Accounting professor L. Murphy Smith has been selected to serve a three-year term on the Academic Relations Committee of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

The committee includes 27 members from 12 different countries and is tasked with forging relationships between academics, students, practitioners and administrators to promote the role of internal auditing and its education within university curricula globally.

The IIA is an international professional association of more than 107,000 members with global headquarters in Altamonte Springs, Fla. Smith has served as program director for the Internal Auditing Program at A&M since 1994 — it’s one of only 41 internal auditing programs worldwide endorsed by the IIA.

Professor of Marketing Stephen McDaniel is also joining a prestigious new effort in his field. McDaniel was recently named to serve on the Marketing Research Association Professional Researcher Certification Review Committee. He’s one of eight academics and industry professionals to oversee the association’s certification, which encourages high standards and the continuing professional development of marketing researchers.

Finance lecturer Sally Guyton has been designated a 2004-2005 Financial Management Association International Superior Faculty Advisor, a designation that honors faculty advisors whose involvement in their FMA chapters make meaningful contributions to the participating students.

She is recognized on the FMA student chapters’ Web site and in FM Forum magazine.

Mays’ Professor of Marketing Jeff Conant is one of three Texas A&M Center for Teaching Excellence faculty associates, selected for his exemplary work at Mays. He was awarded a $5,000 stipend to help carry on his classroom and teaching projects.

Conant is Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence and Eppright University Professor in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence. He currently serves as a member of the core faculty in the Mays MBA Program, where he is responsible for teaching the first-year course in marketing management.

The faculty associate program is a three-year program that began in 2004. Conant was a Montague-CTE Scholar early in his career at A&M and now serves on the center’s Faculty Advisory Board. The Center for Teaching Excellence offers programs that aid in the improvement of university teaching, promote the development of new teaching strategies and recognize teaching excellence.

May 2005 graduation statistics show recruiters are increasingly interested in Mays b-school students.

During the 2004-2005 year, 494 companies posted jobs for undergraduate business students through Texas A&M’s Career Center, a 45 percent increase from the prior academic year. Moreover, 88 of these employers are Fortune 500 companies.

May 2005 graduates reported an 86 percent success rate in finding employment or being accepted into graduate school. That’s an increase of 10 percent from May 2004. The success rate represents students seeking a job or entrance to a graduate program who are either employed, have received an offer, or will be attending graduate school.

Associate Professor of Marketing and PhD Advisor Jim Leigh was included in an experts’ survey detailing the influences and future of advertising research in a summer 2005 Journal of Advertising article, “Perspectives on Advertising Research.”

In the article, authors Les Carlson, Stephen J. Grove and Marla Royne Stafford queried 13 Academy of Advertising Outstanding Contribution to Research Award recipients on their approach to ad research and where the field should be headed.

Leigh garnered the research honor in 1995, joining a select group of scholars who are at least 20 years beyond their PhD and have made substantial contributions to the advertising discipline. Leigh was also named a 2005 Journal of Advertising Outstanding Reviewer.

Rosalie R. and Clifton J. Bolner ’49, of San Antonio, have committed $25,000 to create an endowed scholarship for students at Mays. Their gift forms the Rosalie R. and Clifton J. Bolner ’49 and Family Endowed Scholarship in Business.

“The Bolners’ generous gift will provide students with the opportunity to achieve a first-rate education at a top business school,” says Dean Jerry Strawser. “The family’s benevolence will ensure the continued successes and accomplishments of our graduates.”

Clifton Bolner graduated with a bachelor’s of business in 1949 and in 1955 started spice import business Bolner’s Fiesta Products. Bolner is president and CEO to this day, giving the importer of 90 spices in the company’s 600-product line a 50-year family success story. He and Rosalie have been married for 56 years and have seven children, including four Texas A&M graduates, and 16 grandchildren who include a 2004 Aggie graduate. Bolner was named a Mays Outstanding Alumnus in 2004.

“Rosalie is a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University with a bachelor’s in music,” he says. “At both schools we want to help all we can to expand the opportunities of higher education that we ourselves enjoyed.”

Valerie M. and James R. Byrd ’57 have committed $100,000 to establish the Valerie Ryan Byrd Endowed Scholarship for qualified undergraduate students at Mays Business School. Scholarship funds are intended for business students who are members of the Corps of Cadets and current recipients of a Regents’ Scholarship. Preference is also given to graduates of high schools in Farmersville, Daingerfield and Newton, Texas, and Moreno Valley, New Mexico.

“The Byrd’s most generous gift will help provide an outstanding educational opportunity to our students,” said Dean Jerry Strawser. “Because they are assisting students who qualify for a Regents’ Scholarship, their gift will reach out to students who are the first in their family to attend college. This makes an already generous gift even more impactful.”

Jim Byrd graduated from Texas A&M in 1957 with a degree in accounting. After an assignment as a State Department Foreign Service Officer in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 1959 to 1962, he earned his MBA at the University of Texas in 1963. A 25-year Exxon Corp. career followed with assignments in Libya, New York City, England and Norway. Jim met Valerie in Libya, and told her there was only one place she needed to see in the U.S.A. — College Station!

After experiencing Midnight Yell Practice and seeing the Cadet Corps, Valerie is a “loyal Aggie by marriage.” The Byrds now split their time between Kingwood, Texas (where his son also lives) and Angel Fire, New Mexico, where both are certified ski instructors.

“The Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and business school made a major lifetime impact on me,” says Jim Byrd. “That is why I have made financial contributions to Texas A&M University every year since graduation. Valerie and I, along with ExxonMobil’s matching funds, are happy to establish this scholarship, and look forward to endowing additional scholarships in the future.”

In a Sept. 15 ceremony, Mays Business School will honor three former students whose lifelong determination and business sense have helped them become successful. Each year, Mays recognizes outstanding alumni who not only contribute significantly to their industries and communities but also exhibit character, leadership and an unyielding work ethic. Read more about these alumni in November’s issue.

Brandon C. Coleman, Jr. ’78, marketing consultant and founder, Brand Imagination and Big Picture Thinking

Terry E. Hatchett ’68, regional chief operating officer for the Americas for New York-based Clifford Chance, LLP

In other rankings released in August, Mays’ undergraduate program remained tied at 19th public (30th overall) in the peer-based U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2006.

Rankings for two individual departments improved. The undergraduate management program climbed in the U.S. News rankings to 11th public, moving up to 13th overall from last year’s rank of from 21st overall and 15th public.

In the same ranking, the accounting program appeared on the list for the first time, ranked 24th overall and tied for 16th public.

Texas A&M moved up two places overall in U.S. News‘ annual ranking, to 60th overall (21st public

Mays Business School is now among the top-10 public business schools and top-25 overall for return on investment in Forbes magazines’ biennial “Best Business Schools” rankings.

Mays MBA program is ranked 24th overall and ninth among all public business schools. Both rankings are a move forward for Mays, which was ranked 32nd overall and 11th among public schools in 2003. The rankings appear in the Sept. 5 issue of Forbes.

Forbes ranks the best business schools based on the return on investment earned by MBA students following completion of their studies. The average Mays MBA graduate surveyed by Forbes more than doubled their pre-MBA salary over a five-year period. That same class saw a five-year gain of $89,000 over tuition and forgone salary.

It took just 2.4 years for Mays graduates to recoup their MBA investment, which put Mays at No. 3 among all schools included in Forbes‘ ranking.

“We are obviously pleased with our ranking in the Forbes survey,” Dean Jerry Strawser says. “Business school rankings measure many different things. The Forbes ranking is particularly meaningful, as it tells us our graduates are experiencing success following completion of our program.”

Mays has improved in each area where return on investment is calculated. In the 2001 rankings, for example, Mays students took 3.2 years to recoup their MBA investment compared to the average 2.4 years for students in this year’s ranking.

“This is a result of the collective efforts of many outstanding individuals,” says Bala Shetty, associate dean for graduate programs. “That includes accomplished faculty who provide excellent education to our students, dedicated Graduate Business Career Services and MBA Program staff who aid our students, and our graduates, who pursue their careers with vigor.”