Hall of Fame

George R. Ackert is a senior managing director in Evercore’s investment banking business in New York City. He is an internationally- recognized advisor to companies in the transportation and infrastructure space, as well as to leasing/rental and business services companies. George also heads Evercore’s sports advisory practice.

Ackert began his career as an associate attorney in Mergers & Acquisitions and Structured Finance at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. George moved to investment banking in 1997 and joined Merrill Lynch as an associate, rising to global head of Transportation & Infrastructure, before joining Evercore in 2009. He holds a JD with Honors from The University of Texas School of Law, an MBA from Baylor University, as well as a BBA with High Honors from The University of Texas at Austin.

He is a former chairman and a founding member of the New York for McCombs Board. He is also former chairman for the Advisory Council of the McCombs School of Business for the 2018-19 school year. He is also a member of the UT Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, The UT Development Board, the UT System Chancellor’s Executive Council, and serves on the Board of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT.

Kevin P. Eltife, Tyler, Texas, was appointed to a six-year term on The University of Texas System Board of Regents by Governor Greg Abbott in January 2017 and was confirmed by the Texas Senate on February 7, 2017.

On December 20, 2018, he was elected chairman of the Board of Regents. Chairman Eltife chairs the System Review and Structure Task Force. He previously served on the Academic Affairs Committee; the Audit, Compliance, and Risk Management Committee; the Facilities Planning and Construction Committee; the Finance and Planning Committee; and the Board for Lease of University Lands.

He formerly served as senator for Texas Senate District 1 from 2004-2017, as the mayor of Tyler, and on the Tyler City Council. He was also appointed in December 1996 by Governor George W. Bush to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and served until July 2003. 

Mr. Eltife is the owner of Eltife Properties, Ltd. He is a director for Citizens 1st Bank and serves on The University of Texas at Austin Development Board and The University of Texas at Tyler Development Board.

Mr. Eltife earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Tyler with his wife and two children.

In 1989, Gay W. Gaddis cashed in a $16,000 IRA to create a new breed of agency, T3 (The Think Tank), that rose to national prominence for innovation under her leadership for more than 30 years.

Today, Gay is focusing her always-on energy to empower entrepreneurs and the next generation of business leaders to take big leaps in their careers and lives. She is an active speaker on women’s leadership, company culture and entrepreneurship. Her book, "Cowgirl Power: How to Kick Ass in Business and Life", released in January 2018, shares insights and examples for women to develop personal power and lead like fearless cowgirls.

Gay is the first female chairman of the Texas Business Leadership Council and is former chairman of The Committee of 200 (C200), a top women’s business organization that advances women’s leadership in business, and is on the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust. She was also an immediate past board member for Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc.

Gay is deeply involved with The University of Texas. She is on the board of Texas Exes, the official alumni association of The University of Texas, is part of the Dean’s Advisory Council to The University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and is an advisor for both the College of Fine Arts and the Moody College of Communication.

Gay and her husband, Lee, own the historic Double Heart Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, home of Fossil Ridge Creative Center, a retreat venue for thinking, creativity and collaboration. Fossil Ridge blends Hill Country nature with inspiring architecture and state-of-the-art facilities to spark imagination, serving as a venue for non-profit events, corporate retreats and creative workshops.

Fossil Ridge is also the home of Gay’s private art studio. Her bold and vibrant paintings have been shown in several prestigious galleries around the country including the gallery at Fossil Ridge and New York City, earning her a distinction by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the “Top Ten Artists to Collect Now.”

An active spokesperson, artist, and writer, Gaddis is the celebrated author of "Cowgirl Power: How to Kick Ass in Business & Life" and is a regular contributor to Forbes and part of Fortune’s Powerful Women Insider Network. She is an active speaker with corporate and student groups. Over her career, Gaddis has received numerous awards and honors including Fast Company’s “Top 25 Women Business Builders,” Inc. Magazine’s “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year” and C200’s Luminary Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

Before becoming the chief executive officer of JLL Capital Markets, Americas, as part of the HFF acquisition, Mark was a founding partner of HFF LP, having joined HFF’s predecessor firm, Holliday Fenoglio, & Company, in 1984.

Mark became a director and vice chairman of HFF, Inc. in November 2006, before the company’s IPO in 2007. On April 1, 2014, he became its CEO. Beginning in 2003, Mark was an executive managing director at HFF and served as a member of both HFF’s executive and operating committees from 1993 to 2010 until the present time.

Mr. Gibson has been involved in real estate financing, joint ventures, entity recapitalization, and asset sales for major corporate, institutional, and entrepreneurial owners, both nationally and internationally. His long-standing history with HFF allowed him to bring to the board of directors a deep knowledge of the Company's and the Operating Partnerships' development and operations. His experience with various real estate industry professional associations and role within the Operating Partnerships provides the board with valuable insight into the issues and market developments facing the real estate industry as a whole.

Gibson was born in Fort Payne, Ala., and was 2 years old when his mother, who was single, moved to Houston for a job. He played football at the University of Texas at Austin and was the first person in his family to attend college. His 35-year career in real estate began in 1981, when he earned a BBA in Finance degree in business administration at The University of Texas at Austin and joined Holliday Fenoglio in 1984. Mark provides guidance and leadership at several organizations. He’s an executive committee member at the UT Real Estate Finance and Investment Center and an advisory council member at the McCombs School of Business.

Outside of his UT involvement, Mr. Gibson is also an executive committee member and former board member of AFIRE, Executive Committee Member for Urban Land Institute, and a Trustee for ICSC. He currently sits on the Board for UT Southwestern University Hospital, and previously sat on the Board of Advisors of Baylor Health Care System Foundation.

He has been married to Jane Holland Gibson since August 1987. They have two children, Matthew and Jordan. Both are in the real estate industry. In his spare time, Mark enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, and fly fishing.

Kovid Gupta is an author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. In 2010, he received his BBA, BA, and BS from The University of Texas at Austin and in 2015, graduated with an MBA from Cornell University. In 2017, he was featured by Forbes Magazine on the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 List, along with receiving the Glorious India Award for successful Non-Resident Indians. As a screenwriter, he has written over 1,000 episodes for some of India's most successful television shows including Balika Vadhu and Bade Acche Lagte Hain. He was also the assistant director of the box office hit film “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” and served as the head of business development for Vinod Chopra Films and Film Companion. Kovid is also the author of two bestselling non-fiction books, “Kingdom of the Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms,” published by HarperCollins, and “Redrawing India: The Teach For India Story,” published by Random House. In 2018, he founded Kovid Gupta Films with the mission of creating path-breaking cinema and television.

Lance Loeffler serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Halliburton. In this role, he leads the Company's financial strategy as well as its financial functions, including financial planning and analysis, accounting and financial reporting, tax, internal assurance, treasury, corporate development, and investor relations.

Mr. Loeffler joined Halliburton in 2014 as Vice President of Corporate Development, with global leadership responsibilities for the Company's strategic merger and acquisition activities. He then served as Vice President of Investor Relations and was responsible for the development and implementation of Halliburton communication strategies for the investment community.

Prior to joining Halliburton, Mr. Loeffler held director positions at Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., and UBS Investment Bank, where he focused on the firms' oil and gas clients.

Mr. Loeffler holds an MBA with concentrations in finance and accounting and a bachelor's degree in finance from Red McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Carlos Whitaker is a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in the Global Markets division, based in New York City.  Within Global Markets, he is Head of New York Equities Advisory Sales and manages a team that distributes primary and secondary equities to institutional clients.  Mr. Whitaker is responsible for developing strong client relationships, profitably growing revenues, selling initial public offerings (IPOs) and secondary offerings, as well as cross-selling the bank’s other products and services.  His clients are predominantly large sophisticated hedge funds that employ a myriad of investment strategies including long/short equity, event driven, risk arbitrage, and global macro.  In 2010, Mr. Whitaker was awarded the Investment Banking Outstanding Achievement Award by Credit Suisse for his skill in leveraging the bank’s resources to complete a large transaction that was outside of his geographic and product coverage area for one of the bank’s key clients. 

Mr. Whitaker began his career at Credit Suisse in 2000 as an Analyst in the Investment Banking division.  He is a core part of the bank’s recruiting team for the Analyst and Associate programs, and has served on the promotion committees for Vice President, Director, and Managing Director level candidates. 

Mr. Whitaker graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his Bachelor of Arts from the Plan II Honors Program, Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, and Master of Professional Accounting.  Mr. Whitaker currently serves on the New York for McCombs board and on the Rising Stars Capital Management board, which is a Houston based nonprofit organization focused on increasing African American representation in the finance industry.