May 16, 2005
Student Magazine Names Three BBAs Leading Longhorns
By Sandie Taylor
Not many students at The University of Texas at Austin can say they’ve
been on the cover of a magazine before graduation day. BBAs Jonathan Gill,
Kenny Liao, and David O’Connell, however, can now make this claim to fame.
The three were recognized as Leading Longhorns in the Spring 2005 issue of
ORANGE—UT Austin’s student magazine, produced in the School of Journalism.
A faculty panel chose the 20 Leading Longhorns from a pool of about 70
applicants nominated by professors, peers and themselves. Selections were
based on the student’s GPA, volunteerism, leadership positions,
athleticism and—most importantly—creativity.
ORANGE Editor Kathryn Wilson says the magazine wanted the Leading
Longhorns to be more than intelligent and involved in extra-curricular
activities. It was critical that the chosen students show originality and
imagination. “I was amazed at how many good applicants we had,” Wilson
says. “We had to turn down a lot of people who were incredible. It was
like picking between a 95 percent and a 100 percent on a grading scale.”
Copies of the magazine may be picked up at the Student Union, the
University CO-OP, the West Mall, Gregory Gym and in various Austin shops
near campus. Or, read on for excerpts of the articles featured in ORANGE,
by students Allison Avery and Samantha Stiles, describing how students
such as O’Connell—who will sing “The Eyes of Texas” at this year’s
commencement—have had an impact on the school and the campus at large.
Jonathan Gill, BBA '06
Jonathan Gill, a junior MIS major and Internet entrepreneur, wants to poke Bill Gates with a fork. “It’s because I know no one would ever try that,” he says.
He’s funny, but he’s serious when it comes to business. Gill received his first computer when he was 13. By the age of 14, he designed, programmed and developed his own online music Web site, Truepunk.com. Today, the site receives three million page views a month while Gill updates it, writes the monthly newsletter and coordinates staff members in two countries. Truepunk.com includes interviews with bands like AFI or Thrice, a chat room, message board, news page, album reviews and contests. He even distributes licensed compilation CDs through Truepunk.com that benefit a fund for musicians without health insurance.
After establishing a popular Web site and business at such a young age, Gill is not afraid of success but rather its limitations. “I don’t want to be trapped…I don’t want to be older and look back having always taken the easy way,” he says. He recently turned down a job opportunity as a project manager with Microsoft and a chance to meet Gates because he wanted to finish school first—quite a sacrifice considering he counts Gates, along with Michael Dell and Napster’s Shawn Fanning, as one of his role models.
Gill’s inspiration for his many entrepreneurial endeavors springs from his passion for punk rock. He still remembers when he got his first punk rock CD, “Everything Sucks” by The Descendents. “My dad regrets that day,” he says.
He says the relationships he built with people in the music industry through Truepunk.com have helped him start his very own record label, End Records. Gill is the founder, executive producer, chief of operations, webmaster and sales and marketing director for End Records. “I've released CDs by Darlington, Forty Winks, Five O's, as well as a few compilations,” Gill says.
For End Records, he has coordinated music licensing with major media corporations such as Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, organized and booked a two-month full U.S. tour for one of his Italian bands and arranged chain-wide placement of music from the band Forty Winks with Abercrombie & Fitch.
On top of the work Gill does with his Web site and record label, he’s also a member of the Entrepreneur Society on campus and works as a student technology assistant in the College of Liberal Arts.
“He's diligent and thoughtful,” says Gary Dickerson, Gill’s boss at the Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. “In general, as his boss, I can say I think he's done a fine job. Mainly, I wish I had his energy, and I wish I could learn the secret of how he juggles school, work and his punk rock lifestyle.”
As a student technology assistant, he created a series of teaching aid literature DVDs for professors in the English department that have been viewed by hundreds of students.
Gill’s newest project is Crescendo Distribution, which he calls a “proactive digital asset management company.” He began working on it in November 2004 and is currently perfecting his business plans.
Crescendo Distribution will be a company that offers services and solutions for the digital distribution of media. His company would work with music stores like iTunes and branch out into creating digital download stores strictly for label owners and artists. He also wants to incorporate a process that would protect files so users could only perform certain actions with the files. For example, users would be restricted to only playing a song five times or burning a CD twice. “While the initial focus will be on digital music services and solutions, I see the company expanding into digital film distribution and digital publication distribution,” he says.
Bryan McClellan, 26, manages the band The Riverboat Gamblers and has known Gill for five years. “That boy is golden; the kid is a genius,” McClellan says. “The rest of us are doing typical kid stuff, and he’s building an empire,” he says.
An empire is right, the Gill empire.
-Samantha Stiles
Kenny Liao, BBA '05
Kenny Liao is like the business school mascot. He has left his mark on almost every organization in the McCombs School of Business.
The senior has come a long way from selling beaded cross necklaces as a kid and running his own DJ business in high school. If you total up all of the organizations he’s been in since 2002, it’s about 15. Of those, he’s been an active member holding leadership positions. “I just like being in charge and starting things,” he says.
Liao was born in Houston, but calls Katy, Texas his hometown. Following in his parents’ footsteps, he aspires to create a business one day, and in November, he will start a strategic consulting job with The Boston Consulting Group in Dallas.
Besides his massive 300+ DVD collection, he is equally excited about his positions as technology director on the Undergraduate Business Council, and as historian/communications officer for Mortar Board Senior Honor Society.
Fellow Business Council member Katie Driscoll says, “He is by far the hardest working person I’ve ever been around.” She describes him as “fantastic” and “very supportive.”
When Liao isn’t thriving in his usual business environment, he’s refereeing for intramural sports, reading “Harry Potter,” playing poker or donning a pair of chaps and a cowboy hat as a member of the Texas Cowboys, a male spirit organization.
In 2002, Liao reactivated the University’s branch of Phi Beta Lambda, a nationwide professional business organization in what he describes as “one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do.” While he is no longer an active member, he continues as the editor of the McCombs Weekly Update, a business school newsletter.
The list of Liao’s accomplishments goes on, but what he’s most proud of is the friendships he’s gained through his involvement. “I think friendship is really important; that’s what people remember,” he says. “They’re not going to remember your GPA; it’s the little things…my mom always told me balance was important, work hard, play hard.”
-Samantha Stiles
David O'Connell, BBA '05
“What first strikes most people about David O’Connell is his height. “He stands out—literally,” says University of Texas at Austin professor Eric Mallin of his 6 feet 5 inches, broad-shouldered student. But that reaction fades quickly when people hear his voice—smooth, soothing and easy. Then after a minute it becomes apparent what a gentle giant O’Connell truly is.
The finance and English major has a strong musical background. He performed with choirs all throughout high school, making stops at the Vatican and Carnegie Hall. Despite his choice not to major in music, he has not left it behind. O’Connell sang in the UT Concert Chorale his first two years and then discovered the Ransom Notes.
The Ransom Notes, a coed a cappella group, has provided a place for him to share his music—something he calls “an essential part of my life.” “[Music] is a release that allows me to make sense of and better deal with whatever else is going on around me,” O’Connell says.
And what else is going on around him is a lot. O’Connell is a member of the Undergraduate Business Council and the Senate of College Councils. He is the co-founder of the University Performing Arts Council. He volunteers at the Eastside Community Connection and is the director of the Ransom Notes—but he still finds time for his friends, and has a lot of them.
“He has so many friends; it’s mind boggling,” says Catherine Miley, O’Connell’s best friend. “He just cares about everyone and everything.”
O’Connell’s future plans include law school rather than a business career. “I feel like I might be caught up in the numbers and I wouldn’t be able to see change on an everyday basis,” he says. “I want to… feel like I’m somehow making a difference; somehow doing something that is worthwhile.”
As for his music, he’ll keep that up too. O’Connell says he might join a choir or a rock/pop group like the Ransom Notes, but he says, “Outside of that, I hope to continue to sing at friends’ weddings, and basically every other chance I get.”
-Allison Avery
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.
