天美传媒 Cox Class Notes, Winter 2025

The latest from 天美传媒 faculty in the media.

Stack of books with a grad cap on top lying next to an open laptop.

Class of 1955

Melvin Weinberg, B.B.A. 鈥55, MBA 鈥56, is a retired BDO USA partner.

Class of 1959

Michael York, B.B.A. 鈥59, is retired and has resided in the White Rock area of East Dallas for six years.  

Class of 1962 

Stuart van Auken headshot

Stuart Van Auken, B.B.A. 鈥62, MBA 鈥66, entered the doctoral program at what is now the University of North Texas after completing his MBA. He was UNT鈥檚 first student to receive a doctorate in marketing. Throughout his career, he has held marketing faculty positions at Texas Tech; University of Louisville; and California State University, Chico. In 2000, Stuart joined Florida Gulf Coast University as an Alico Eminent Scholar. He retired in 2021.

Frank M. Bumstead, B.B.A. 鈥64, is the co-owner of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy Inc., one of the largest U.S. entertainment business management firms, with offices in Nashville, New York City and Los Angeles. 

Dennis McCuistion head shot

Dennis McCuistion, B.B.A. 鈥64, MLA 鈥85, served as a banking CEO, consultant and professional speaker before joining the University of Texas as a clinical professor of corporate governance and executive director of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance. He retired in 2021 and lives in southwest France. 

Class of 1965

henry haven headshot

Henry Haven, B.B.A. 鈥65, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1965 to 1970 before becoming vice president and owner of Imperial Vending. He also worked as an FAA air traffic controller, account executive at Merrill Lynch and aviation consultant before joining the Defense Logistics Agency as a management and program analyst in 1992. He is now retired. 

Class of 1971 

Frank Dunlevy, B.B.A. 鈥71, helped start the Golden Eagles Foundation, which supports the USA Olympic rugby teams. During the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, the women鈥檚 Team USA defeated Australia 14-12 in the final seconds of the game to win bronze and bring home their first-ever Olympic medal. 

Philip C. Hogan, B.B.A. 鈥71, recently published three editorials on firearms laws in The Dallas Morning News.   

Class of 1973

Don Pryor headshot

Don Pryor, B.B.A. 鈥73, served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, where he trained in software engineering and eventually started his own IT business. He spent time in corporate IT and as a consultant before retiring in 2001. Today, he and his wife run a dog treat business, BuddysBonz, from their ranch in Boerne, Texas.  

Class of 1978 

Steve Hancock, B.B.A. 鈥78, bought 72 acres in Hutchins, Texas, to use for industrial outside storage, a newly popular industrial real estate niche. Construction was completed in August 2023, and the property was leased to a single user in August 2024.  Kimm Sayre, B.B.A. 鈥78, worked at UBS Financial Services. 

artura taylor headshot

Artura Taylor, B.B.A. 鈥78, is president and CEO of Taylor Distribution Group LLC, a leading provider of lab equipment, supplies and personal protective equipment. She鈥檚 the former regional vice president of a Fortune 500 company and has more than 30 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience. 

Class of 1979 

Steven Kruger headshot

Steven Kruger, MBA 鈥79, has dual American/Israeli citizenship and earned a Ph.D. in space physics from Rice University. He was a professor in the physics department of Tel Aviv University and lives in Dallas. 

Class of 1980 

Joe Chapman, MBA 鈥80, is spending a year sailing in the South Pacific. Greetings from Fiji. 

Robert Mahaffey, B.B.A 鈥80, is president of Mahaffey Enterprises Inc. in Springfield, Missouri.   

Class of 1981

Allen Smith headshot

Allen Smith, B.B.A. 鈥81, has been named association counsel for the Out of Home Advertising Association of America. He was previously inducted into the OAAA Hall of Fame.  

Class of 1983 

Michael Montonen headshot

Michael Montonen, MBA 鈥83, just celebrated his two-year anniversary with IBM, where he enjoys working with clients to automate and improve business performance using generative AI.

Class of 1984

Lisa Horan, B.B.A. 鈥84, has served as a partner, investor and board member at SignAd Outdoor Advertising Enterprise since 1989. 

Randy Laser, B.B.A. 鈥84, recently returned to the Virgin Group as a team member leading the crew and sailor travel team at Virgin Voyages in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Class of 1985 

Andy Miller headshot

Andy Miller, MBA 鈥85, became a founding partner, investor and chief revenue officer of the Heritage Golf Group, which has six private country clubs and daily fee resorts with 350 employees. He says each new acquisition has been a real-world case study鈥攋ust like the many case studies his 天美传媒 professors (particularly long-term professor Jim Kindley) challenged him with during his MBA days.

Class of 1986 

Lisa Emmick headshot

Lisa Wooldridge Emmick, B.B.A. 鈥86, is the owner of Dallas Piano Academy, which provides piano, voice and guitar lessons to children and adults in Dallas. It was a top 10 finalist for National Music School of the Year in 2024. Emmick and her husband, Rob, love traveling and spending time with family: mom Jeraldine (天美传媒 B.A. 鈥58), daughter Elizabeth (天美传媒 B.A. 鈥21) and husband Jeremy Comstock, and daughter Chelsea (天美传媒 B.A. 鈥24).

Class of 1990 

Sandra Long headshot

Sandra Long, MBA 鈥90, has been elected to the board of directors of Sangre de Cristo Electric Association. She retired in 2020 after a career in product management in the telecom industry. 

Class of 1991

Jim Contardi headshot

Jim Contardi, MBA 鈥91, recently joined Banyan Software as the operating partner overseeing the financial services portfolio. 

Class of 1994

Dyan Carbine, MBA 鈥94, started a new position as an attorney with Kershaw Anderson King after obtaining her Texas law license.

Class of 1995

Stephen (Joe) Winslow, B.B.A. 鈥95, is pursuing his interest in the fine arts after serving 22 years in the Marine Corps and spending 12 years running national security Jack (age 12) and Estelle (age 10). He says he鈥檚 enjoyed watching the significant campus facility investments at 天美传媒 progress over the past decade. programs. Due to his combat service in Iraq, he was selected to be one of only six veterans to have their likenesses depicted by sculptor Sabin Howard in the National WWI Memorial 鈥淎 Soldier鈥檚 Journey,鈥 which was recently unveiled in Washington, D.C. 

Class of 1996 

Brian Fox headshot

Brian Fox, B.B.A. 鈥96, co-founded Rockmont Partners, a Nashville-based VC firm, after selling Confirmation.com to Thomson Reuters. His two middle children both attend the Cox School: Matthew is a senior studying finance, and Becca is a junior studying accounting. 

Jay Perry headshot

Jay Perry, MBA 鈥96, worked part-time in his family-owned property management franchise for 10 years while maintaining a career in hospital and health system administration. The business sold in December 2023, and he鈥檚 now on the lookout for his next opportunity.

Thomas Russell, MBA 鈥96, is a finance advisory committee chair and member of the City of University Park Planning & Zoning Commission.

Class of 1997

John Drennan, MBA 鈥97, is global head of mergers and acquisitions at Cumming Group, the largest independent construction consultancy in North America. Drennan lives in Highland Park with his wife, Alyson, and his two children.

Honey Gregory headshot

Honey Gregory, B.B.A. 鈥97, was an actress while studying at 天美传媒. After graduating, she received her M.A. from Schiller International University and her J.D. from Indiana University. She currently runs her own practice as an attorney in Indiana and makes appearances at conventions.  

Class of 1998

Andrew Rosell, B.B.A. 鈥98, is co-chair of the business and transactions department and the investment management and private funds industry group for Winstead PC, a Dallasbased law firm that focuses on managers and sponsors of private funds in the investment management industry.

Andrea Williams headshot

Andrea Williams, MBA 鈥98, recently attended the opening ceremony for the new Cox School expansion. The Williams family (including her husband, Gregory L. Williams, MBA 鈥98) is going bicoastal thanks to Andrea鈥檚 new role as head of communications for Robinhood, but they鈥檙e always longing to be back in Texas.

Class of 1999 

Angie Eckelkamp headshot

Angie Eckelkamp, B.B.A. 鈥99, was named chief marketing officer for Kilwins, a growing retailer of chocolates, ice cream and fudge. 

Class of 2000 

Eduard Pizzuto, MBA 鈥00, was responsible for the first IPO of a Mexican company in the New York Stock Exchange. 

Class of 2002 

Michael Petridis on a boat at sea

Michael Petridis, PMBA 鈥02, retired four years ago and took up sailing. He even sailed across the Atlantic two years ago.

Goran Filic in biking gear

Goran Filic, B.B.A. 鈥02, completed his M.I.A. at Columbia University after graduating from 天美传媒. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Milan and conducted his postdoctoral studies at the University of Bologna. He currently teaches international relations and political science courses at Franklin University Switzerland and A Level Business at the Swiss Academy in Zurich. 

Angela Gieras, MBA 鈥02, has been named executive director of Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. 

Aakash Moondhra headshot

Aakash Moondhra, MBA 鈥02, is partnering with Avneet S. Kochar to launch India Secondary Fiduciaries, a secondary fund focused on investing in India鈥檚 secondary private market.

Class of 2004 

Tracy DeCicco headshot

Tracy DeCicco, EMBA 鈥04, is the CEO of Konposit, a global tech sales consulting firm that helps businesses establish and deepen their sales presence in the United States. 

Dan Healy, MBA 鈥04, is excited to be celebrating Civitas Capital Group's 15th anniversary this year. He's also proud to partner with his friend and classmate Jason Signor, MBA 鈥04, on Big Sky Funds, a rapidly growing healthcare real estate investment platform. 

Class of 2005

Michelle Delaurier and husband on the set of Fox 4 News

Michelle Delaurier, B.B.A. 鈥05, MBA 鈥09, has proudly owned and operated the Maple Leaf Diner with her husband for the past nine years. Their dedication has earned them and their hardworking staff the prestigious title of Best Brunch by the Preston Hollow Advocate for five consecutive years. In 2023, the restaurant was honored to win a Best in DFW: People鈥檚 Choice award for Best Breakfast. 

DJ Khanmamedov, PMBA 鈥05, has contributed to the launch of several groundbreaking Google AI products in collaboration with Google DeepMind research teams. He says his MBA from 天美传媒 is still helpful for keeping the big picture in mind when planning and executing complex business initiatives.  

Class of 2006

Ben Corona, MBA 鈥06, is the CFO of Envent, an environmental services company for the petrochemical industry.

Class of 2009

Nick Niver headshot

Nick Niver, B.B.A. 鈥09, says that while graduating as a finance major during a financial crisis wasn鈥檛 easy, the Cox School helped connect him to consulting companies, where he pivoted from finance to consulting. After climbing the ranks at Deloitte and Point B, Niver helped start Valent Partners, a boutique consulting firm in Dallas focused on business and technology strategy, in 2020. He was promoted to partner earlier this year, and he鈥檚 excited to have hired two Mustangs in 2022 and four in 2023. He鈥檚 looking forward to hiring more this fall. 

Class of 2010 

Jodie Gildersleeve wedding portrait

Jodie Gildersleeve, PMBA 鈥10, had a big year both personally and professionally: She hit her five-year anniversary with First Citizens Bank, was promoted to director portfolio manager (energy) and married Adam North.

Jacob Jurlina, B.B.A. 鈥10, recently started a new role in multifamily asset management and acquisitions at Ballast Investments in San Francisco, a vertically integrated owner-operator of residential properties in the western United States. Jurlina spent the last three years at TMG Partners, a privately held full-service real estate development company specializing in urban infill projects across the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Class of 2011

Tomasz Kwiatkowski headshot

Tomasz Kwiatkowski, B.B.A. 鈥11, delivered a TEDx talk on humility in 2020 and started a new role as an enterprise account executive at ServiceNow in May 2024. 

brad lembcke headshot

Bradley Lembcke, EMBA 鈥11, M.D., has been named president of Baylor St. Luke鈥檚 Medical 天美传媒 in Houston. He earned his EMBA while working as an internal medicine hospitalist at Baylor University Medical 天美传媒 in Dallas, where he spent 21 years as a clinician before joining St. Luke鈥檚 Health in 2018. He and his wife, Megan Mitchell Lembcke (B.B.A. 鈥95), reside in Houston. The youngest of their three children, Sam Lembcke, started at 天美传媒 in fall 2024.  

Logan Powell headshot

Logan Powell, MBA 鈥11, was recently promoted to CEO of Puttshack.

Class of 2012 

Angela Hall headshot

Angela Hall, M.S. 鈥12, was hired as vice president over marketing, events and communications for the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. She says that, thanks to her degree from 天美传媒, her understanding of the entrepreneur鈥檚 challenges and opportunities allows her to advocate for businesses of all sizes throughout North Texas.

Jacque Jacobs headshot

Jacque Jacobs, MBA 鈥12, recently joined Matter Family Office as a director in their Dallas office. Her love of building connections, supporting family collaboration and helping people learn to be good stewards of their wealth aligns perfectly with Matter鈥檚 core values. Previously, Jacobs worked at Bessemer Trust serving multigenerational families. She was there for nine years and gained extensive experience educating and guiding family members in the second and third generations, helping them navigate their trusts and develop strategic plans for their wealth.

Suresh Narayanan headshot

Suresh Narayanan, PMBA 鈥12, previously chief operating officer at Dallas regional carrier JSX, recently launched an aviation maintenance company, Jets MRO LLC, at the Dallas Executive Airport. Jets MRO has also acquired a Miami FAA repair station focused on repairing aircraft components. 

Class of 2013 

Chad Cummings headshot

Chad Cummings, B.B.A. 鈥13, M.S.A.鈥14, passed the bar exam in Florida and Texas and graduated from the University of Miami School of Law鈥檚 advanced degree program in real property development. He established a successful commercial real estate and business law practice serving clients (particularly tech start-ups) throughout both states, between which he splits his time.

Madalyn Lange (Miller), PMBA 鈥13, and her husband welcomed a son on May 30, 2024. 

Chibundu Nnake with wife and two children on the White House lawn during an Easter celebration

Chibundu Nnake, J.D./MBA 鈥13, started at Google in March 2023 leading U.S. privacy campaigns for the tech giant. He and his wife welcomed their second child, Kamsiyonna Adaeze Marie Nnake, on November 10, 2023.

Cohagen Wilkinson and wife

Cohagen Wilkinson, B.B.A. 鈥13, married his longtime partner, Amelia Barrett, at a surprise wedding for their family and friends in Steamboat Springs on July 27. They live in Boulder, Colorado, where he coaches leadership teams using Bloom Growth, an execution and communication system designed to empower organizations to reach their goals. 

Julia Anthony wedding portrait

Julia Anthony, B.B.A. 鈥14, M.S.A. 鈥15, married fellow Pony Caio Formenti, B.A. 鈥15, J.D. 鈥18, at Perkins Chapel on June 3, 2023. They were introduced by fellow alumni friends (who also went on to get married) when Formenti was studying at the Dedman School of Law. They are very thankful to 天美传媒 for bringing them together and for being a special place with many treasured memories. Formenti currently works as a plaintiff鈥檚 attorney at the Ben Martin Law Group in Dallas, and Anthony is a CPA who works in private equity and serves as the vice president of finance at OxeFit, a tech startup. 

Salvador Bonilla-Mathe, B.B.A. 鈥14, returned to Miami to work on his own consulting capital investment business after leaving UBS. He also began helping his father with their family coffee business, which has a focus on social work and contributions in El Salvador. During his time in El Salvador, he also became involved in one of the largest real estate developments in the country: Alturas de Tenerife.

Ali Coram headshot

Ali Coram, B.B.A. 鈥14, is executive editor of multimedia at Investor鈥檚 Business Daily (founded by the late 天美传媒 alumnus William J. O鈥橬eil, B.B.A. 鈥55), where she leads video and audio content production and newsroom strategy.

Zach Turner hiking with a dog and a mountain in the background

Zach Turner, B.S. 鈥14 with a minor in business administration, is the engineering lead for the air revitalization system of NASA鈥檚 HALO spacecraft, the first long-duration habitable space station that will be put in orbit around the moon in the mid-2020s. He says the management skills he learned through the Cox School have been instrumental in helping him work with and manage large teams of engineers across multiple organizations. 

Class of 2015

Justin Forte headshot

Justin Forte, B.S. 鈥15, M.S.M. 鈥16, recently accepted a new job as manager of partnership activation at Inter Miami CF. 

Catherine Simpson headshot

Catherine Simpson, B.B.A. 鈥15, is an attorney specializing in employee benefits law at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Memphis, Tennessee. She met her husband, Nathan, in law school at the University of Mississippi. Together they have two daughters, Natalie (age 2) and Claire (age 4 months). 

Class of 2016 

Hristina Dishkova headshot

Hristina Dishkova, B.B.A. 鈥16, MBA 鈥18, is an investor experience manager at Satori Capital. Prior to joining Satori, Dishkova worked as a marketing programs director and as a research analyst for the 天美传媒 Cox School of Business.

Brianna Massas headshot

Brianna Massas, B.B.A. 鈥16, is senior director of digital marketing at Irvine Company Apartment Communities. Her passion for travel, fostered through multiple study abroad experiences at 天美传媒, continues to shape her career. As a Fora travel agent, she shares her love of exploration with others while leveraging her marketing skills to create unforgettable travel experiences. 

Sean Milmoe, B.B.A. 鈥16, recently left Blackstone after six years to join 360 Mining, an Austin-based firm founded in 2021 by Chris Alfano, B.B.A. 鈥16. The company brings in-field computing to the oil field. 

Kelly Stoll and husband in front of a Parlor's Handcrafted Ice Creams sign

Kellie Stoll, B.B.A. 鈥16, started Parlor鈥檚 Handcrafted Ice Creams in 2019 with her husband Brandon Stoll, B.S. 鈥16, and opened their first brick and mortar in Dallas鈥 Lakewood neighborhood in April 2021. In 2023, D Magazine named the shop Best Ice Cream thanks to the scratch-made scoops made with high-quality, locally sourced ingredients. Stoll says that, along with growing up with parents who ran their own businesses, the knowledge she gained at 天美传媒 has been vital to their success.

Class of 2017

Merideth Mills-Merrit headshot

Meredith Mills-Merritt, B.B.A. 鈥17, MBA 鈥19, recently launched the Original Southside, a ready-to-drink gin cocktail that has been featured in Vogue, Forbes, Esquire, Men鈥檚 Health and more.

Yashas Singri headshot

Yashas Singri, B.S. 鈥17 with a minor in business, is a full-time entrepreneur and the founder and lead facilitator of The Sanctuary, which runs immersive experiences designed to facilitate deep transformation, healing and integration.   

Class of 2018 

Adekunle Adetomiwa headshot

Adekunle Adetomiwa, M.S. 鈥18, MBA 鈥20, has started a career in tech鈥攆irst at IBM, and now as a senior marketing manager at Google. 

Kabir Dhaliwal headshot

 

 

   

Kabir Dhaliwal, B.S. 鈥18, minor in business administration, works in a private equity advisory group advising large cap and middle market funds. Influenced by his formative experience as a Peer Coach at the Cox School of Business, he also owns an independent brick-and-mortar tutoring center near Preston Hollow. Dhaliwal likes to spend his free time outdoors, whether it鈥檚 heading to Wyoming to run cattle in the summer or just enjoying quality time in the sun with his family. He says he鈥檚 very thankful for the opportunities and experiences he had during his time at 天美传媒. Pony up! 

Casey Fraser headshot

Casey Fraser, MBA 鈥19, J.D. 鈥19, was a 2024 D CEO Corporate Counsel Awards finalist. 

Bora Laci, PMBA 鈥19, recently joined The Bridge, a strategy consulting firm known for its specialized practices and best-in-class solutions, as a senior strategy consultant. She鈥檚 also an investor fellow at private equity firm Alternative Wealth Partners.

Class of 2020

jared shumaker head shot

Jared Shoemaker, MBA 鈥20, worked at Allstate as part of its internal strategic consulting office and is now a principal at a boutique technology and business strategy consulting firm in Dallas.  

Trevor Thompson and wife in hospital bed with their newborn daughter

Trevor Thompson, B.B.A. 鈥20, PMBA 鈥22, and his wife Marieke Van der Mark, M.S. 鈥23, welcomed their first daughter on July 29. Class of 2046: Pony up!
Myca Williamson headshot

The firm of Myca Williamson, MBA 鈥20, Myca Raquel Consulting, recently was selected as part of the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council鈥檚 Emerging Young Entrepreneurs cohort.

Class of 2021

Tyler Evenson, MBA 鈥21, recently started a new career with FTI Consulting Inc. as a senior consultant within the forensic and litigation consulting practice. He also got engaged in July.

Tanner Gesek headshot

Tanner Gesek, MBA 鈥21, joined WAGMI Ventures in 2022 as a venture partner investing in emerging technologies, specifically AI and blockchain technologies.

Natesa Vaidya, B.B.A. 鈥21, worked for the Chicago Bears and Hard Rock Stadium after graduating from 天美传媒 Cox. She used her negotiation and marketing skills to organize large-scale events, such as the Miami Grand Prix, and worked with football players to negotiate contracts. Vaidya is thrilled to be back at 天美传媒 to obtain her MBA and learn more about strategy and entrepreneurship to expand the Dallas sports market, especially in women鈥檚 sports.

Class of 2023

Anthony Losito headshot

 

 

 

Anthony Losito, B.S. 鈥23, minor in business administration, is working as an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank (DB) in New York City. He has also joined the 天美传媒 NYC chapter and has begun helping recruit 天美传媒 students at DB. 

 

Taylor Souryachak headshot

Taylor Souryachak, MSBA 鈥23, had no prior coding experience when she pivoted to data analytics by enrolling in the MSBA program at 天美传媒. However, her time as a 天美传媒 McNair Scholar (TRIO) undergraduate research assistant showed her that data analysis is crucial in every field. She is now a data analytics specialist at Dallas College focusing on financial aid, bringing her academic and career journey full circle. She previously attended Dallas College, where she earned her associate鈥檚 degree and received 天美传媒鈥檚 full-tuition North Texas Community College transfer scholarship. 

Class of 2024

jared dahl headshot

Jared Dahl, MBA 鈥24, graduated from the Cox School in May and secured a position on AT&T鈥檚 marketing team. Outside of work, he enjoys volunteering at the Dallas Children鈥檚 Hospital and traveling.