2008 Graduates Reflect on McCombs
Experience and Share Plans for Future
- BBA '08: Jane Burson
- BBA '08: Chris Modi
- BBA '08: Maria Pineda
- MPA '08: Xiumei Wang
- MBA '08: Benjamin Manwaring
- MBA '08: Allison Rhodes
Jane Burson, BBA '08
Fashion designers are often noted for taking inspiration from a
variety of sources—the cuts and shapes of an earlier era, the colors
of a geographical region, or even something as ethereal as a pop
culture reference. It’s the stylish fusion of influences that makes
a design successful.
Jane Burson has applied her understanding of that artful
amalgamation not only to her clothing designs, but to her entire
course of study at the university.
“One of the reasons I came to UT was because it is strong in so many
different programs,” says Burson, a senior majoring in business
honors, Plan II and textiles and apparel. The multiple degree plans
allowed her to combine her love of fashion with the practicality of
a business education from McCombs.
She often weaves assignments from different classes together,
creating her own sort of inter-disciplinary specialty. As a junior,
Burson won a University Co-op/George H. Mitchell Award for Academic
Excellence for her body of work in textiles and apparel. The crown
of her portfolio was a project in which she infused elements of her
Plan II thesis about traditional Japanese art and design into her
senior fashion line.
“The collection was subtle and had elements of layering and
collar-work, combining geometrical and angular lines with an organic
and flowing look,” Burson says. “I emphasized sashes around the
waist, while incorporating decorative Japanese knots into the
designs.”
In March 2007, Burson was one of 20 students selected to show at the
Fashion Live! Runway Show celebrating the grand opening of North
Austin shopping center The Domain. Former “Project Runway”
contestant Michael Knight hosted the event and chose Burson’s
flowing ivory silk charmeuse wedding gown as one of the top four
designs.
It was a proud moment for Burson, whose forays into fashion date
back to her childhood.
“Growing up, playing dress-up was always my favorite thing to do,”
she says. “When I got new Barbies, I didn’t really care about the
dolls that much, but I thought the clothes were the coolest thing
ever.”
Burson credits her parents for giving her full reign in developing
her personal style.
“I remember going shopping with my mom and even when I was quite
young, my mom would say ‘What do you want to buy?’” says Burson,
whose current style has evolved from funky vintage dresses to more
classic pieces. “She never said, ‘Oh no, you can’t buy that, that
looks terrible.’”
Despite her long history with fashion, Burson is not planning to
pursue a career in design.
“Fashion is highly competitive and it takes a lot of capital to
start a line,” she says. “If you manage that, then getting promoted
and into distribution channels to break even is next to impossible.”
Instead, Burson will put her business degree to work as a consultant
for Bain & Company. After a few years in the business world, she may
try to develop her own line or earn an advanced degree to teach
fashion design.
“I’ve always known that even though I have this love of creativity, I was going to end up taking the conservative route,” Burson says. “Now I am going to take this array of experiences that I’ve had at UT and apply them to the real world.”
— Nariman Ahmed
Finance and government senior Christopher Modi grew up in
Westchester County, N.Y. with a love for the outdoors. During high
school, he spent his free time backpacking, canoeing and kayaking,
while soaking in the region’s picturesque landscapes. His only
complaint?
“Kayaks are not exactly portable, and there is nothing worse than
hiking eight or nine miles into the back country, coming to a
beautiful lake and not having a way to enjoy it.”
The only kayaks available at the time were heavy and difficult to
set up. So Modi took those design constraints and turned them into
design goals: a kayak that was lightweight, easy to configure and
small enough to place in a backpack for a day’s worth of hiking.
Despite a lack of engineering know-how, Modi relied on his strength
as an analytical thinker to create a blueprint for the boat.
“By having a clear vision of what the final product would look like,
I worked backwards and designed each functional set of components,
and then worked backwards even further to design each component,” he
says. “Working backwards, I identified potential problem areas and
set my analytical skills to work.”
After a year of planning and design, Modi created a prototype called
the Modiak™ in 2003. The collapsible kayak features an outer skin
attached seamlessly to the body of the kayak, which is constructed
of lightweight synthetic polymer and alloy materials. The skin is
composed of polyester that has been specially treated to be
waterproof and resistant to tears and abrasions. The 12-foot kayak
collapses to four-and-a-half inches long and weighs less than 25
pounds.
During his senior year in high school, Modi’s kayak took third place
at the 2004 Westchester Science and Engineering Fair. It also placed
third at the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
and garnered additional accolades from the Coast Guard and Army
representatives participating in the fair.
Upon entering the McCombs School in the fall of 2004, Modi read
about management professor John S. Butler on the university’s Web
site and decided to set up a meeting. Butler liked the idea enough
to put together a team of advisers for Modi—McCombs Marketing
Professor William H. Cunningham and Alan Blake, BBA ’01. Working
together, the team of experienced entrepreneurs mentored Modi and
helped him develop a strategy for marketing the Modiak™.
“I told him, ‘Don’t try to re-invent the wheel,’” Blake says. “I
suggested he look for manufacturing and distribution partners to
whom he can license his technology in return for a royalty. It will
make fewer dollars per sale, but will likely make more money in the
end, with dramatically lower risk.”
Inventing the kayak and collaborating with McCombs experts has given
Modi real-time entrepreneurial experience far beyond what most
students his age are exposed to.
“I’ve gained firsthand experience in product development, project
management, intellectual property law, patent valuation, among many
other areas,” Modi says. “These experiences have allowed me to take
otherwise abstract material from my classes and apply it to a
real-world scenario.”
Since creating the original Modiak™ prototype, Modi has conducted
frequent testing, developed a second-generation model and is
currently managing a team of engineers on a third-generation
prototype. It’s a perfect fit for Modi, who has always known that he
is an entrepreneur at heart.
“Entrepreneurship is about seeing opportunities where others do
not,” he says. “I came to McCombs to prepare myself with the core
skills necessary to swiftly act on those opportunities.”
After graduation, he will join Accenture as a management consultant.
— Nariman Ahmed
Maria Pineda is graduating 30 years after she first set foot in a
University of Texas at Austin classroom.
She and her husband came to the university, sight unseen, in 1978,
after earning associate’s degrees from a Laredo junior college. They
were both majoring in business and were eager to start classes.
Plans soon changed, however, when Pineda became pregnant and
withdrew from classes before completing her first semester. She
started working full-time at a bank, becoming an expert in
international transactions and accounts. But despite her talents,
she found it difficult to advance.
“I kept training these kids with degrees in music, geology—just
about everything,” Pineda recalls. “But then they would get a
promotion instead of me, because I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree.”
In 1992, seeking to reconnect with higher education, Pineda joined
the university as an employee, and worked her way up to a senior
administrative associate in the Department of Germanic Studies,
where she continues to work today. She was thrilled to return to
campus and be part of the university’s mission.
“I feel like my job is to take care of the behind the scenes work,
so that our stars—the faculty and students—can really shine,” Pineda
says. “I’m very proud of what I do.”
Pineda’s philosophy, as a mother and a staff member, was to tend to
the needs of others before thinking of herself, and she did so
happily. But in 2000, when the university started offering staff
members free tuition for one course per semester, Pineda decided to
do something for herself. This was the opportunity she had been
waiting for, though it wouldn’t be easy.
She enrolled in one class per semester—but occasionally a busy
period at work meant she had to drop the class or take a night class
instead. Pineda was also intimidated by the kids half her age who
seemed to have all the answers, or at least remembered their
high-school algebra, a subject she had not studied in years.
Sometimes juggling work, family and school became too much; Pineda
was hospitalized for exhaustion two or three times.
But she persevered, hired tutors, worked with her advisors and fed
off the energy of her classmates. Pineda relished the chance to
learn from renowned faculty and guest speakers. She proudly recalls
interviewing entrepreneur and Bookstop founder Gary Hoover for a
class project.
“I thought ‘How could a person like me meet someone like him?’”
Pineda says. “But going to school here gave me that chance.”
Now, at the age of 50, after seeing two of her three her children
graduate from the university and go on to graduate school, after the
birth of her first grandchild and after many long, homework-filled
nights and weekends, Pineda is finally graduating with a degree in
management.
She won’t be heading to Wall Street anytime soon, though. For now,
Pineda looks forward to working in her backyard, playing the
accordion and volunteering with the Hispanic Faculty/Staff
Association—hobbies that have taken a backseat over the years to
final exams and group projects.
“I’ve worked so hard that even if I didn’t earn a degree, I’d feel
good about myself,” Pineda says. “But this degree to me is freedom.
I know I could apply for all those jobs out there that require a
degree, that weren’t even a possibility before.”
— Tracy Mueller
Her name translates into English as “persistent, pretty and
strong.” Add a dancer’s flair, the precision of an accountant and an
all-consuming intensity, and you’ve characterized Xiumei Wang to a
T. Known to her friends as May, she will graduate this spring with
concurrent bachelor of business administration and master in
professional accounting degrees.
When she’s center stage at the MPA commencement ceremony on May 16,
it won’t be the first time. “I love being on stage—I’ve been there
all my life,” says Wang, a former actor, master of ceremonies and
television news reporter in China. But her passion is dance. “I
started dancing at age 5, and was touring with a dance company
before I was 20,” she says. She seemed destined to make an
effortless leap into a dance career.
But China’s conservative culture of the time brought her artistic
aspirations to a standstill. “At that time, entertainers,
particularly dancers and actors, were looked down upon,” she
explains. Swayed by societal pressure to “get serious” about her
life, Wang earned a college degree in management. Afterward, she
worked as a director of public relations at a top Chinese
university.
She came to the States in 2000, and was intrigued by the possibility
of attending school at any stage of life. “In China, once you become
an adult and have a full-time job, it’s almost impossible to go back
to school; it’s not socially acceptable, particularly for women,”
Wang explains. Determined to break free of such limited thinking,
she embarked upon her stateside studies.
Mastering the English language, learning the nuances of American
culture and keeping up with her schoolwork was a continuing struggle
for Wang, but she persevered. “My daughter and I were both in
school, and I constantly reminded her how fortunate we were to be
able to study, and encouraged her to work hard.” Wang’s daughter
took her mom’s advice to heart and last year was accepted to 11 top
universities (including MIT, Columbia and Dartmouth); she chose
Yale.
Meanwhile, Wang returned to the dance studio as a way to de-stress
from her hectic MPA class schedule. But rather than being a casual
hobby, she ended up pouring herself, body and soul, into her dance
lessons, adding hours of practice to her already jam-packed days.
Wang is now preparing cha-cha and rumba routines for an
international Latin dance showcase that will benefit the American
Cancer Society.
Wang will apply the same energy and passion she brings to the dance
floor to her new job in Ernst & Young’s New York office. In typical
fashion, she has joined one of the more challenging divisions,
financial advisory services. She’s looking forward to the bustling,
competitive atmosphere of the Big Apple.
And of course, she will keep on dancing. “Dance is part of my
identity, it makes me happy. But if I were totally about dancing, I
wouldn’t feel as intelligent and educated as I feel now. Earning my
MPA has made me a different person,” she says.
Surprisingly, Wang sees little difference between swinging to a
Latin beat and practicing accountancy. “Both require dedication,
discipline and precision,” she says. Accounting Professor Jeffrey
Hales says her conviction in this belief was reflected in Wang’s
performance in the classroom. “She is someone whom I would describe
as fiercely intent on learning—and both she and her fellow students
are the better for it,” he says, “She’s an exceptional person.”
As the curtain rises on her new career, Wang likens her McCombs
professors and advisors to directors, producers and stage hands who
work behind the scenes to make sure the show comes off without a
hitch. “I feel compelled to let people know how much I’ve
changed—from someone who was limited in many ways to whom I’ve
become today—with the support of the Texas MPA ‘production crew,’”
Wang says.
— Dorothy Brady
Earning an MBA may improve your business acumen, but for Benjamin
Manwaring, it’s also a key tool with which to positively impact the
world.
“I believe business has the power to influence society for the
better,” says Manwaring. “Not only through financial contributions,
but more importantly by operating in a socially and environmentally
just manner.”
He earned his undergraduate degree in English from Brigham Young
University in 2002 and then interned on Capitol Hill for Rep. Joel
Hefley (R-Colo). In that position, Manwaring researched
environmental and education issues. The experience solidified his
budding interest in public service.
In 2004, Manwaring joined Teach for America (TFA) and started
teaching 10th grade English at Lynwood High School in Los Angeles.
When he arrived, his students were reading at a seventh-grade level.
Collaborating with the school’s senior teachers and professors in
his secondary education graduate program, Manwaring tried to figure
out why they were so behind.
“I determined that my students desperately needed time to read,
because most of them were not reading on their own at home,” he
says. He solicited a donation of books from an area nonprofit and
set aside daily reading times and class discussions for his
students. By the end of his two-year tenure, his students’ reading
and writing comprehension had increased by two grade levels.
It was an eye-opening experience for Manwaring, who saw firsthand
how the education policies he researched on Capitol Hill affected
individual students. To get more experience in this area, Manwaring
was a TFA board fellow in 2007 and shadowed Diane Cox, board
president for Round Rock ISD. He is considering running for a spot
on a local school board in the future.
But in the meantime, Manwaring has a decidedly more international
focus. In 2008 he helped Associate Dean Eric Hirst lead a team of
MBA students on a two-week Global Connections trip to South Africa
that focused on the challenging political, cultural and economic
backdrop to doing business in South Africa.
“I am fascinated by the diversity in South Africa, its natural
beauty, and the unique opportunities afforded by South Africa’s
history.”
While he hopes to work in that country one day, his first stop after
graduation is a position with Booz Allen Hamilton
— Nariman Ahmed
Allison Rhodes, MBA '08
Find a need and fill it. That has always been Allison Rhodes’
strength. Her diverse background includes finance, media, politics
and service, but the one constant throughout her career, including
her time at McCombs, has been her ability to help others identify
their talents, while using her own skills to fill in any gaps.
As a segment producer with CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Rhodes corralled
camera operators, directors, editors and reporters, ensuring a
smooth three-hour live telecast five days a week. As New York state
press liaison for Gen. Wesley Clark’s 2004 presidential campaign,
she managed media relations, event publicity and volunteer
coordination. Prior to that she had never worked in politics—much
less a presidential campaign—but the work seemed to suit her.
“I really enjoy finding out what people are good at and bringing
different groups of people or job functions together to coordinate
on a central task,” Rhodes says. “Regardless of what field I’m in, I
view my role as that of an educator or an advocate.”
She adopted that perspective as a McCombs student as well. Rhodes
was the global research assistant for the first ever Global
Connections trip to the Arabian Gulf, helping to plan the trip and
bringing in guest speakers to brief her class on culture and
customs. She is a Forte Foundation Fellow, mentoring undergraduate
and graduate women business students, and also served on the McCombs
Admissions Committee, with the hope of clarifying any misconceptions
prospective students might have had about the school.
“Some students are concerned that coming to McCombs means you won’t
be able to work outside of Texas,” Rhodes says. “But, having worked
on the East Coast and being involved in corporate recruiting, I
wanted to be the person who could tell prospective students that
people know the University of Texas, that we have a great reputation
on Wall Street.”
After graduation, Rhodes will join Goldman Sachs as a private wealth
advisor in the firm’s Dallas office. She sees the job as yet another
opportunity to be an advocate.
“My job is to listen to my clients’ needs and then find the best way
to meet them,” Rhodes says. “It’s all about how I can help people
meet their goals, and I really love that.”
— Tracy Mueller
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.
