Scholarships

Reception Brings Donors & Students Together
The McCombs School held an Endowed Scholarship Reception in the Hall of Honors February 17 to recognize donors and allow them to meet the students that benefit from their gifts. Dean George Gau welcomed donors, school administrators and nearly 200 student scholarship recipients.

Dean Gau thanked donors for their generosity and talked about the importance of opening the doors to higher education for those who might not otherwise have that opportunity.

“I was the first college student in my immediate family,” he said. “And I know what a difference that has made in my life.”

Several student scholarship recipients spoke at the event, including Erica Grundish, marketing and business honors senior. She is the recipient of the Karl and Helen McGinnis Scholarship, which she said enabled her to make school a top priority. Joining Grundish was Jeff Hendricks, MBA ’06 and recipient of a scholarship from the I. Friedlander Building and Loan Prize Fund.

“Scholarships are always helpful in terms of providing financial assistance, but I think they are even more valuable in terms of the example they set for us,” Hendricks said. “These generous donors are leading by example in their act of giving.”

Corporations Help Keep McCombs Ahead of the Curve
Over the past year, 11 companies have provided more than 25 scholarships to undergraduate students at the McCombs School. These companies include the Boeing Co., BP Amoco Oil, the Caterpillar Foundation, ConocoPhillips, Ford Motor Co., the General Motors Foundation, the HSBC Group, Kimberly Clark, Liberty Mutual, Lockheed Martin and Verizon Communications. The scholarships are evidence of the ongoing commitment these corporations have made to provide McCombs students with opportunities to achieve their academic and career goals.

“With the rising cost of tuition these days, our corporate scholarships go a long way in helping our students to realize their academic goals and endeavors, while allowing the McCombs School of Business to provide a first-class education at an affordable price,” said Charles Enriquez, undergraduate programs recruiting and scholarship coordinator.

At a recent check ceremony, the HSBC Group presented the McCombs School with a $15,000 gift to support scholarships. 

“Education is very important. HSBC is a strong advocate for education and we show our support by providing scholarships to students,” said Karen Horton, territory recruiter for the HSBC Group. “The university has exceptional students and we are extremely pleased with the high caliber of students we are recruiting for our Accelerated Management Trainee Program.”

Corporate scholarships are an important part of the overall fundraising goals of the school, as they help McCombs continue to attract top students and provide them with the best business education possible.

“One of my goals as a dean is to build more strategic alliances and partnerships with the business community,” said Dean George Gau. “Together we can make our school an even stronger leader in business education while becoming the best public business school in the nation.”

In addition to scholarships, companies have the opportunity to support a variety of programs and initiatives that match their specialized interests and needs, including the Ford Career Center, undergraduate and graduate programs, research centers and executive education opportunities.

If your company is interested in investing in the McCombs School, contact Katy Nelson, director of corporate relationship management, at 512-475-8176 or katy.nelson@mccombs. utexas.edu.

Prewoznik Memorial Fund to be Awarded in Fall 2006
Gregory Prewoznik, a member of the MBA class of 2004, was prepared to graduate last May, but, after a long and courageous battle, cancer claimed his life May 12—only days before his graduation ceremony.

While at McCombs, he was active in student organizations, joining the Information Management Association and co-founding the MBA Golf Association.

“Greg selected McCombs for its scholastic reputation, student access to professors and team environment,” said his mother Donna Prewoznik.

Prewoznik’s dedication to his education and the McCombs School led Donna Prewoznik, Garry Marshall, MBA ’04, and Sara Von Haden to create a graduate fellowship in Greg Prewoznik’s honor. The estab- lishment of the Greg Prewoznik Memorial Fund is moving forward now that contributions have reached the minimum $50,000 threshold. The first award will be made in fall 2006.

“My hope is that the Greg Prewoznik Memorial Fund allows more deserving students to pursue their dreams of acquiring an MBA,” said Donna Prewoznik. “By enabling more students to attend the McCombs School of Business, these individuals bring diversity of thought, new ideas and enthusiasm to the classroom. Combine these qualities with the passion for a quality education, and everyone benefits—UT, students and society.”

If you are interested in creating an endowment or scholarship, contact Sandy White, director of individual giving and endowments, at 512-475-8179 or sandy.white@mccombs. utexas.edu.

Roberts Endowed Scholarship Established
In January, Mark and Chrystine Roberts, both MBA ’04 alumni, created the Mark and Chrystine Roberts Endowed Scholarship at the McCombs School. The scholarship will be used to provide scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students of any academic major enrolled in the school.

As active members of their community—including working with the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Zoo Atlanta and the Buckhead Christian Ministry—Christy and Mark attribute the training and experience they received at the McCombs School as a large part of their success today.

“We wanted to make sure that others were able to have the same opportunity. That’s why we decided to initiate the endowed scholarship,” said Mark Roberts, a manager at Bentley Partners. “We also hope that incoming students will see our commitment to Texas as an example of how their experience at Texas is a lifelong relationship. They will meet some of the smartest and best people in the world and will continue to have relationships with them long after they leave. The education they get at Texas will just be the start of a life of learning how to analyze and manage complex problems.”

The McCombs Matching Gift Program, made possible by Red McCombs’ investment in our future, represents a strategic resource for the school and a significant opportunity for donors, he added. This program allows donors of selected endowments to effectively double their gifts, creating endowments with twice the influence at the school.

Endowments must meet minimum funding amounts, currently $50,000 for scholarships and discretionary excellence funds and $1 million for faculty chairs.

“Due to the generosity of Red McCombs, we have a unique opportunity as alumni to make a big difference to the school,” Roberts said. “Texas has meant a lot to each and every one of us and it’s our responsibility to not only ensure that it can continue to provide a world-class experience but to be an example to others. Christy and I hope that you will consider your experience at Texas and find ways to get more involved both personally and financially.”

If you are interested in creating an endowment or scholarship, contact Sandy White, director of individual giving and endowments, at 512-475-8179 or sandy.white@mccombs. utexas.edu.

Alison Davis-Blake Honored with Scholarship
Several McCombs faculty and administrators are enlisting private and corporate contributors to fund an endowed scholarship in former Senior Associate Dean Alison Davis-Blake’s name. Davis-Blake has served The University of Texas at Austin for more than 15 years as a faculty member and administrator. This summer, she became the first female dean at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

“If ever there was a person that the word ‘superwoman’ applies to, it would be Alison Davis-Blake,” said Kathy Edwards, McCombs lecturer and member of the coordinating committee for the scholarship. “She’s a wonderful teacher and an organized administrator with a good sense of humor and a well-developed sense of fairness. This is an opportunity for all of the faculty, former students, staff and administrators who have worked with Alison to say thank you as we say goodbye.”

Davis-Blake taught at all levels, from undergraduate to Ph.D. classes. During her tenure at McCombs, she received numerous teaching awards, including the CBA Foundation Advisory Council Award for Teaching Innovation and the Graduate Business Council Award for Excellence in Teaching in the MBA Program.

As a researcher, Davis-Blake has published more than 40 journal articles, book reviews and technical reports. Her scholarly work on contingent worker use and outsourcing has been cited more than 600 times by other academics. Her research has also received grant support from numerous agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Sloan Foundation.

The Alison Davis-Blake Endowed Scholarship will support undergraduate students enrolled full time at the McCombs School and who are current members of the University Management Association (UMA).

“College costs are growing constantly, so we hope to ease that burden for one outstanding student who is interested in the field of management,” said Edwards. “We want to recognize a student who shows the academic promise Alison exemplifies.”

To contribute to the Alison Davis-Blake Endowed Scholarship or find out more about endowed scholarships, contact Sandy White, director of individual giving and endowments, at 512-475-8179 or sandy.white@mccombs. utexas.edu.