Goldman Sachs in New York in 1996 after getting his MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and was named a managing director and head of US convertibles trading in 2002.

He became co-head of US stock and options trading, risk arbitrage, convertibles trading, and equity proprietary trading and was named a partner in 2006. In 2012 he became co-head of US equities trading and global co-head of stock trading, program and ETF trading, and equity financing and was named a member of the Goldman Sachs Global Risk Committee.

Since retiring from Goldman Sachs at the beginning of 2015, Ted co-founded six companies from financial services to biotech. Prior to joining Goldman, Ted co-founded Xeotron Corp., a company specializing in DNA biochips in Texas.

He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Minnesota, an MBA from the University of Texas, Austin, and a BS from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Ted is a sponsor of Asia Society’s US journalist China visit program, a trustee of the Dunhuang Foundation, and a board member of Committee of 100.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin in 2018.