“I caught the international bug early on,” said Brad Almond ’89, who spent several years of his youth in Indonesia due to his father’s job. Almond went on to have his own international experience when he did a study abroad program in Helsinki, Finland as a graduate student, and then took jobs for multi-national companies working in Paris and Tokyo.

“I believe that there is great business and personal value to a student starting on a path to becoming citizens of the world,” said Almond. “Once you immerse yourself in a different culture you become so much more diplomatic and aware, and you come to a better understanding of all cultures.”

As a businessman, Almond knows the value of the international marketplace; as a human being, Almond appreciates the importance of understanding among people of diverse backgrounds. That’s why he has committed $25,000 to Mays Business School at Texas A&M University to establish the Cathy and Bradley C. Almond ’89 Endowed Scholarship. These funds will provide study abroad scholarships to its full-time business students in good standing.

Mays Business School currently enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate students and 875 graduate students. Mays is nationally ranked among public business schools for the quality of its undergraduate program, MBA program and the faculty scholarship of its 105 professors in five departments.

“The cost of a studying abroad can be really prohibitive to a student,” said Almond. “Many students have to work to pay for college and can’t afford to take the semester off from work to study abroad. I wanted to provide funds for those students.”

Interim Dean Ricky Griffin understands the value of this gift. “Study abroad provides an invaluable experience for students,” said Griffin. “I’ve led three study abroad programs and each of my own children participated in study abroad, so I’ve seen first-hand the benefits that our students get from this experience. The Almond’s generous gift will play a major role in allowing another student to broaden their perspective on the world.”

Almond’s own experience at A&M was very positive. While pursuing his accounting degree, he was active in many extracurricular activities, including Fish Camp, where he served as a counselor and director for several years. He was also active in the Sigma Chi fraternity, Bonfire and intramural sports. Almond went on from Texas A&M to earn his CPA license and receive two master degrees in business administration and international business from the University of Texas.

Currently, he is the CFO of Voyager Learning Co., a publicly traded company which creates children’s educational curriculum. They are the leading providers of intervention materials for struggling students. He has worked very successfully in the business sector for 18 years, but Almond says his future aspirations lead back to the classroom. He hopes to one day retire from a business career and start a new career in teaching accounting and international business at the college level.

Almond and his wife, Cathy, have three children: six-year-old twins, Chloe and Christian, and four-year old Campbell. They reside in Dallas.