Mays Impacts

Bruce ’83 and Kris ’81 Petersen

Since graduating from Texas A&M in the early 1980s, Kris ’81 and Bruce ’83 Petersen have been involved in the life of their alma mater in a variety of ways. They met each other through the San Antonio A&M Club and have remained active in the club over the years. As Executive Managing Director of Investments at USAA Real Estate Company, Bruce has also had the opportunity to hire Mays students for internships and full-time positions, and he has served as a guest speaker for the Real Estate Department’s Friday Speaker Series on several occasions. When their two sons, Bryce ’14 and Dane ’14, were admitted to Mays Business School’s Business Honors and Business Fellows programs, the Petersens had a chance to learn more about these innovative programs.

“I am continually “pinching myself’ because the experience our sons are having at Mays is too good to be true, but true!” Kris said. “The boys have really benefitted from the smaller class sizes, the exceptional student peer group and the access to business leaders through the speakers programs and educational trips. We are truly grateful for the incredible impact these programs, and the people who lead them, have made on the lives of our sons and so many students.”

As they carefully considered how they would make their first “significant” gifts to Texas A&M, the Petersens chose to create endowments for the two programs in which their sons are enrolled. Through a $25,000 gift, the Petersens established the Kris ’81 and Bruce ’83 Petersen Business Honors Development Endowment, which provides funding support for the activities of the Business Honors Program. A second $25,000 gift created the Kris ’81 and Bruce ’83 Petersen Business Fellows Endowment, supporting programmatic expenses such as event travel, speaker fees and operational costs of the school’s Business Fellows Program. A $50,000 matching gift from Bruce’s employer, USAA, created the USAA Real Estate Company Endowed Scholarship, which will provide merit-based scholarship support to a student in the Texas A&M Real Estate Program.

“The Petersens’ generous gifts will provide important support to our students and their learning experiences,” said Mays Dean Jerry Strawser. “The fact that their commitment was driven by their sons’ experiences at Mays makes these gifts even more meaningful to our School.”

“Texas A&M has blessed our family in so many ways—both personally and professionally,” said Bruce. “To give back to these programs is really an honor.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

2014 has gotten off to a wild beginning…for the stock market. Despite hitting an all-time high closing value on January 15, the S&P 500 declined by 3.5% during the month of January (although it recovered to eclipse its all-time high on February 27).

Mays Business School’s Center for the Management of Information Systems invites all Texas A&M University students interested in a career in IT and current IT professionals to attend its 15^th annual Women in IT Conference. The event will be held on Friday, March 21, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m in room 2400 of Texas A&M’s Memorial Student Center.

This year’s theme is “High Tea with IT.” Tea and coffee will be served at check-in, and lunch will be provided. Along with games and door prizes, the event will host faculty and industry speakers, including Renee Schroeder, Assistant Vice President — Application Development at USAA, and Melissa Moloney Walk, senior manager at Accenture.

The event will also offer roundtable discussions to allow students to have opportunities to speak with other women in the IT industry. These discussions will cover tips and techniques related to networking, maintaining a work-life balance and becoming a successful leader.

The event is $10 for current students, $25 for former students and industry and free for CMIS board members.

For more information, visit cmis.tamu.edu or contact Heidi Matthews at CMIS@mays.tamu.edu.

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Chip Blankenship

Connecting with teams and helping them solve problems are the primary methods Chip Blankenship uses to keep GE Appliances & Lighting on track. The term “servant leader” describes Blankenship’s management style, but he told Full-Time MBA and Business Honors undergraduate students at Mays Business School he just considers it the best way to empower and engage his employees while leading the organization forward.

Blankenship is president and chief executive officer of the $8 billion operating unit comprised of GE Appliances, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., and GE Lighting, headquartered in East Cleveland, Ohio. The businesses employ more than 27,000 people around the world who invent, build and deliver innovative products. “On our best days, we bring creative solutions to our customers’ problems,” he explained. “Our chairman says he wants GE to be a great company and a good company. I embrace that, because it aligns with the way I want to lead.”

Each person has control over the most important element he can bring to the workplace, Blankenship said. “I think attitude is almost everything, especially at the beginning,” he said. “Be curious, ready to learn, looking to produce a good product. Getting off on the right foot is essential. It is difficult to repair a bad first impression.”

Blankenship has been with GE since 1992, moving from staff scientist to program manager to leader of the CF6 Airline Support Engineering Team. He moved to Brazil for a few years, where he led the team to develop a new GE engine for a new Embraer airplane. “I had an opportunity to learn a language and a culture. It was very rewarding.”

After the company decided to reverse its practice of outsourcing manufacturing, GE rebuilt its factories and hired local American employees. Blankenship partnered with a nearby university to help the new employees improve their strength so they can handle the physical demands of their jobs.

Blankenship said he learned how to learn during his undergraduate years, then learned to teach himself during graduate school. “I figured if there was something I needed to learn – either to teach it to myself or to benefit my team – I could do that,” he said. “My training from my engineering days gave me a good combination of technical knowledge, and that made me an asset to the team.”

Blankenship said he works to maintain control over his time, starting with a planning session on Sundays. “I try to balance things — sometimes with customers, sometimes in the factory, sometimes in product management decisions. Then over the next couple of months, I will spend more time with people in appraisals and evaluations, and lose some time in the other areas.”

Family has an important place in Blankenship’s planning process, as well. “I put my goals in a discrete fashion on the calendar, as well as kids’ plays and basketball games. If they’re not on the calendar, they can be usurped,” he said. “I not only do this for me, I set an example. Sometimes I’ll tell folks I’m going to be late or out because I am going to a ball game with my family or taking my son to college. In doing that, I am reminding them to prioritize.”

Rebecca McGill ’14, one of the students in Blankenship’s presentation, said the takeaways were impactful. “I learned a lot about what kind of sacrifices you have to make to be a leader, and how important it is to always prioritize your time,” she said. “Balance is something that you achieve over a long period of time; it’s not something that stays the same from day-to-day. It’s important to evaluate your priorities over a long stretch of time and to recognize whether or not you’re happy with the balance you’ve achieved in those areas.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Any Texas A&M University student interested in entering the annual Raymond Ideas Challenge can attend a workshop on Wednesday (March 5) in Wehner 190 and Thursday (March 6) in Rudder 302. Both will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

All students from across campus are encouraged to participate in the challenge by dreaming up the next great product or service and submitting their “big idea” in a written essay and two-minute video pitch.

The competition entry deadline is Friday, March 21, and the event is on April 30.  The host is Texas A&M’s Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, which is at Mays Business School.

The Raymond Ideas Challenge is designed to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in Texas A&M students.

The students’  concepts will be presented to panels of judges from the business and academic community, who will challenge the students with questions. Students receive valuable experience developing business concepts and improving their writing and presentation skills. The competition also provides networking opportunities with the judges.

New this year is an online voting system, which will be used to select recipients of of $1,000, $500 and $250 prizes.

Assistance is needed in screening entries, and the opportunity is open to anyone in the community. If interested, contact Shanna Spencer at 979-845-0619 or sspencer@mays.tamu.edu.

For more information on the Raymond Ideas Challenge, go to tx.ag/ideasvideo or visit cnve.tamu.edu/programs/ideas-challenge.

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.