May 18, 2004
Ready to Lead: Class of 2004 Prepares to Assume Leadership in
Business, Responsibilities in Society
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Over 1600 students will graduate from the McCombs School of
Business with BBA, MPA, MBA or PhD degrees this year. These
students come from the smallest towns in Texas and the biggest
cities in the world, their extracurricular interests run the
gamut, and their careers will proceed in unforeseeable ways.
We have selected six students—three MBAs and three BBAs—to
profile below. It would be impossible to give each student at
McCombs the spotlight he or she deserves, but we think these
profiles offer a representative sampling of this year’s
graduates. These students, like their classmates, came here as
talented, energetic and intelligent students. During their time
here, they have transformed their lives for the benefit of
society, and we are honored to have them represent the McCombs
School.
MBAs
Michael Stewart
Michael Stewart, a native Texan and MBA ‘04, has kept a high
profile at the McCombs School and the University at large. As
president of the Graduate Business Council, Michael pursued a
number of initiatives designed to enhance the McCombs MBA
experience. He worked to improve the channels of communication
between students and the Ford Career Center, strengthen
relationships between current students and alumni, cultivate a
more attractive environment for underrepresented women and
minorities, and improve the transition to Texas for
international students. He served as president of the
campus-wide Black Graduate Student Association, which addresses
the academic and social concerns of black graduate students at
the University.
Such leadership comes naturally to Michael, a former Air Force
captain who was named a military manager of the year in 2001 and
a unit company grade officer of the year in 2000 and 2001.
Previous to that, as an undergraduate engineering student at
Texas A&M, he was the president of the National Pan-Hellenic
Greek Council.
After graduation, he will bring these skills to bear in his new
career in healthcare management, at Tenet Healthcare in Dallas.
While that field has its challenges, Michael is more than ready
to meet them. “Healthcare is a business of trade-offs that
affect people’s well-being,” he notes. “Tough decisions are made
on a daily basis, and McCombs has prepared me to be confident in
my abilities to do the right thing.”
Eduardo Soto
When Eduardo Magaldi Soto, MBA ‘04, was researching MBA
programs, some practical concerns set the parameters: he wanted
a school with strong programs in marketing and information
technology and a climate comparable to that of his native
Mexico. His decision to choose McCombs, however, ultimately came
down to a more subjective criterion. "You gotta see the people
who are here," he says, "McCombs was the best fit for my
personality."
Eduardo describes the prototypical McCombs MBA as "a laidback,
loyal, friendly, solid kind of person, not pretentious, not
cutthroat—but hardworking, talented, and competitive." Based on
this assessment of his classmates, it's easy to see why he found
McCombs such a good fit. His sense of teamwork comes through in
his primary extracurricular commitment, serving as president of
the Hispanic Graduate Business Association (HGBA). One of the
primary goals of the HGBA, which has some 135 members, is to
facilitate the placement of McCombs MBA graduates in Latin
American-based companies.
For his own part, Eduardo will accept an offer from Johnson &
Johnson in Mexico City. After completing a year-long training
program, he will be a brand manager in the pharmaceutical
department. It's a path he's prepared for, having worked in a
similar capacity in an internship for Pfizer last summer.
The realization of his professional goals must be some
consolation, but Eduardo is in no rush to end his McCombs
experience. "I've loved it," he says, with a laugh that fills
the Carpenter Lounge, even on a gray afternoon during finals. "I
would stay one more year if I could!"
Holly Goodrich
On arriving at McCombs in the fall of 2002, Holly Goodrich, MBA
’04, wasted no time in pursuing her professional goals. After
earning her undergraduate degree in business administration from
Sheffield Hallam University (UK), she worked in New York for
Bear Stearns. There, she developed an interest in the
high-stakes hedge fund industry—an interest which, she worried,
might suffer when she came to Texas to pursue her MBA.
Determined to avoid this possibility, Holly, along with Courtney
Powers and Brian Broadbent, founded the Texas MBA Hedge Fund
Organization in their first semester on campus. The mission of
the organization is to raise the profile of the hedge fund
industry on campus and put MBAs in touch with hedge fund
professionals. During her tenure as the organization’s
president, Holly made great progress towards that goal. In March
2003, she put on the first MBA Hedge Fund Symposium, which had
over 150 participants, including some of the most prominent
national and regional names in the business; the second annual
MBA Hedge Fund Symposium brought a similar level of expertise to
campus April 15, 2004.
Holly, who won the 2003 National Graduate Business Council
Student Leader of the Year Award, will move back to New York
after graduation to work as a vice-president in the private
funds group for Guggenheim Partners. She is eagerly looking
forward to the challenges and opportunities of working in a
hedge fund group for a firm that, altogether, has some $70
billion in assets under management.
MPAs
Ulrike Weisshuber
“I have always needed numbers to work with, to make a strong
argument with,” says Ulrike Weisshuber, MPA ’04, “and numbers
have always convinced me.” Given that analytic turn of mind,
Ulrike was naturally drawn to the field of accounting. She did
her undergraduate work in taxation and corporate finance at
Humboldt University of Berlin, and internships helped her decide
to pursue a career in tax advising.
Her academic achievements earned Ulrike a Fulbright scholarship,
and with that, she set out to pursue her MPA. “I had heard a lot
of great things about UT Austin and the people in Austin from
friends that had been at UT,” she says. “As it turned out, UT
has the best accounting program in the U.S. It was a very lucky
pick.”
The McCombs MPA has been ranked #1 for 10 years in a row by the
Public Accounting Report. Looking back on her time at McCombs,
however, Ulrike has high praise for even the non-quantitative
aspects of the program. “My observation at the McCombs School
has been that the learning environment there greatly encourages
the exploration of the individual as well as of the community,”
she reflects. “While working in a challenging educational
environment, students find a supportive atmosphere where
professors sincerely care about their progress and promote
collaborative learning.”
BBAs
Omead Adib
Omead Adib, BBA ’04, a Business Honors and Finance major, was
born and raised in Austin. He has been extremely active in
campus life during the past four years, serving on the
Undergraduate Business Council, the Dean’s Student Advisory
Council, the University Finance Association, and the Texas
Blazers.
His greatest leadership role was as the two-term president of
Net Impact for undergraduates. “As president, I created a
greater awareness of business ethics and organized community
service projects in order to give back to the community,” Omead
says. “We doubled the number of community service projects for
the year and brought in speakers to talk about ethical dilemmas
in the business world.” During his tenure as president, the
number of Net Impact members grew by 60% and the group received
the campus-wide Swing Out Award for Most Improved Organization.
These activities do not exhaust Omead’s talents, which are many
and varied. For example, being a member of Phi Chi Theta, he was
recently auctioned off in the Tri-Business Fraternity Date
Auction. “I went for way more than I thought I was worth,” he
reports. Upon graduation, Omead plans to move to Houston and
work as part of the British Petroleum Challenger Energy Trading
Program.
Reid Callaway
Reid Callaway says that he regrets that he has never wrestled
pythons in the Amazon, but given his ability to perform well
under pressure, he probably could. Instead, Reid has spent the
past four years double-majoring in finance and Plan II and will
graduate with a 4.0 GPA.
His academic achievements have earned him recognition as a
National Merit Scholar and Red McCombs Distinguished Scholar,
and he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma
Business Honor Society. At commencement, Reid will receive the
Ernest R. Walker Outstanding Finance Student Award.
Reid’s interests range outside the academic. He is an intrepid
traveler and an avid sportsman. In 2001, he captained his UT
intramural soccer team to the championship. He has previously
interned in accounting for Westport Resources and asset
management for Merrill Lynch; upon graduation, he will begin
work in Houston as an investment banking analyst for Harris
Nesbitt, the mid-market investment and corporate banking arm of
BMO Financial Group.
Andrea Choquette
Andrea Choquette is graduating with a BBA in business honors and
marketing and a bachelor’s degree in Plan II Honors. Having
three majors must make for some difficult courseloads, but
Andrea has excelled academically at McCombs. Her honors include
being named a Business Honors Outstanding Student, Norma
Carpenter Presidential Scholar, HEB Endowed Presidential
Scholar, Cactus Goodfellow and Greek Woman of the Year.
Andrea, who is from Plano, has considerable global experience.
She has lived in Norway, Switzerland and Qatar, and studied in
London. And just this past November, Andrea, along with
classmates Webb Stevens, Janak Goyani and Rushi Patel, won the
Citigroup International Case Competition in Hong Kong, beating
out 16 teams from all over the world.
Back here in Texas, Andrea’s commitment to the McCombs School
and UT shines through in her extracurricular activities. She has
held numerous positions on the Undergraduate Business Council,
including chairing the Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award
and First Year Interaction committees. As a mentor for a
Freshman Interest Group, she taught a weekly seminar of 25
business majors. She also worked as a research data analyst for
the UT Women’s Leadership Project. Next week, she will be the
student speaker at the BBA commencement ceremony.
After graduation, Andrea plans to join Bain & Company in Dallas
as an Associate Consultant.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
