A Season of Transformation
Letter from the dean of the McCombs School of Business
In a year as unprecedented as this one, we at the McCombs School of Business remain dedicated to our mission of transforming lives, and we, too, are being transformed in exciting ways.
Our last issue of McCombs Magazine was published in fall 2019 from a campus environment far different from this one. Change has come at a dizzying pace.
Earlier this year, President Gregory L. Fenves announced his departure from UT Austin. On June 1, Dean Jay Hartzell became interim president and was later named to the position. I stepped in as interim dean after having served in the Accounting Department since 2006 and as its chair from 2011 to 2015. Although it was hard to step away from research and teaching, I am honored to have the trust of President Hartzell and my colleagues to lead during a turbulent year.
Our successes and prudence, plus decades of endowment gifts from alumni, generated the financial stability for us to embrace change. When the campus closed in March, we pivoted to strictly online delivery for the rest of spring and all of summer 2020. You will read in this issue how our leadership meetings produced incredible innovation and change management. Our faculty training for the pivot was swift and thorough. We conducted dozens of trainings between March and August, and the feedback is that the collaboration among faculty members strengthened us in unexpected and positive ways.
As we prepared for the fall semester, we invested $400,000 in enhanced technology. This enabled us to synchronously teach students attending in person and remotely so they could interact with their professors and one another. McCombs faculty members were more willing to teach in person than those in other colleges, demonstrating courage and a practical recognition of the value proposition for students and parents. By fall, more than half of our sections were allowing in-person attendance.
This year also has brought a new resonance to racial and social justice issues. I feel honored to listen to concerns raised by Black students, faculty members, and staffers. To enhance diversity and inclusion, we have expanded scholarship endowments and the pool of faculty applicants.
The 2020 freshman class at McCombs has the highest-ever proportion of underrepresented minority students. At the same time, we celebrate the global success of Black alumni such as Kevin Curry, BHP ’04. Curry’s entrepreneurial journey will move you.
We also continue to draw inspiration from San Antonio businessman Red McCombs, 20 years after his $50 million naming gift. We look back on the gift’s transformative power. I hope it will encourage you to use your resources to make a difference at McCombs.
Thank you for the many ways you make our school world-renowned! I am honored to serve such great colleagues, staff, students, and alumni as your interim dean.
With my warmest Hook ’em,
Lillian F. Mills, Interim Dean
Lois and Richard Folger Dean’s Leadership Chair, The Beverly H. and William P. O’Hara Endowed Chair in Business
This article appeared in the winter 2020 issue of McCombs magazine. Click on the link to see the full issue.
