San Diego State Team Takes Global Moot Corp Competition and $100,000 Prize Package
A patented optical displacement sensing technique claimed the grand prize at the 24th annual Global Moot Corp® Competition, held at the McCombs School May 5. Omega Sensors from San Diego State University beat out 34 teams from top MBA programs around the world to claim the prize package of $25,000 in cash and $75,000 in business services, including consulting from the McCombs faculty. The San Diego State team will also open the NASDAQ Stock Market Aug. 10, along with Rob Adams (right, in picture), director of Moot Corp and management lecturer at McCombs.
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Three Faculty Members Earn Title of Senior Distinguished Lecturer
As of Sept. 1, 2007, Rick Byars of the Department of IROM and Bob Duvic (left) and Jim Nolen of the Department of Finance will be promoted to the rank of distinguished senior lecturer, which is a new level of recognition for faculty at the university. Congratulations to all on this well-deserved promotion.

MBA Student Mabry Plays “Grade the Trade” on CNBC
First-year MBA student Nelson Mabry appeared on CNBC’s Fast Money program May 4. In a segment called “Grade the Trade,” Mabry and three additional MBA students from other leading business schools were given hypothetical scenarios and asked to suggest stock trades based on the information. Appearing via Web cam, Mabry, a manager of the MBA Investment Fund was asked what trades he would make if “Spider-Man 3” cleared $180 million the first weekend and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” flopped later this summer. Nelson said he didn’t believe Disney would get hurt if “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a bust because the company generates revenue from many other places. He also said he’d buy Hasbro based on strong “Spider-Man 3” toy sales. The hosts gave Mabry an “A-” for his trades.
Watch the segment (registration is required).

Annual Staff Awards Honor Exceptional Service to McCombs
The annual McCombs staff awards celebration took place May 7 in the third-floor Special Events Room. Along with chocolate-covered strawberries, a prize raffle and “humor” supplied by Arthur Allert, Dean George Gau handed out awards to the following staff members: CeCe Ridder, Tim Matthews Staff Excellence Award; Tessa Peterson, Student Services Award; Dave Wenger, Award for Outstanding Service to McCombs Constituents; and Kathy Saqer, Jeanne Brown Award. Also recognized were those who had served the university with distinction for milestone years: 30 years: Jack Byrd; 20 years: Diane Allen; 15 years: Sherry Brown, Yvette Brown, Angela Dorsey, Derek Fisher, Roxanna Galan, Paula Gilbert, Juana Hardwick, Lael Hasty, Gary Joslin and Richard Ratway; 10 years: Esteban “Steve” Alvarez, Douglas Bickford, Philip Boggan, Claudette Campbell, Kristi Delaney, Molly Edie, Charles Enriquez, Sheri Gonzalez, Cole Holmes, Mike Holt and Lacy Pat Lett.

Meintrup Tapped for Assistant Director for International Students in MBA Career Services
David Meintrup has joined the MBA Career Services department as assistant director for international students. Meintrup will be responsible for international students from the point of admission through graduation, including orientation, education programming and career coaching. Meintrup came to Austin from St. Louis where he most recently worked at Impact Group, a company that focuses on career transition assistance for relocating employees and their spouses. He has worked with internationals from more than 30 countries and has lived and worked in Latin America.

McCombs School of Business Teaching and Research Awards 2006—2007
The following McCombs faculty will be honored at a luncheon May 10 for their teaching and research excellence: Raj Raghunathan, marketing, CBA Foundation Research Excellence Award for Assistant Professors; Kyle Lewis (top right), management, and Bob Parrino, finance, Award for Research Excellence; George Huber (bottom right), management, Career Award for Outstanding Research Contributions; Jim Fredrickson, management, Joe D. Beasley MBA Teaching Award; Frenkel Ter Hofstede, marketing, Hank & Mary Harkins Foundation Award for Effective Teaching in Undergraduate Classes; Lorenzo Garlappi, finance, Trammell/CBA Foundation Teaching Award for Assistant Professors; Gaylen Paulson, management, Fawn & Vijay Mahajan Teaching Excellence Award for Executive Education; and Keith Brown, finance, Excellence in Education Award. The following Ph.D. students also won teaching awards and will be honored at the same luncheon: Joseph Goodman, marketing, and Michael Crawley, accounting, Fred Moore Assistant Instructor Awards for Teaching Excellence.

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