Texas Exes Give Teaching Award To John Doggett And Sandy Leeds

Texas Exes, the ex-students association at The University of Texas at Austin, has named John Doggett and Sandy Leeds of the McCombs School of Business to its Texas 10 list. The association has asked students and alumni to submit nominations for the teaching award every year since 2011.

Doggett is a professor of instruction in the Rosenthal Department of Management. He teaches MBA courses about entrepreneurship, global competition, and sustainability. Sandy Leeds, MBA ’95, retired as a professor of instruction in finance at the end of August 2025 after nearly 24 years at UT.

In an interview with the Texas Exes, Doggett said he has been teaching business courses at UT for 36 years, and somewhere along the way he picked up the nickname “Smiling Darth Vader” for his imposing expression that belies his softer side.

His tough teaching style — what he calls “the Doggett Experience” — was inspired by his experiences earning an MBA at Harvard Business School and a J.D. at Yale Law School, he said. “It’s going to push you, and it’s going to test you, but if you survive it, you’re going to be some of the best, brightest, toughest students on this planet.”

Students have selected him for McCombs’ annual Outstanding Teacher Award 15 times, making him the top recipient of the award among all current McCombs faculty members.

Leeds taught graduate and undergraduate courses on topics including money and capital markets, corporate finance, public policy, investments, portfolio management, and macroeconomics. He also served as president of the MBA Investment Fund LLC, a private investment company that enables McCombs MBA students to gain real-world experience analyzing companies and managing investment portfolios. Leeds earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and an MBA from Texas McCombs.

One of his main teaching objectives was to help students understand and process how current events affect financial markets. In his interview with Texas Exes, he said that his pedagogical approach came from a deeply held personal conviction that learning is fun.

“The other thing I constantly say is that knowledge matters, grades don’t,” Leeds said. “Students have been trained for so long to worry about grades, but no one cares once you get out [of school]. It’s ‘Can you perform? Are you good at what you’re doing?’”

His teaching has earned him numerous faculty awards, including the Outstanding Professor Award in the MBA, MSF, MSM, evening MBA, Dallas MBA, and Houston MBA programs. In addition, he was chosen for the Faculty Honor Roll in every semester that he taught undergraduates.