Jesse H. Jones Graduate scHool of ManaGeMent / rice university / fall 2008

Global ImpactFocus on China

Building China’s futureCFO Curt Lam (‘94)learning on the job

Taking Stock in Hong KongHenry Yeung’s (‘96) role in China’s transformation

Blazing Trails Henry Tsang (‘80) bankson investment and beyond

Good Neighbors, Good BusinessHaiyang Li and Anthea Zhang explore how community affects business success

Columns02 AroundthesChool New studeNt exchaNge program | Bp selects rice to lead coNsortium | 4th aNNual rice summer BusiNess iNstitute | JoNes school: updates & Breakthroughs | New staff appoiNtmeNts | New faculty | iNvestiture wiNNers | rice alliaNce: rice BusiNess plaN competitioN | giviNg to JoNes

feAturesBuildingChinA’sfuture|14 | cfo curt lam learNiNg oN the JoB

tAkingstoCkinhongkong | 18 | heNry yeuNg’s role iN chiNa’s traNsformatioN

BlAzingtrAils| 22 | heNry tsaNg BaNks oN iNvestmeNt aNd BeyoNd

goodneighBors,goodBusiness| 26 | commuNity effects oN BusiNess success

30 mediAmentions

31 AlumniPresident’sletter

32 ClAssnotes

35 AlumniresourCes

JonesJournAl

associate director of alumNi relatioNsshaheeN ladhaNi

director of marketiNgcommuNicatioNslaura huBBard

editorJulia NguyeN

editorial coNsultiNg servicethe pohly compaNy

writersJaN hester JohN r luedemaNN

art directioN + desigNpiNg lau

photographyJustiN calhouNJoN-paul estradatommy lavergNedolores thacker

priNtiNgwesterN lithograph

Jonesgsm.riCe.edu

on the cover: curt lam ‘94, cfo of socam asset management in hong kong

Jones Journal fall 2008 1

the highly dynamic and globally competitive nature of business education demands that the Jones school pursue global opportunities for collaboration and engagement. the Jones school’s efforts to build these alliances have recently taken me to dubai, india, mexico, and china.

China, in particular, is playing a major role in the Jones School’s mission to develop thought leaders in

global communities. This issue of the Jones Journal explores some of the initiatives that the school, and its

faculty, students, and alumni, are undertaking in China. From groundbreaking research to successful business

management, the impact of the Jones School clearly extends well beyond McNair Hall.

These stories provide just a glimpse of the progress we are making around the globe, and I have no doubt

that there will be great things to come as our international relationships continue to grow. We are already well

on our way to solidifying the Jones School as one of the world’s premiere business schools.

With admissions standards at their highest levels in each program, we are proud to enroll the largest

number of Rice MBA students ever. Applications for the Full-Time program were up more than 20 percent

this year, and the class of 2010 features a highly competitive 667 average GMAT. Admissions to the Professionals

and Executives programs also continue to impress. The MBA for Professionals had a 10 percent improvement

in average salary, which is an indicator of the quality of students in this year’s class and reflects the increased

value they represent to their organizations. Similarly, the newest MBA for Executives class includes an even

more experienced group of senior level executives. The ongoing improvement across all of our programs

places the Jones School among a small, elite set of schools.

To accommodate our growth, we recently added seven new faculty members to the Jones School. Each of

them is introduced in this edition of the Jones Journal. Their knowledge and experience will be critical to our

continued success. We welcome them to the Rice family.

We also would like to give special thanks to the generous supporters of the school, many of whom are

alumni or from the Houston business community. The generous gift given by the Virginia and L.E. Simmons

Family Foundation will create the L.E. Simmons Ph.D. Suite and support the new Ph.D. program set to debut

with a marketing specialization in 2009. The popular undergraduate business minor, which launched in fall

2007, received gifts from alumnus Keith Anderson ‘83 and from NCI Building Systems.

As always, we will make every effort to keep you informed of our future endeavors. We also encourage

you to maintain your relationship with the Jones School by keeping us apprised of your accomplishments and

visiting or attending Jones School events whenever possible. I wish you the best and hope to hear from you.

Warm regards,

Bill glick Dean H. Joe Nelson III Professor of Management Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Rice University (713) 348-5928 Bill.Glick@rice.edu

deAn’sWelCome

14

18 26

22

neWexChAngeProgrAmofferedWithleAdinguniversityinmexiCo

Jones Journal fall 2008 3

exchange ProgramBasics

The Jones School of

Management has recently

formed a new partnership with

ITESM-EGADE, one of Mexico’s

pre-eminent educational institutions. The partnership, an

exciting step toward expanding Rice’s global footprint,

will enable the two universities to promote and expand

international understanding, development, and friend-

ship among the students, faculty, and staff of Rice and

ITESM and their respective communities.

As a result of the partnership, in spring of 2009, the

Rice-ITESM exchange program will provide an exchange

of students on a yearly basis year from each university.

Current Rice graduate students can study at any of the

33 regional campuses throughout the country. Although

details have not yet been finalized, other partnering

activities with ITESM-EGADE may include: international

trips, executive education, short-term training programs

and projects, and joint conferences and seminars.

globalCommunityThe agreement with ITESM formalizes an important

relationship for the Jones School. In March of 2008, 36

Rice MBA students traveled to Mexico City to participate in

an annual five-day exchange program hosted by ITESM-

EGADE’s Santa Fe campus. Students spent one day at

the Mexico City location learning about the country’s

business culture and political climate. The balance of

the trip focused on business-related site visits designed

to give students an increased awareness of what it’s like

to do business in Mexico.

“The collaboration between the Jones School

and ITESM provides a valuable international learning

opportunity for our students and will help prepare

them to be the global thought leaders of tomorrow,”

said Bill Glick, Jones School dean and H. Joe Nelson III

professor of management.

extending ourreach The ITESM-EGADE

partnership is a

continuation of Rice’s

commitment to Latin

America, with Mexico paving the way for expanded

presence. In addition to partnering with top Latin

American business schools such as INCAE in Costa

Rica and ITESM-EGADE, last year, Rice partnered and

conducted many recruiting events throughout Latin

America in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico.

As a result, Rice successfully recruited top Latin American

students; this year, Latin American applications were up

25 percent, and the Jones School yielded 75 percent of

admitted students. This year, Rice will be partnering

with Latin American GMAT prep centers to further build

the application pipeline.

“Latin America is a

natural fit for a leading Texas

business school such as Rice,”

said Sean Ferguson, assistant

dean for Degree Programs, who

accompanied the student group

to Mexico City. “It’s important

to prepare students for the

realities of future global economic

growth, and exchange programs

and international trips are a

great way to gain perspective

and dispel any misconceptions

people may hold. Ultimately,

the programs help to raise the

University’s global visibility.”

around the Schoolaround the School

a new exchange program with the graduate school of Business administration and leadership (egade) at the instituto tecnológico y de estudios superiores de monterrey (itesm) will offer students and staff from both institutions an opportunity to expand their international horizons.

jonesgsm.rice.edu

ProgramhighlightsBP, a multinational energy company with a work-

force of 10,000 petrotechnical professionals, recently

announced it will fund a consortium of five universities,

headed by Rice, to enhance technical education

in its exploration and production (E&P) workforce.

BP chose Rice for the leadership role because of the

University’s track record in collaborating with other

institutions of higher learning.

“Our partnership with these leading academic

institutions is further evidence of BP’s use of learning

and technological innovation to underpin its E&P

growth strategy,” said Andy Inglis, CEO of BP E&P.

Rice will work closely with BP and consortium

members to design education programs for the

organization’s international workforce. The consortium

also includes Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for

Collaborative and Interactive Technologies and three

UK-based institutions: Heriot-Watt University, Imperial

College, and the University of Manchester.

theBottomlineThe partnership will provide faculty of the Jones

School with an opportunity to expand their knowledge

of cultural influences on education, organizational

impediments to learning in a global workplace, and

the actual costs of running large programs. “We will

be actively engaged in developing BP’s next generation

of leaders,” noted Jones School Executive Education

Director of Energy William B. Lee. “We will focus

on a range of management topics, including leading

high-performance teams, leadership development and

communications, and general business acumen that

employees need to excel in the global energy market.”

Consortium Executive Director Garrett Dolan sees

far-reaching benefits for Rice. “BP is concerned about

what they call ‘the great crew change’,” he said. “They’re

wrestling with an aging work force, as well as changing

dynamics of how people are taught. Both have

repercussions for universities, and we hope this

relationship will help us become better educators.”

BPseleCtsriCeuniversitytoleAdeliteeduCAtionConsortium

a partnership with Bp will provide rice university with an opportunity to participate in collaborative research as well learn new ways to adapt education to the global marketplace.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 5

highsChoolstudentsleArnBusinessAndfinAnCeinriCesummerBusinessinstituteThis past summer, 41 high school students from

Houston’s low- and moderate-income communities

learned the fundamentals of business and finance in the

4th annual Rice Summer Business Institute (RSBI).

In this intensive two-week program, students are

exposed to a variety of business topics through seminars by

prominent Jones School faculty, workshops in business

communications, and through hands-on learning such

as trading simulations and a venture capital ‘elevator

pitch’ competition. Field trips to the underwriter and

corporate sponsors provide a first-hand view of the

‘real-life business world.’ Cross-school teams conduct

and present an in-depth analysis of a retail stock. As a

result of the Institute, a few outstanding RSBI students

receive internships with Merrill Lynch.

The Institute aims to broaden these students’

expectations of career possibilities, sowing the seeds

today for developing the future diverse business leaders

of Houston. The Institute, underwritten by Merrill

Lynch and hosted by the Jones School, is provided free

of cost to students accepted through a competitive

application process.

rsBiunderwriterMerrill Lynch

rsBiCorporatesponsorsConocoPhillipsEl Paso CorporationInvesco AimThe Robert and Janice McNair Foundation Rice MBA Gala 2008

rsBihighschoolsChinquapinDavisHarmony ScienceKIPPReaganSam HoustonWheatleyYatesYES Prep

learningAreas

Business leadership and ethics

Business strategy and planning

Consumer marketing and brand management

Corporate organization

Entrepreneurship

Sports management

Stock and energy markets

around the Schoolaround the School

jonesgsm.rice.edu

full-timemBAemployment 2007 2008Average Base Salary $89,006 $93,005

Average Signing Bonus $18,248 $20,046

Compiled according to MBACSC guidelines. As of Sept. 30, 2008.

Jones Journal fall 2008 7jonesgsm.rice.edu

JonessChool:uPdAtes&BreAkthroughs neWstAffAPPointments

ClAssof2009

Class size 111Average GMAT 609Average Age 29 Average Years Experience 6Percentage Women 35 Percentage Minority 19

ClAssof2010

Class size 112Average GMAT 608Average Age 29 Average Years Experience 6Percentage Women 24 Percentage Minority 21

ClAssof2009

Class size 124Average GMAT 642Average Age 27 Average Years Experience 4Percentage Women 30 Percentage Minority 10

ClAssof2010

Class size 127Average GMAT 667Average Age 27 Average Years Experience 4Percentage Women 37 Percentage Minority 12

full-timemBA mBAforProfessionAls

full-timeProgrAmemPloyment2002-2008

ClAssof2009

Class size 61Percentage of Advanced Degrees 37Average Age 38 Average Years Experience 14Percentage Women 25 Percentage Minority 24

ClAssof2010

Class size 70Percentage of Advanced Degrees 39Average Age 37 Average Years Experience 14Percentage Women 21 Percentage Minority 24

mBAforexeCutives

— As of sept. 30, 2008 ProgrAmhighlightsClAss of 2010

full-time mBathe quality of students in the 2010 full-time program has improved in several key areas. the application volume increased over 20 percent, reaching a five-year high. only 31 percent of applicants were admitted, the best ever selectivity for the Jones school. the mean gmat score of 667 is also an all-time high for the program. the class is 37 percent female, a percentage that places our program ahead of nearly every top school. gains in diversity were made as the underrepresented minority population increased to 12 percent.

mBa for professionalsgreat improvements for the 2010 professionals program were made in both selectivity and yield: a selectivity of 73 percent would place the program among the top 20 of evening mBa programs and an 84 percent yield beats four of the top five ranked evening programs. also, the new program remains a diversity leader with an exceptionally high number of women and underrepresented minorities compared with peer schools.

mBa for executivesthe 2010 class of executives — a highly educated, globally-experienced, and inclusive cohort of students as evidenced by graduate degrees (39 percent) — is extremely diverse; students represent 21 countries including 24 percent of underrepresented minorities. meanwhile, the diversity of thought and perspective of the experienced students, 52 percent classified as upper management, creates a rich and robust educational experience.

mediAreCognitionEntrepreneur and Princeton Review, september 2008only texas graduate entrepreneurship program in top 25ranked 16th among u.s. graduate entrepreneurship programs

The Economist, september 2008ranked 1st in texas and in southwest among full-time mBa programs

ranked 44th globally and 25th in the u.s.

elainem.Brewerdirectorofinformationtechnology

Elaine Brewer, who has more than 20 years of IT experience, is the new director of IT. In her new role, she will enhance the school’s technology support and services. Most recently, Brewer served as the director of Research and Instructional Computing Services and as an adjunct instructor at the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer

College of Business Administration. She has a B.A. from Houston Baptist University and an MBA from University of Houston.

d.BrentsmithAssociatedeanofexecutiveeducation

D. Brent Smith, former associate professor of Management and Psychology at the Jones School, has been appointed as the new associate dean of Executive Education. Previously, Dr. Smith was an associate professor of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School where he specialized in non-degree corporate education.

Additionally, he is a founding partner of TalentSage, L.L.C., a management consultancy. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Maryland at College Park and a B.A. in Sociology and Psychology at the University of Tulsa.

susannahB.tysorAssociatedirector,Corporaterelations

Susannah Tysor is the new associate director of Corporate Relations at the Jones School. In this position, Tysor is responsible for the cultivation of corporate involvement at the Jones School. Prior to the Jones School, she served as the corporate relations manager at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and as a founding executive director

of the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts in Houston. She received a dual undergraduate degree in French and International Studies from Duke University and her master’s in French Studies from Rice University.

Panyal.yarberdirector,riceeducationentrepreneurshipProgram

Panya Yarber was selected to lead the Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP), a new program that equips current and future K-12 school principals with exceptional leadership abilities and management principles. Previously, Yarber completed a Broad Residency with HISD, served as senior manager, Network Supply Chain Management/

Technology at Cingular Wireless, and as an engineer with Motorola. She is a member of Toastmasters International. She holds an MBA from Harvard University and a B.S. from Stanford University.

yolanderd.AlbertAssociatedirectorofemployerrelations

Yolander Albert recently joined the Jones School’s Career Management Center as the new associate director for employer relations. Previously, she managed employer relations, diversity recruiting, and corporate fundraising for Duke University. Prior to Duke, she worked in employer relations and recruiting with Procter & Gamble, INROADS, Inc., Kurt

Salmon Associates, and Wachovia Bank. Albert holds a B.S. in Computer Science at Southern University and an M.S. in Human Resource Development at Georgia State University.

78%74%

81%

93%86%

95%

67% 65%

57%

71% 69%

81%

73%

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 20080%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%90%

percent accepted at graduation percent accepted 3 months after graduation

emPloymentstAtistiCs full - time mBA ClAss of 2008

ACAdemiCProfiles

Compiled according to MBACSC guidelines. As of Sept. 30, 2008.

around the Schoolaround the School

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 9jonesgsm.rice.edu

ClAssof2008investiturehonors,Prizes,AndAWArds

JonesCitizenshipAwardAcho Kelechi AzuikeLauren Michelle BarrashJennifer Lynne BricksonPhillip D. BrownAlejandro (Alex) CesteroHarshit ChaturCameron Leigh DyerKola FagbayiTaylor Bennett FaulknerRadu V. FilipKathleen King GibsonChristine GlauberRebecca L. InchSidhya JayakumarAaron J. KnapeYuling LiLeslie Erin MayMichelle Lynn NatarajanTonya Marie OlpinAmanda H. SammonsKevin J. Voelte

dean’sspecialrecognitionAward(posthumous)Daniel Huffaker

JonesscholarsA. Alex AugustinIrfan A. BidiwalaCarolyn R. BornKristine S. BoydMaria Inmaculada CalzadoKevin V. CummingChristopher R. DahlmeierRichard P. DavisCameron Leigh DyerRehan FarooqMarion Barbara Elizabeth GammillClaudia Kent HertzogSzu-Po Schubert HuangSidhya JayakumarNikhil Uday KarogalJeffery KohChristina Konvicka

Webb MitchellIan MoxonKaarle RautioStephen SchwarzbachDerek J. SteelePallassana (Venky) VenkataramanGuillermo VignaKevin J. VoelteKexin WangLeonard Yowell

Jesseh.JonesgraduateschoolofmanagementAlumniAwardforexcellenceinteachingSally K. Widener

mBAforexecutivesAwardsforteachingexcellenceJames T. HackettKaren Nelson

mBAforProfessionalsAwardforteachingexcellenceRichard A. Price

full-timemBAAwardforteachingexcellenceBrian R. Rountree

m.A.“mike”WrightAwardsLauren Michelle BarrashChristine GlauberAaron J. KnapeKevin J. Voelte

loranet.PhilipsAwardforexcellenceinWritingMarion Barbara Elizabeth Gammill

roberte.PhilipsAwardforexcellenceinPresentationTonya Marie Olpin

2008fACultyAPPointments

sebastienmichenaudAssistantProfessoroffinance

Sebastien Michenaud, a new assistant professor of finance at the Jones School, has extensive corporate experience. He has worked in mergers and acquisitions with Bankers Trust, corporate strategy with Schneider Electric, and management consulting with Arkwright Enterprises Ltd. His research interests include corporate finance and capital budgeting decisions, analyst coverage, information asymmetry and behavioral finance. Professor Michenaud has received awards and honors including Best Paper from the Swiss Finance Institute. He holds an MSc and Ph.D. from HEC School of Management and MSc in Economics from Delta-EHESS.

gerrysandersProfessorofstrategy

Gerry Sanders, professor of strategy, comes from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, where he was the department chair of organizational leadership and strategy. His expertise is in corporate governance, executive compensation, international strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic manage-ment. Additionally, Professor Sanders currently serves as associate editor of the Academy of Management Journal. He received his Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Texas at Austin.

BeatakrupalecturerinCommunications

Beata Krupa, who has extensive teaching experience in both traditional classroom and online settings, joins the Jones School as a lecturer in commu-nications. Most recently, Professor Krupa was the corporate director of regional accreditation for Westwood College. Prior to this position, she worked as the vice president of academic operations and as the academic chair of the Business Communica-tions Department at the Jones International University (JIU). She holds a Ph.D. in media ecology from New York University and an M.A. in journalism and political science from the University of Warsaw, Poland.

kimkimmeylecturerinCommunications

Kim Kimmey is a new communications lecturer at the Jones School. She has worked as a senior marketing executive for more than 25 years building successful integrated marketing programs for companies. Her corporate experience includes management positions at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and owner/principal of Kimmey Marketing and Public Relations. For the past 10 years, she has served as an adjunct lecturer in business at the University of Houston. Ms. Kimmey has an M.S. in marketing from Texas A&M University.

BalajikokaAssociateProfessorofstrategy

Balaji Koka is a new associate professor in strategy at the Jones School. His research interests include strategic alliances and interfirm networks, institutional context, government trade, investment policies, social entrepreneurship, international business, and the global steel industry. Professor Koka currently serves on the prestigious editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal. Previously, he was an associate professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Pittsburgh.

AjaykalraProfessorofmarketing

Ajay Kalra, professor of marketing, joins the Jones School from Carnegie Mellon University where he served as associate professor. His primary research interests include quality assessment, sales force compensation, and promotional strategy. He has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Marketing, Manage-ment Science, Marketing Sciences, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Adver-tising and has served on the editorial boards of Journal of Marketing and Marketing Letters. Professor Kalra received a Ph.D. in marketing from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Jeffersonduartegeraldd.hinesrealestatevisitingAssociateProfessor

Jefferson Duarte will be joining the Jones School as a visiting associate professor, filling the Gerald D. Hines Real Estate Professorship. He is also an associate professor of finance at the University of Washington. His current research projects include residential mortgage derivatives, credit spreads, and information asymmetry. He has worked as a visiting scholar with Freddie Mac in the Office of the Chief Economist and with IBMEC in Brazil, an associate at the fixed income pro-prietary trading desk of J.P. Morgan Chase, and a senior systems analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston. Professor Duarte earned his Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Chicago.

CommuniCAtions finAnCe mArketing strAtegy

around the Schoolaround the School

Jones Journal fall 2008 11

2008riCeBusinessPlAnComPetition:BAnneryeArforPrestigiousinternAtionAlContest

Cutting-edgeCompetitionThe Rice University Business Plan Competition,

in which students simulate the real-world process of

soliciting start-up funds for their business ideas, is the

largest and richest intercollegiate, graduate-level business

plan competition in the world. This year, more than

230 teams from around the world applied for the

competition, a dramatic increase from 75 applicants

in 2007. Of these, 36 were invited to participate in the

three-day competition held April 3-5, 2008 in Houston.

“We think these numbers say a lot about the quality

of teams we attract,” said Brad Burke, managing director

of the Rice Alliance. “They also demonstrate that this

competition has tremendous value beyond the realm

of academic endeavor.”

The contest is designed to assess new, independent

ventures — developed by students — with a company

in the seed, start-up, or early growth stages. Teams vied

in four categories: life sciences, sustainability, information

technology, and consumer goods and products. Winners

from each then battled for the grand prize.

richrewardsThis year’s prize money nearly doubled over last

year’s, to $675,000, as a result of increased sponsorship.

The grand prize winner received a package valued at up

to $325,000, including: a $125,000 equity investment from

The Goose Society of Texas; one of two new $100,000

prizes given by the Greater Houston Partnership’s

Opportunity HoustonSM; $20,000 in cash sponsored

by Shell and Kenda Capital; as well as $80,000 in

incubation, and other services.

The team of judges, which included more than

170 successful entrepreneurs, investors, and business

leaders, evaluated the teams as real-world entrepreneurs

soliciting start-up funds. The judges ranked the

presentations according to which company they would

be most likely to financially back. According to Burke,

76 percent said they are considering investing in a

company presented during the competition or referring

them to other investors.

PositionedforsuccessSince its inception, the Rice Business Plan Competition

has launched numerous successful enterprises, and 65

percent of the students who have participated since the

contest began in 2001 are still in business today.

“Through the mentoring and networking available

at the competition, 50 percent of last year’s competitors

have gone on to successfully launch their own companies,

raise funding, and build their businesses,” Burke said.

“We look forward to watching the future successes of

this year’s crop of competitors.”

Fortune Small Business, who for several years

hosted their own business plan competition,

co-sponsored the Rice Business Plan Competition

this year. An article in May print edition of the Fortune

Small Business, as well as online at CNNMoney.com,

generated a great deal of national and international

attention to the Rice competition.

Winner’sCircleThis year’s grand prize went to team “qcue” from

The University of Texas at Austin, a dynamic pricing

solution for concert promoters, sports teams, and

venues. Its software application transforms existing

box offices into electronic markets by implementing

elements of airline pricing and NASDAQ trading. This

provides dynamic pricing based on

market conditions, while hosting

a seamlessly integrated

secondary market.

As part of the prize

package, “qcue” CEO

Barry Kahn and

teammates rang the

NASDAQ closing

bell on Friday, June

13, 2008.

First place team “qcue”

from University of Texas

(from left): Andrew Mills,

Barry Kahn, and Jitendra Dalvi

First place team “qcue” rang the closing bell at the NASDAq stock market on June 13, 2008. Also pictured,

Rice Alliance Managing Director Brad Burke and Marketing Director Mary Lynn Fernau.

the 8th annual rice university Business plan competition, hosted by the rice alliance for technology and entrepreneurship and the Jones graduate school of management, soared to new heights with greater rewards, top-notch participants, and exciting money-making business plans.

around the SchoolRice alliancearound the School Rice alliance

Jones Journal fall 2008 13

2008fisCAlyeArgivinguPdAteWehadstronggrowthingivingtotheJonesschoolinthe2008fiscalyear:n Alumni participation in annual giving reached 20 percent

n Revenue in gifts and pledges totaled $12.84 million, an increase of

$4.56 million from 2007 fiscal year

n Outright cash gift portion of giving amounted to $4.7 million

2008giftdesignations

JonesfundThe Jones Fund’s significant growth over the past few years reached a record

of $410,590 in the 2008 fiscal year. More than half of the contributions raised

though the Jones Fund directly supported recruitment efforts and scholarships

for the Full-Time MBA students. This allows the Jones School to attract top

MBA candidates to our programs. Additionally, more than 30 percent of

the Jones Fund directly supported programs and resources for students in

all three programs including the Career Management Center and executive

coaching for students in the MBA for Executives program.

WhatdoesJonesfundsupport?

donnam.Platt AssistantDirectorofAnnualFundDonna M. Platt, the new assistant director

of the Jones Fund, has several years of

fundraising experience. Most recently, she

worked as executive director of Citizens’

Environmental Coalition. Her nonprofit

career also includes the Houston Zoo and

nearly a decade at KPFT, Pacifica Radio,

and HoustonPBS. Platt has a B.A. in

International Careers and Psychology

from Lehigh University and an M.P.A.

from the University of Houston.

ScholarshipProgramsRecruiting

12%

Facilities

7%

Other

47%16%

18%

ScholarshipProgramsRecruiting

12%

Facilities

7%

Other

47%16%

18%

*Please note that the “other” category includes gifts to the Undergraduate Business program, Rice Summer Business Institute, Jones Partners, M.A. Wright Fund, Pending Fund, and Rice Alliance

neWCorPorAteinvestorsProgrAmlAunChed

the Jones graduate school of management announces the launch of the Jones corporate investors. this new program gives companies greater opportunities to invest in and support the Jones school’s mission to develop innovative, principled thought leaders who change the world. in turn, corporate investors gain a strategic competitive advantage through their collaboration with a leading business school.

Corporateinvestorssupport:n Areas of Excellence (Energy, Healthcare, and Entrepreneurship)n Top-level faculty from the U.S. and around the worldn Recruitment of the best students from around the world through competitive scholarship packagesn The Dean’s top priorities: Innovative projects that distinguish the Jones School from other business schoolsn Focus on thought leadership in real estate, student-managed investment portfolios, and globalization

Corporateinvestorsbenefitfrom:n Access to students, faculty, and executivesn Insight into leading management research and knowledge exchangen Affiliation with the Jones School which provides a platform to build corporate brand awareness with students

JonesPArtnersOpening Doors to Partnership and Cutting-Edge Public Programming

When you become a Corporate Investor in the Jones School, you also become a

member of the Jones Partners.

The Jones Partners is a committed group of business professionals working to

open doors and increase collaboration between the Jesse H. Jones Graduate

School of Management and the Houston business community. Members

are provided a valuable opportunity to participate in a forum where senior

business leaders and leading academicians meet to address business practices

and trends, while interacting with Jones School faculty, deans, and fellow

business executives.

formoreinformation,contact:susannahB.tysorAssociate Director,

Corporate Relations

Susannah.B.Tysor@rice.edu

713.348.6403

39%

Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program

2%

Undesignated

5%

Building Fund

2%

Current Use Scholarship40% Endowed Funds

9%

Jones Fund

3%

Other*

39%

Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program

2%

Undesignated

5%

Building Fund

2%

Current Use Scholarship40% Endowed Funds

9%

Jones Fund

3%

Other*

around the SchoolGivinG to JoneSaround the School GivinG to JoneS

kevindenicola‘87 Jones Fund ChairThis year, we welcome our new Jones

Fund Chair T. Kevin DeNicola ‘87, who

will be leading our 2009 Annual Fund

campaign. DeNicola, new senior vice

president and CFO of KBR, Inc., is an

active member of the Jones School

community. In addition to serving as

the new chairman, he is an adjunct

professor of management at the Jones

School and has an endowed scholarship

in his name.

jonesgsm.rice.edu

Building China’s Future

Jones Journal fall 2008 15

Each treasure in Curt Lam’s collection

of 300 Qing Dynasty snuff bottles tells

a story. Crafted of metal or glass, or

carved of jade, wood, or amber, these

remarkable artifacts are embellished

with tales from Chinese history and

mythology. “This form of expression and

the diversity of materials used to make

these works of art embody all the

skills of Chinese art,” says Lam, ‘94.

“Carving, painting, enameling, everything.”

Lam, who grew up in Hong Kong, started collecting the bottles eight years

ago. Since that time, he has immersed himself in learning about the art form

by reading, talking to other collectors and dealers, and paging through auction

catalogs. “If you spend time on one particular thing, you learn about it very

quickly,” he says.

He takes a similar approach to business. Earlier this year, Lam, who is married

with two preschool-aged sons, took a job as CFO in a field that is completely new to

him: property development. Part of Hong Kong–based Shui On Group, Lam’s unit —

SOCAM Asset Management — specializes in developing distressed-property projects.

Building China’s Future Curt Lam ‘94 Learning on the Job

by Jenna Schnuer

CFO Curt Lam of SOCAM Asset Management of

Shui On Group in Hong Kong specializes in developing

distressed-property projects.

Lam in his office located in the Kowloon side.

Lam, an avid qing Dynasty snuff bottle collector, visits

his favorite antique shop.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 17jonesgsm.rice.edu

Property development in China is a young industry compared

with much of the developed world, Lam says. And while it has

quickly gathered loads of players, some haven’t been able to keep

up with the financial demands this type of investment requires.

“Sometimes they run into financial difficulties, and the

development projects have to stop,” he says. “If a half-completed

building is sitting at city center, it becomes an eyesore. Somebody

has to resolve it. City governments are very eager to solve distressed-

property problems. We step in, take over those projects, finish

them up, and sell them.” Since the projects are already under

way, Lam’s group banks on a shorter development cycle and faster

asset turnover than from-scratch property development.

Skills at WorkClearly, on-the-job learning doesn’t scare Lam. “This new

position offered me good learning opportunities in a very large

and growing market. The job gives me the chance to learn about

the business fundamentals and the nuts and bolts of the industry,”

he says.

Lam says lessons from his Jones School years bubble up in

new ways as he moves into different phases of his career. Right

now, it’s the “softer skills” he learned that are helping him most.

In entrepreneurship classes, he recalls, “they taught you to

explore nontraditional approaches, to do things that, typically,

formally-educated people do not want to try. Especially in a

developing economy like China, you [shouldn’t] be bogged

down by any particular set of theories or thought processes. You

need to be agile and versatile, but at the same time you need to

be governed by high standards in terms of transparency, ethical

behavior, and engagement. These attributes ensure long-term

success, no matter where you operate.”

His ability to balance new ways of thinking with those

ethics and high standards will serve him well in his new role. Since

property development is still in its infancy in China, Lam says, the

regulatory and financing environment can be murky at times.

CFO Challenges SOCAM’s current project roster includes close to 54-million

square feet in gross-floor area. Though Lam says SOCAM is one

of the smaller property developers in China, he is bullish on

the future of his business, projecting revenue growth of more

than 100 percent annually by 2010. The group currently handles

projects in seven cities throughout China: Beijing, Shenyang,

Dalian, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Qingdao, and Chongqing. “China

is a big place, so we want to get things right in those core cities

before we look elsewhere,” he says.

But first, there’s a credit crunch to get through. When

it comes to property development, financing is the fuel

that runs it. “If we don’t get that, project development

stops, and that creates cash-flow and growth problems,”

says Lam. Because of a government-driven credit tightening,

securing financing has become something of a challenge

in China today. Afraid that the country’s

overheating economy would lead

to what Lam calls “an inflating

bubble that would burst down the

road,” the government implemented

restrictive measures in 2007 to rein

in the runaway growth in a number

of industries, including property

development.

Though the restrictions make for

a challenging time, Lam sees them as

a bitter, but necessary, pill. “I think it

will lead to more healthy and sustainable

growth in the future,” he says. But for

the time being, his focus is managing

the challenges and steering clear of

financial difficulties.

From Hong Kong, a Full CircleLam moved to the U.S. from Hong Kong after high school

to study accounting and business at San Diego State University.

Not long after graduating in 1992, he decided to pursue his

MBA, choosing the Jones School because of “the smallness of

the school and the rigor of the curriculum.” After receiving his

degree in 1994 — and turning down a job at an Enron subsidiary

— he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked at the Bank of

Tokyo–Mitsubishi in utilities banking and power project financing.

But in 1996, one year before sovereignty of Hong Kong was

restored to China, Lam moved back. “Hong Kong is definitely

home to me,” he says. “It was a very uncertain time, but a very

exciting time for me, as well.” He stuck with investment banking

for eight more years, until a chance meeting led to a three-year

stint as the head of corporate finance and business development

for GOME Electrical Appliances Holdings Limited, China’s

largest electronics retailer.

Lam met the company’s chairman (at that time, the richest

man in China), Wong Kwong Yu. Since the family-owned business

had just gone public, Wong asked the investment banker to leave

the world he had known for a decade, not only to help grow

the business through capital market transactions and mergers

and acquisitions, but also to improve corporate transparency,

management disclosure levels, and the infrastructure. The

already massive company was growing at 50–60 percent per year.

“At that time, it was particularly important, since GOME had just

been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange,” Lam says. “We

had to face international shareholders, business partners, and

international capital markets, where we had to better things in

order to achieve a reputable standing and the right valuation for

the company.”

At GOME, Lam found himself calling on lessons he had

learned in his business ethics classes — classes that he believes

were ahead of the curve, surpassing what most business schools

offered back in the early 1990s. One of the topics that leaped

from the classroom to his work life was how to treat stakeholders

in a public company.

Now that he has unplugged from the world of electronics,

Lam’s passion for new challenges is in full force. His desire

to keep learning and pushing himself has already produced a

career that, like his collection of snuff bottles, is built on variety

and stories collected from China and beyond. What’s next for

Lam? That story has yet to be carved out.

Property development is a very big factor in China. It is driven by the

rapid growth in the number of households moving to cities every year,

the swelling of the middle class, and the increasing purchasing power

of people wishing to upgrade their living standards.”

“

Curt Lam at the Shui On Centre

in Hong Kong

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 19jonesgsm.rice.edu

Taking Stock in Hong Kong

As ChinA’s eConomy ChAnges, henry KAi ho yeung ‘96 hAs A role in the trAnsformAtion

By Chris Warren

There are students who enjoy studying

finance, and then there’s Henry

Kai Ho Yeung. Yeung, who grew up

in Hong Kong and earned a B.A. in

accounting at Hong Kong Polytechnic

University, first arrived at the Jones

School in 1994. He was eager to deepen

his understanding of finance. Really

eager. For Yeung, a self-described

mathematics guy and number cruncher,

that meant going well beyond what

was required in the curriculum.

Henry Yeung in Hong Kong’s Central

Financial District

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 21jonesgsm.rice.edu

“We were required to take only six courses, but at that time,

I sat in on three other finance courses,” he says. “The professors

were so interesting and professional, I audited the other courses.”

Since graduating from the Jones School, Yeung has pursued that

interest, working exclusively in corporate finance. He’s held a

series of positions at Hong Kong-based financial services companies

and currently serves as managing director of Hai Tong Capital,

one of the first securities houses in the People’s Republic of China,

and now one of the world’s largest.

factor in its overall economic success. However, Yeung, whose

work involves preparing companies for an initial public

offering, is quick to point out that there are some significant

differences in how public markets in the U.S. operate versus the

way the Hong Kong Stock Exchange functions. For instance,

unlike the case with U.S. exchanges, companies hoping to get a

listing on the Hong Kong exchange must first find a sponsor.

That is where Yeung’s firm, Hai Tong Capital, comes in. “If

a company wants to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, it

needs to find a sponsor to make the application,” he says. Yeung

primarily works with the stock exchange itself, serving as a filter

to ensure that prospective companies meet all requirements for

listing, including sufficient profits and management continuity.

Not just anybody can vet companies that want to raise money

on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Yeung received his license

to act as a sponsor from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures

Commission in 2007.

While this sponsorship system — which Yeung says is a

holdover from the days when Hong Kong was still a British colony

— does make the listing process somewhat different from that

in the U.S., Yeung says the basic work his firm does would be

recognizable to anyone working at an American investment

bank. “We have two roles,” says Yeung, who worked for China’s

other large securities company, Guotai Junan Capital, before he

joined Hai Tong. “The first one is to prepare the company for

listing, and the second is to help the company sell its shares.”

A Different sceneDuring the course of his career, Yeung has noticed an evolution

in the types of Chinese companies coming to Hong Kong to

raise money. In the mid-to-late 1990s, he says, most of the

companies were large, state-owned enterprises. Yeung says that

working with such massive, government-controlled businesses

presents significant challenges when it comes to preparing them

for a potential listing on the stock exchange. For one thing,

because of the size of the company, Yeung says he needs to build

a team that can handle the volume of work. “If you are working

with a privately-owned enterprise, you can have a team of three

and be able to handle the job,” he says. “But if you are working

with a large state-owned company you may need up to 100

people. That is a challenge as a manager.”

While he still works with plenty of state-owned enterprises,

Yeung says that in early 2000, as a result of changes in Chinese

government policy, more privately-owned companies began

forming and approaching the securities markets in order to

raise money. The influx of private companies into Hong Kong

was also fueled by the introduction of the Growth Enterprise

Market (GEM) in Hong Kong. “It’s a complement to the

Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it allows

companies without a profit track record to be listed in Hong

Kong,” he says.

Building a track recordPreparing companies to list their shares and then selling

them is a job Yeung has become quite adept at during his career

— he held a series of increasingly influential roles at a variety of

financial services companies before joining Hai Tong Capital.

Yeung credits the well-rounded business education he

received at the Jones School for preparing him to succeed in the

investment banking industry. “For the everyday work here, you

must have accounting basics and some marketing knowledge,

because you need to sell the shares,” he says. “But it’s not just

number crunching.” He says Rice taught him the interpersonal

and communication skills that are essential to a manager. “You

must have some teamwork skills because you have to do the due

diligence on companies before they list, and you need to be able

to discuss with team members what work needs to be done. You

also must have strong communication skills to report your case

to the stock exchange and advise them on the suitability of a

company’s listing.”

Among the professors at the Jones School who had a real

impact on Yeung were Jeff Fleming, Doug Schuler, and Barbara

Ostdiek. Simply living in the U.S. was also a valuable experience for

Yeung, who is a lifelong resident of Hong Kong. The transition

to Houston was relatively seamless, both because the weather

in the two cities is similar and because he had a host family that

helped him to acclimate. Now married, Yeung travels extensively

with his wife, making yearly trips to Japan and frequent visits to

Europe and the U.S.

Yeung is convinced that the experiences he received inside

and outside the classroom have helped him succeed in what is

Henry Yeung credits the well-

rounded business education he

received at the Jones School for

preparing him to succeed in the

investment banking industry.

suddenly skylinesIn the positions Yeung has held since leaving Rice, he has

had a front-row seat from which to witness the remarkable

transformation of the once centrally-controlled Chinese

economy, and, in particular, the development of the country’s

fledgling capital markets. On virtually every level, he says, the

metamorphosis has been profound and unmistakable. As just

one sign of the change, Yeung points out how entire skylines

have been created all across China in a relatively short period

of time. “It’s not only in Beijing and Shanghai,” says Yeung, who

travels to mainland China at least twice a month to visit clients.

“Other major cities, like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, have become

rich, and they’re willing to spend to make great buildings.”

Although not nearly as obvious as the physical structures

that have been sprouting up across China, the quick development

of the country’s capital markets — which enable companies to

raise money for growth and development — have been a key

Henry Yeung in Hong Kong’s

Central Financial District

Henry Yeung is managing director of one of the world’s largest securities

houses, Hai Tong Capital located in Hong Kong.

an exceedingly competitive field. “If I didn’t have that kind of

training, then I couldn’t have climbed up the ladder.”

For now, Yeung is content with his current role and says

he is looking to stack up as many accomplishments as possible

for Hai Tong Capital. “My priority is to build a team, do some

advisory work, and build a track record,” he says. And with his

knowledge of finance, no one understands better than Yeung

how his role at Hai Tong Capital plays into the larger scenario of

China’s changing economy.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 23

BlAzingtrAilsby Kathleen Carr

For the fourth time, angel investor

Henry Tsang took part in the Hong

Kong Oxfam Trailwalker, a strenuous

fundraising event that takes hikers over

100 kilometers spanning 20 mountains

and hills. Tsang’s team finished in 25

hours, putting them very close to the

top 10 percent of competitors. This year,

he’s training hard to help his team come

in under 20 hours. “The vigorous training

is an interesting aspect,” he says. “Being

out in nature is also part of it. I spend

a lot of time hiking. We can walk

10 minutes from our house to

get to a trail.”

Henry Tsang ‘80 Banks on Investment and Beyond

After 28 years in investment banking,

alumnus Henry Tsang finds his second

career as an angel investor at Jigs Unlimited,

a wood furniture factory in Shenzhen.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 25

looking back, Tsang says it’s almost as if he just stumbled into the international financial marketplace.

Catching the early WavesBorn and raised in Hong Kong, Tsang came to U.S.

to attend college. He graduated magna cum laude with

a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the

University of Houston and from there, he went straight

to the Jones School. After completing his MBA, Tsang

was one of five people from around the world recruited

by Merrill Lynch for an 18-month training program to

prepare international managers.

Looking back, he says it’s almost as if he just

stumbled into the international financial marketplace.

“I would characterize my career as being well blessed

for having been at the right place at the right time,

particularly in catching the China economic reform

wave in the early 1990s.”

Before his career path returned him to his native

Hong Kong, Tsang spent seven years in Merrill Lynch’s

London office. He was a firsthand witness to, and a

participant in, a dramatically changing marketplace in

the 1980s after the United Kingdom’s financial markets

suddenly opened up (an event known in the finance

world as the “Big Bang”).

leading the Way Tsang’s experience in Europe turned out to be

tremendous preparation for the conditions he encountered

when he returned to Hong Kong on the front end of

the unprecedented economic reform that Asia has

seen in the past 20 years. Tsang helped Merrill Lynch

carve out a niche in the region’s emerging economies

and quickly became known as a leader for his ability

to execute complicated privatization transactions in

China. He also developed a reputation as a builder of

top investment banking teams.

Tsang played an important role in some early

landmark transactions, including the first major Chinese

international IPO, for Shanghai Petrochemical, in

1993. “I remember that we debated whether and how

to do pro forma accounts to make the 1992, 1991, and

1990 accounts more comparable. Before 1992, there

were price controls and volume quotas in place in what

was still almost entirely a centrally planned economy,”

says Tsang. “What I learned in my Advanced Account-

ing course with Professor [Stephen] Zeff at Rice proved

to be very helpful.”

Bullish Times at BearFollowing his 16 years with Merrill Lynch, Tsang

spent about 11 years in senior positions with Bear Stearns

and also had a brief stint with a private equity firm.

When he took the reins as president of Bear Stearns

Asia Limited in 2005, he helped with the company’s

efforts to rebuild its presence in Asia when the region’s

markets began to take off following several challenging

A hard-charging, competitive atmosphere is

one similarity Tsang has found between his

past career and his hobby. Navigating new

and sometimes difficult terrain is another.

Before finding a second career at an angel

investor at Jigs Unlimited, Henry Tsang enjoyed

a distinguished career in finance as one of

the most respected and longest-serving

investment bankers in Asia.

years. “The markets were super bullish,” says Tsang.

“Everyone wanted to double and triple their size in

Asia. But sadly, the market began to turn a year ago,

and Bear Stearns had to be sold shortly after I retired

late last year.”

Despite all the big deals he’s helped close during his

career, Tsang says what he is most proud of is the people he

has had the opportunity to mentor. “Many of my former

teammates have moved on to top firms in Asia to become

successful senior investment bankers, private equity

professionals, and hedge fund managers,” he says.

second CareerAfter almost 28 years in investment banking, by

late 2007, Tsang felt it was time for a change. Fortunately, as

an angel investor in Jigs Limited, a high-end furniture

business owned by a friend, he had a second career

waiting for him. “The business grew rapidly, and I

would always talk about what else we needed to do,”

says Tsang. “My friend urged me to come and do it

myself, with him, and the timing was right.”

Since the company is multinational, Tsang is putting

his cross-border business skills to good use. He’s also

enjoying the close-knit, entrepreneurial culture.

Culture is important to Tsang, and the business

cultures he has enjoyed the most have reminded him

of his days at the Jones School. “I think Rice has a very

unique culture that other schools don’t offer. It’s a very

personable type of school where professors bond with

the students, and the class gets on very well together.”

Tsang says he felt like part of a family at Rice, and

he exhibits an ongoing loyalty and connection to this

family. “The school has my support because I truly

enjoyed my time there, and I want to see this kind

of nurturing environment continue. I encourage the

students there now to make the most of it.”

Henry Tsang at Jigs Unlimited, a wood furniture factory in Shenzhen

jonesgsm.rice.edu

Haiyang Li and Anthea Zhang explore how community affects business success By Karen M. Kroll

Good NeiGhbors, Good busiNess

It has been well known that Silicon Valley is a

hotbed of technology innovation and London

a global financial hub. Why have other cities and

regions fallen well short of achieving the same

iconic status? New research by Yan (Anthea)

Zhang, associate professor of management,

along with her husband and research partner,

Haiyang Li, also an associate professor of

management, sought to explain why the

communities have varying growth rates.

Jones Journal fall 2008 27

Associate Professors of Management Haiyang Li and Anthea (Yan) Zhang at Nanchizi nearby Tiananmen Square in Beijing

In the ZoneDuring the 1980s, the Chinese government began funding and developing

technology zones (clusters) across the country, with the objectives of encouraging

entrepreneurship and fostering China’s technological capabilities. Each zone

contains several groups of technology firms, organized by the governmental

policies and regulations. Industries located within the zones included electronic

information, integrated optical and advanced manufacturing, biotech and

pharmaceuticals, new materials, new energy, and ocean technology, among others.

Driving Li and Zhang’s research was the discovery that, while the

technology zones shared a common organizational model, growth rates among

them varied dramatically. Case in point: in 1991 the government established

both the Shanghai Zone and the Taiyuan Zone in Shanxi province. By 2000, the

firms in the Shanghai Zone were generating about 75 billion renminbi (RMB)

in total revenues annually, while the companies in the Taiyuan Zone were

ringing up about one-tenth that amount. “We were interested in finding out

why they had such dramatically different growth rates,” says Zhang. “That was

our starting point.”

around the Schoolaround the School

jonesgsm.rice.edu

around the Schoolaround the School

Dissecting Growth Numerous studies and books have focused on the most

effective ways to foster a corporate culture of success. However,

a paucity of research exists on the ways in which communities

(i.e., clusters) of businesses, such as those located within a

metropolitan area or an industrial park, can thrive.

Li and Zhang started by examining all of the 53 national

technology development communities that have ever been

founded in China, they theorized that three dimensions of the

communities’ interdependence would be

critical to the differing growth rates. The first

dimension, regional community density, refers

to the number of communities within any

specific province. The technology zones were

not evenly distributed across China; several

sparsely populated provinces have just one,

while other provinces have six. The professors

hypothesized that greater density would boost

the growth rates of the communities, as it would

raise the region’s ability to attract attention

from prospective entrepreneurs, investors,

workers, and the like.

The second dimension involved the

distance between each community. Zhang

and Li posited that greater proximity

between communities would enhance growth

by fostering the exchange of information and

knowledge between communities and raising each one’s profile.

Finally, the team looked at industry

or domain overlap, analyzing the degree to which the firms

in one community competed in the same markets or used the

same technology as firms in neighboring communities. Li and

Zhang theorized that some industry overlap between communities

would enhance information and knowledge flows and raise

these communities’ profiles, benefiting each.

Research Findings Li and Zhang’s analysis clearly shows that the success of

one technology community is tied to its relationships with

those around it. “All three dimensions show a consistent

theoretical story,” Li says, “Our findings suggests that knowledge

and resources may flow among clusters, which create both

mutualism and competition among clusters.”

In terms of mutualism, as the number of communities in

a region grows, the region draws greater attention from key

external audiences like investors and workers. Consequently,

the presence of multiple technology communities in a region

can enhance the region’s capacity for technology development

and thus benefit all communities located in the region.

However, an excess of any of the three dimensions

would elicit greater competition. That is, a greater density

of communities within any specific province would force

communities to compete for the same pool of resources.

Greater proximity between communities would also create

a similar fate as would excessive industry overlap.

These findings are important for executives and entrepreneurs

who are deciding where to locate their facilities. They need

to consider not only the attributes of a particular technology

community, but also its relationships with neighboring

clusters. “You can’t look at clusters in isolation,” says Zhang.

“There are intercluster relationships.”

Of course, the duo’s research also offers value to city and

regional planners who would like to establish industrial or

“We were interested in finding out why some

communities had such dramatically different

growth rates.”

business parks. The mix of industries within clusters, as well as

their location relative to each other, can affect just how

successful each cluster will be.

Zhang and Li’s research study entitled, “Inter-Community

Relationships and Community Growth in China’s High

Technology Industries 1988–2000,” will be published in

the Strategic Management Journal. Professor Claudia Bird

Schoonhoven at the University of California, Irvine is the third

author of this article.

Charting Change in ChinaIn addition to studying communities’ affect on business, Li and Zhang

possess keen insight into China’s business environment and culture and are

particularly knowledgeable about some of the changes currently taking place

within the country.

For starters, wage rates are rising within China’s easternmost cities and

regions. As a result, executives looking for low-cost labor increasingly are moving

inland or to other Southeast Asian countries, where rates still tend to be lower.

Another significant shift is the growing size and strength of the Chinese

market itself. The country’s economy, which has boasted growth

rates between 7 and 13 percent since the early 1990s, has fostered

a robust local market and an expanding middle class.

This multifaceted growth is changing companies’ behavior

in several ways. More companies are tapping local management

talent, rather than expatriates, to run their Chinese operations,

particularly the sales organizations. After all, many of these

local talents have earned degrees in the West and worked in

multinational companies, and are well versed in leading-edge

management practices. Equally important, they bring an intimate

understanding of the Chinese marketplace. “Domestic familiarity

is key,” Zhang says.

Even as the Chinese market booms, the economy remains

in transition from a planned structure to a market structure,

Li notes. Executives doing business in the country need to

understand and work within both. That means identifying their

strengths and weaknesses, and formulating and executing strategy

for the marketplace, while also developing their ability to work

effectively with the government.

This is becoming increasingly critical as firms practicing business in China

are competing not only with other multinational firms, but also with educated,

experienced Chinese entrepreneurs. “The technological and managerial gap is

narrowing between the Chinese and Americans,” Zhang says.

Moreover, Chinese executives and business owners are strongly motivated

to eliminate this gap. “Even if you can compete in the U.S. against a Chinese

company, that doesn’t mean you can compete in China against a Chinese

company,” Li says. “Domestic firms do have a certain level of advantage in their

home market.”

Jones Journal fall 2008 29

jonesgsm.rice.edu

Jones graduate student alumni association 2008-09 officers and Board members

PresidentErich Bell ‘03assistant controller Quantum energy partners

President ElectBob Parkey ‘88 president & ceoico, inc.

Board members:

Mike Andries ‘02 (past president)principal consultantmaBc llc

Landy Haile ‘03 triad real estate consulting group, llc

Joe Branch ‘04sr. manager, international marketing partnershipsNational Basketball association

Lisa Kudchadker-Gordon ‘02 materials managerBp

David Case ‘05associateJp morgan chase

Priscilla Plumb ‘01 directorhewlett-packard company

Francisco Castro ‘02ceoaliant capital s.a. de c.v.

Julie Davidson ‘04consultantcogent compensation partners, inc.

Mark Courtney ‘94directorcima energy, ltd

Nkem Ogbechie ‘03 cappello capital corporation

Ted Dimitry ‘02 directorgem insurance agencies, l.p.

Kathryn Young ‘04vice president, operationssirius solutions

Kelly Enos ‘84cfoequaterra

Jack Ledford ‘02project managerkBr, inc.

Carolyn Galfione ‘97 financial advisor & cfolinscomb and williams

Doreen Stoller ‘91executive directorhermann park conservancy

deArfelloWAlumni,

my name is erich Bell, and it is an honor to serve as the 2008 Jones

graduate school alumni association (Jgsaa) president. as a 2003

graduate of the rice mBa program and Jgsaa Board member since

2004, i look forward to helping the Jones school continue on its path

toward becoming one of the country’s premier business schools.

i want to welcome all of our new alumni and, in particular, the inaugural

graduates of the mBa for professionals program.

Facilitating networking opportunities for the Jones School alumni community is a priority. The

Jones Alumni website provides a comprehensive list of networking opportunities and resources

that are available. We have already developed a new alumni database and encourage you to update

your contact information online at www.JonesAlumni.com, as well as visit the new Jones School

group on LinkedIn.com, which already has more than 500 members. All of our alumni are

invited to MBA Council of Houston events and may also join the Jones Partners (the school’s

corporate affiliates program). Please also plan to join us on November 7-8 for Homecoming

Weekend at the Jones School.

Check out the “Get Involved” section (pages 36-37) in the Jones Journal. You will see that we

are placing a stronger emphasis on creating opportunities for interaction between alumni and

current students including the new Jones Alumni Volunteers for Admission (JAVA) program, alumni

mentorship (working with our second-year students), and off-campus student-alumni lunches.

Along with these new initiatives and an increased focus on networking and student interaction,

we continue to offer ample opportunities for continuing education and career development. In

March 2009, the Alumni College Weekend will include a strong business track and, as always,

there will be numerous chances to attend both the Dean’s and Executive Lecture series. You are

also invited to attend any of the Alumni Resources tour stops to learn how Rice’s Career Management

Center can provide life-long career services.

In closing, I want to thank our departing board members, Crystal Maxwell, Rob Lesnick,

Ray Bowen and, especially, David Van Horn and Chris Burkard who have both served more

than seven years. The contributions of all these individuals have made an invaluable impact on

the Jones School.

I look forward to another great year and expect it to be an exciting time for both students

and alumni. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please contact me, Alumni Associate Director

Shaheen Ladhani, or any board member. And be sure to visit www.JonesAlumni.com for an

up-to-date calendar of activities. There is no question that your participation strengthens the

Rice MBA reputation and ensures the success of the Jones School.

erich Bell ‘03President, JGSAA

“Andthey’reoff”Money.CNN.com, April 15, 2008

FORTUNE Small Business – June issue

The end of ticket scalpers? Ultimate ski

jackets? Storage for your neural stem

cells? Meet the 36 semifinalists of the

prestigious Rice Alliance Business Plan

Competition who took home more than

$675,000 in cash and prizes.

10thingsyourAirlineWon’ttellyouYahoo! Finance, April 28, 2008

Associate Professor of Management Shannon

Anderson is quoted on a report of internal

practices of the airline industry.

young,AndreAdytoleAdHouston Chronicle, May 26, 2008

The new Rice Education Entrepreneurship

Program, a compelling new program

aiming to equip current and future K-12

school leaders with leadership abilities and

management skills, is mentioned in an

article about the youngest principal in the

Houston Independent School District.

kBrnAmest.kevindeniColAAsChieffinAnCiAloffiCerForbes.com, June 18, 2008

An article reports that alumnus Kevin

DeNicola ‘87 has been appointed CFO

for military and engineering contractor

KBR Inc.

neWlendingstrAtegyComBinesAuCtion,soCiAlnetWorking,BAnkKRIV-TV, June 20, 2008

Peer-to-peer lending websites tend to

focus less on the gender and race of ap-

plicants than standard practices accord-

ing to a new study by Paul Dholakia, the

William S. Mackey, Jr. and Verne F. Simons

Distinguished associate professor of man-

agement.

kidsexPAndingBusinesshorizonsKUHF-FM, June 23, 2008

Jill Foote, lecturer of management,

is quoted in a story on the Rice Summer

Media MentionS This is a partial listing of the Jones School community appearances in the media. For a more detailed report of international, national, and local media coverage, please visit our website at: www.jonesgsm.rice.edu/news.

inmiCrofinAnCe,ClientsmustComefirstStanford Social Innovation Review,

Winter 2008

Distinguished Research Professor Marc

Epstein, who coauthored this article, maps

out a clear theory of change for microfinance.

If the goal of microfinance is to alleviate

poverty, then institutions should focus

on helping their clients build successful

enterprises.

rAinmAnorPiedPiPer?Academy of Management Perspectives,

February 2008

Dean Bill Glick offers ways to move

business schools beyond media rankings:

through mass customization and stakeholder

education.

AsAlesPitChdonein60seCondsNational Public Radio, March 29, 2008

Rice MBA Ali Abbassi ‘08, a competitor in

the Rice Alliance’s Business Plan Competition,

talks about crafting a 60-second pitch to

potential investors.

therightWAytomAnAgeunProfitABleCustomersHarvard Business Review, April 2008

Don’t just drop customers that cost you

money. Co-author Vikas Mittal, the J.

Hugh Liedtke professor of management-

marketing, talks about how firms

should treat unprofitable customers.

Additives,AllergiesAndAdhd:is thereAConneCtion? Good Morning America, June 23, 2008

Alumna Robyn O’Brien ‘98 is spotlighted as a leader in the movement to raise awareness

of allergens in food.

Business Institute, a program that

introduces Houston’s low- and

moderate-income high school students

to the world of business and finance.

studyshoWsCeosstruggleforsurvivAlfirstthreeyeArsHouston Business Journal, June 27, 2008

Research by Yan Zhang, associate professor

of management, gives answers to why

more CEOs are leaving their jobs earlier

than expected.

totheWinnerAChAnCeofstArdomFinancial Times, June 30, 2008

Struggling to get in front of angel investors

and venture capitalists? Business plan contests

are turning out to be a promising way to

pitch and raise seed capital. Brad Burke,

director of the Rice Alliance, is quoted in

an article that featured the Rice Business

Plan Competition.

BusinessstudentsseeoPPortunityineConomyHouston Chronicle, Aug. 27, 2008

Jeff Fleming, professor of finance and

associate dean of academic affairs, and

Jones students Brian Appel ‘09, Jason

Assir ‘10, and Pascal Enohnyaket ‘09

were quoted in an article about the

current business school climate.

BusinessisBoomingHouston Chronicle, Sept. 6, 2008

Jones School Dean Bill Glick is quoted in

an article on the influx of international

students at Houston’s business schools.

hurriCAneike:the$6Billionstorm?Time Magazine, Sept. 20, 2008Hurricane Ike has had a dramatic economic impact across the U.S. from Texas to Kentucky, but Adjunct Professor Leo Linbeck III, says “I’d rather be in Houston right now than Wall Street.” This Associated Press article appeared in more than 50 publications.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 35

1970s/1980sRick Reinhard (‘82) is the principal consultant with

the Niagara Consulting Group.

Carol Shattuck (‘82) is president of the Houston nonprofit

organization Collaborative for Children.

Greg Deitch (‘83) is vice president and partner at Trabon

Solutions in Kansas City, Missouri. Greg joined the

company in 2001 as director of strategic business consulting.

Tom Bacon (‘84) is founding partner and CEO of The

Lionstone Group, a privately-owned real estate investment

firm founded in 2001.

Flint Brenton (‘84) has been president and CEO of

TIDAL Software, Inc., one of the top-ranked enterprise

job scheduling companies, since 2003. Flint also is on

the TIDAL board of directors.

Michael A. Kane (‘84) is a managing director at Caltius

Mezzanine, a provider of capital solutions to middle

market companies throughout North America.

Michael McEachern, CFA (‘84) is head of the High

Yield Group and senior high yield portfolio manager

for Seix Investment Advisors LLC in New Jersey.

Abhay Padgaonkar (‘84) is principal of Innovative

Solutions Consulting, LLC.

Mark Coffey (‘85) is president of ShoreBank Pacific,

the first commercial bank in the U.S. committed to

environmentally sustainable community development.

Charles Griffey (‘85) is senior vice president of regulatory

affairs for Reliant Energy, Inc.

Brian Hocker (‘86) is vice president for Programming,

Research and Digital Media, for NBC’s KXAS, Channel

5, in Dallas/Fort Worth.

jonesgsm.rice.edu

Class noteS

Emel Kahya (‘86), one of two students awarded a doctorate

degree from the Jones School, is an associate professor of

Accounting at the Rutgers School of Business – Camden.

Achilles Macris (‘86) is the international CIO for financial

services firm J.P. Morgan.

Ward Polzin, CFA (‘86) serves as a managing director

in Investment Banking at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.,

LLC headquartered in Houston.

Kevin Uebelein (‘86) was recently named the new

president and CEO of Pyramis Global Advisors head-

quartered in Boston.

T. Kevin DeNicola (‘87) is the new CFO of military

and engineering contractor KBR. He also is an adjunct

professor for the Jones School.

1990s1 Heather Carroll (‘95) married Jon Berglund on April

26, 2008 in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and will honey-

moon in Australia this fall. Allan Brown (‘95) attended the

ceremony. Heather is still working at MasterCard and Jon

works for Applied Medical.

Kelly L. Brcka (‘98) is the president and founder of

Chain of Events, an event planning company for corporate

and social events and weddings.

Cavan C. Carlton (‘98) serves as the senior vice president

and general manager for the U.S. and international

divisions of Detechtion Technologies, based in Virginia.

R. Marc Carroll (‘98) currently serves as vice president and

CFO of Black Stone Minerals, which is located in Houston.

Katherine Dodds (‘98) has been at Aux Sable Liquid

Products Inc. since 1999. She is the vice president and

general counsel and is also acting general counsel for

Aux Sable Canada Ltd.

Daniel East (‘98) is senior vice president, M&A and

Treasurer, of KGen Power Corporation.

Roger Haston (‘98) joined as COO of Ascend Geo, LLC,

which designs and develops cable-free land

.seismic acquisition systems.

Joseph Hoepfl (‘98) cofounded Parks Paton Hoepfl &

Brown to provide financial advisory expertise to the

energy industry.

2000sAlexia (Pearce) Dauterive (‘00) and her husband, Eddie,

are expecting twins in December 2008. They already have

a two-year-old daughter, Olivia. Alexia is currently work-

ing from home as a CPA and is the controller/CFO of a

startup geothermal energy company.

Kathryn Pavlovsky (‘00) recently accepted partnership

with Deloitte. Kathryn serves as a principal in Deloitte

Financial Advisory Services LLP based in Houston and

leads Deloitte’s Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability

practice nationally.

2 Richard Brusselback (‘02) and Katie Biggs Brusselback

(‘04) proudly announce the birth of their daughter

Mary Armistead Brusselback, born Oct. 16, 2007.

Currently, Katie is associate product manager, Retirement

Plans, for OppenheimerFunds, Inc.

3 Ted Dimitry (‘02) would like to announce the birth of

his son, Theodore Maxwell David Dimitry, born May 27,

2008 at 5:35 p.m. He weighed 8 lb and 15.3 oz and was 20

in. long. Ted is currently a marketing manager, Energy &

Marine, for GEM Insurance Agencies, L.P. in Houston.

4 Lisa Kudchadker Gordon (‘02) married Aaron Gordon

in October of 2007. She currently works at BP in the

Gulf of Mexico Materials Management, Dispositions.

5 Kirby Brendsel (‘03) celebrated his five-year anniversary

with Deloitte Consulting and has been extended an

extra year in Deloitte’s exclusive Energy & Resources

Industry Management Development Program in the

D.C. area. While he and his family miss their friends

in Houston, they are enjoying their time on the East

Coast. He recently linked up with John Roe (‘01) who

is currently working in Maryland.

Oscar Gurdian (‘03) is the real estate finance director

of Flagler Development in Miami.

Michael Landy Haile (‘03) is a director with Triad Real

Estate Consulting Group, LLC.

Todd Monette (‘03) is general manager at the largest U.S.

refinery Motiva Enterprises LLC in Port Arthur, Texas.

6 Liz Philips (‘03) and husband Todd celebrated the

birth of their son, Sutton Kane Philips, on Feb. 5, 2008.

He was welcomed home by big brother Grey in San

Diego, CA.

7 Rafael Gerlein (‘04) shares a photo of his

first son, Alejandro Gerlein, born on

Oct. 1, 2007.

Julie O. Griffith (‘04), owner of

j.griffith Public Relations, a boutique

PR, publicity, and marketing firm

based in Houston, was recently

made a media partner with CNN as

part of the CNN “Black In America”

national grassroots marketing team. In

addition, her firm won the contracts for

Finesse Mitchell and the new Memorial

Hermann Medical Center Tower.

8 Justin Hopkins (‘04) and his wife Kara proudly

announce the birth of their son, Reid Hudson Hopkins

1

2 3 6

4

Jones Journal fall 2008 33

7 8

Class noteS

5

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 37

the Jones school alumni

community’s sustained

involvement and visibility

at the school is critical

to the success of the

institution. additionally,

our success as a business

school hinges upon services and benefits that

we provide to alumni for life.

in an effort to foster this relationship

between the Jones school and our alumni

community, we have listed several Alumni

Resources that are now available to each of you.

so far, we have conducted two formal events

to roll out and explain these resources in more

detail, one in New york on June 11th and the

other in houston on July 23rd. Both events were

very well attended, and we have received plenty

of positive feedback. details on these resources

are also available at www.Jonesalumni.com.

if there are specific resources that are not

listed, but that you would like to see made

available, please contact shaheen@rice.edu.

this is an ever-evolving list of services designed

to benefit you — so please share your thoughts

with me.

shaheen ladhani

Associate Director, Alumni Relations

AlumniR E S O u R C E S

Alumni Career ServicesLifelong career support for alumni throughout their careers; confidential

access to job postings as well as avenues to recruit top caliber students at

the Jones School

Lifelong LearningDiscounts on Executive Education open enrollment programs; custom

programs for your company; class audit opportunities; lecture series

events; March 2009 “Alumni College” weekend featuring a Business Track

Online Networking ResourcesAll-new JGSM Alumni Directory

Official JGSM groups on LinkedIn.com and Facebook.com

See www.JonesAlumni.com for directions to join these online networks

Networking Opportunities:Rice Business Network (RBN): Connect with fellow Rice alumni for a

monthly networking lunch. Share business referrals and career opportunities

while growing your network with the Rice alumni in the Houston area.

Corporate Investors: Talk to your company today about the networking

opportunities and other benefits of joining the Corporate Investors annual

membership program.

Jones Partners: Join the Jones Partners as an individual member and

network with professionals committed to opening doors between the Jones

School and the Houston business community.

Jones Alumni Real Estate Club: An all-new club for Jones alumni who

are interested in building their network in the real estate community via

monthly happy hours and other events.

MBA Council of Houston events: JGSM is a member institution of the

MBA Council; therefore, all alumni are invited to Council programming

events. Network with other MBAs in the area from member institutions

that include HBS, Wharton, MIT, Texas, Tulane, Kellogg, and others.

Wharton/MBA Council Deal Flow Lunches: Exchange business referrals

and grow your business. Whether you are an entrepreneur or not, benefit

from broadening your list of contacts with MBA alumni from top-tier

business schools.

Details on these networking opportunities are available at www.JonesAlumni.com

born 8 lb and 12 oz on Nov. 8, 2007 in Houston. The

family recently moved to Bangkok, Thailand where

Justin is working for Chevron’s Asia South Business

Unit as the SCM business manager.

Christopher “Kyle” Johnston (‘04) and his wife,

Virginia, had their first child, James “Milo” Johnston,

on July 7, 2008. In May, Kyle graduated from Tulane

Law School with magna cum laude honors, and served

as managing editor of the Tulane Law Review and

senior justice on the Tulane Moot Court board. He

has accepted a position with Fenwick & West, LLP

in Silicon Valley.

Nat Kreamer (‘04) started SunRun, a California

company pioneering in distributed residential power

generation, residential solar service, and, now 18

months later, the fifth largest and fastest growing

residential solar company in the U.S.

9 Brian T. Kuck (‘04) and his wife, Lamandra, are

proud to announce the birth of Adelaide Knox Kuck

on June 9, 2008. She weighed 8 lb, 9 oz, and was 22

in. long. Big sister Margaret welcomed her home. The

family recently moved from Houston to Denver, where

Brian accepted a position as the reserves and planning

manager for the Rocky Mountain division of Anadarko

Petroleum.

10 Marina (Yesakova) Kabir (‘05) and husband Reaz

are excited to announce the birth of Andrew Kabir on

Aug. 25, 2008 at 2:38 a.m. He is 7 lb and 15 oz. Baby is

healthy, and mom is resting.

Michael Hardt (‘05) is a senior financial analyst with

EquaTerra in Houston. Also, he is continuing as an adjunct

professor of finance at Houston Baptist University.

Brandy Hays (‘05) was promoted to managing consultant

at IBM this year and was recognized as one of the top

two percent of performers within the organization. In her

third year with IBM, her travels included managing

international strategic projects in Sweden, Bulgaria,

France, and Canada with IBM’s Global Customs Team.

Andy Shih (‘06) is a senior consultant at Alvarez and

Marsal Business Consulting.

11 Kimberly Gold (‘98) and Brian Sharp (‘98)

welcomed daughter Addison Anne on Jan. 2, 2008.

The Sharps reside in Houston where Kim is a product

marketing manager for Halliburton, and Brian is an

engineering manager for Stewart & Stevenson.

C. Tyson Weihs (‘06) is a partner at SMH Private Equity

Group. As a software developer and private pilot, he also

founded, MyMetar.com, a weather bookmarking service.

The company recently released a new product, the

ForeFlight, an iPhone application geared for pilots.

Linus Bernhard (‘07) is a trader analyst at energy

trading group Vitol.

Michael Scott Conley (‘07) and Luka Erceg (‘07)

recently founded Simbol Mining and have raised $6.7

million in Series A funding. The idea for Simbol Mining

came about in 2006 while Michael and Luka were pursuing

their MBA degrees at the Jones School.

Joelle Dick (‘07) was promoted to associate product

manager on the Science Diet Brand with Hill Pet’s

brand of Colgate-Palmolive Pet Nutrition Division.

Her project assignments have taken her to Australia,

Kansas, and Arizona.

Acho Azuike (‘08) is a development associate at

Houston-based Midway Companies, an international

real estate development and investment firm.

Christopher Mulgrew (‘08) was recently named the

CFO of the Lonestar Capital Corporation.

Bradley Welter (‘08) was one of 31 chosen for the

prestigious Broad Residency in Urban Education program.

10 11

aluMniReSouRceS

Jones Journal fall 2008 35

Class noteS

9

Visit www.JonesAlumni.com and log into the all-new alumni directory.

Help us find lost Alumni!Go to the lost Alumni link and help us reconnect with your classmates.

jonesgsm.rice.edu Jones Journal fall 2008 39

aluMni Get involved aluMniGet involved

Alumni G E T i N v O L v E D

share your professional and life experience with future leaders in a variety of ways.

Alumni Mentoring ProgramMentor a second-year Rice MBA student who is seeking

first-hand information about prospective careers from

professionals.

Through the mentoring program, alumni:

u Cultivate a deeper connection through an open forum

u Share professional and life experiences with future alumni

u Provide guidance in an ongoing relationship

Jones Alumni Volunteers for Admission (JAVA)The Jones School is actively seeking ambassadors from around the world

to represent the school in attracting top-tier candidates to the Rice MBA

program.

JAVA ambassadors may:

u Interview prospective students

u Represent Rice at recruiting events

u Counsel admitted students during the decision-making process

Alumni-Student LunchesThe Alumni-Student Lunch Series is an opportunity for current students

to meet with alumni during lunch sessions. Lunches provide students an

informal setting to gain insight into professional areas of interest and to

engage the alumni in current happenings at the Jones School.

To learn more about alumni involvement opportunities, visit www.JonesAlumni.com

Current JAVA Ambassadors represent the Jones School in states across the U.S. and in many countries including:

Belgium n Denmark n France n Indonesia n Korea n Nigeria n Peru n Singapore n Switzerland n Turkey n United Kingdom

Wine Tasting Reception — Aug. 21, 2008 — Dore Commons, Baker Institute

Class of 2010 students Jeet Vijay, Margaret

Turner, Brad McGovern, Jan Goetgeluk, Samara

Poplack, and Uche Ugwa

John Adkins ‘09, Career

Management Center Director

Deanna Fuehne, Aaron

Knape ‘08, and Patricia

Fu ‘08

Class of 2010 students Alice Gu,

Margaret Turner ‘10, and

Will Pike ‘10

Alumni Resources Launch – Houston — July 23, 2008 — Anderson Family Commons, McNair Hall

Associate Alumni Director Shaheen

Ladhani (Rice ‘97), Director of Full-

Time MBA and MBA for Professionals

Programs Sean Burnett ‘06, and Raju

Adwaney ‘06

Scott Sitton ‘00

and Dean Bill Glick

Hoyt Thomas ‘04, Bo Bothe ‘05, Mike Andries ‘02,

and Landy Haile ‘03

Gavin Cunningham ‘03 and

Ted Dimitry ‘02

Sarah Levinne ‘01, Spense Stephens ‘00, and

Deepak Kanwar ‘00

Class of 2007 alumni Maria Tort, Sameer

Bandhu, Rauli Garcia, and Joy Cox

nonprofitorganization

uspostage

paidpermit#7549

houston,texas

p.o.Box2932

houston,texas77252.2932

jonesgsm.rice.edu