COVER STORY

Prevention InventionPictured above: the mold for the Air Barrier System. The device, currently in development by Sean Self ’s company, Nimbic Systems, is highly effective in minimizing infections. pg.14

Our missionWe excel in developing principled, innovative thought leaders in global communities.

Features

in every issueLetters & News 3 Dean’s Welcome31 Media Mentions

Alumni32 Alumni President’s Letter33 Class Notes36 Resources, Events, and Ways to Get Involved

26 Tackling Health Care through Marketing Professor Vikas Mittal shows how marketing can improve health

care outcomes for all

by Chris Warren

22 Prescription for Growth Intern turned CEO Wayne Bohannon ’00 takes a hard look at the

soft skills

by Molly Rose Teuke

18 Business of MedicineQ&A with Dr. Doug Ardoin ’07, physician-in-chief of Memorial

Hermann Healthcare System

by Kathleen S. Carr

14 Prevention Invention Sean Self (Rice ’93, MBA ’06) views innovation as the best medicine

by Ann S. Boor

Rice University Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Fall 2009

EXECUTIVE EDITOR + DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONSSHAHEEN LADHANI

EDITORJULIA NGUYEN

DIRECTOR OF MARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONSLAURA HUBBARD

EDITORIAL CONSULTING SERVICETHE POHLY COMPANY

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSANN S. BOOR KATHLEEN S. CARR JAN M. HESTER WEEZIE K. MACKEYMOLLY ROSE TEUKECHRIS WARREN

ART DIRECTION + DESIGNFRANK R. JONES

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSJUSTIN CALHOUNJON-PAUL ESTRADAJEFF FITLOWTOMMY LAVERGNEDAVID ROSALESAGAPITO SANCHEZJOHN SANDERSDOLORES THACKERGALE WILEY

PRINTERCHAS P. YOUNG

The Jones Journal is published semiannually for alumni and friends by the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. Current and back issues of the magazine are available online.

Change of Address? New job? Update the online directory with your new contact infor-mation, or send us your Class Notes at: JonesAlumni.com.

Comments or Questions? We’d love to hear your thoughts about the Jones Journal. Send an e-mail to Shaheen Ladhani, Director of Alumni Relations, at shaheen@rice.edu.

Business.rice.edu

Around the School4 Reflections on the Rwanda Project New course offers Rice MBA students opportunities to launch businesses in Rwanda

7 Board Fellows Program New program places students on local nonprofit boards

7 Raising the Bar Rice MBA/MD student helps raise funds for UTMB students affected by Hurricane Ike

8 Perspectives: High-tech vision for Jones School’s futureEducator, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist Jack Gill is committed to groundbreaking Rice-TMC collaboration

10 Appointments Jones Graduate School adds seven new faculty members

12 Rice AllianceRice Business Plan Competition 2009

30 Giving to JonesGiving in 2009 update; Corporate Investors-Baylor College of Medicine

35 Investiture 2009Honors, prizes, and awards

35 Alumna in Health Care Q&A with Author and Health Activist Robyn O’Brien ’98

In recent months, health care reform has been thrust onto a national stage, most notably, by President Obama’s work to overhaul health care insurance and revamp health care delivery. There is a consensus that health care costs are growing out of control and will significantly harm the economy unless we take action. Consensus is unlikely, however, concerning which policy changes will be effective.

The Jones Graduate School has a unique vantage point as a premier business school that collaborates with the largest medical center in the world. Through a growing number of programs and research, our faculty and graduates are leading business changes that impact health care in a big way. Early this year, alumnus Wayne Riley ’05, president of the historic Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, met with Obama and Biden to discuss health care. Doug Ardoin ’07 is managing the largest nonprofit health care system in Texas as physician-in-chief of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System.

Jones Graduate School students and faculty are also changing the delivery of health care with innovative solutions. Last spring, 20 students of the Rice MBA Full-Time program flew to Rwanda to market lifesaving bio-medical products designed and developed by Rice engineering undergraduates. The project, which has been greatly supported by the Jones Graduate School and Rice, was part of a unique technology commercialization course supported in conjunc-tion with Rice’s Beyond Traditional Borders program. Also, this fall, we have 15 candidates participating in the joint Rice MBA-Baylor MD program.

In terms of research, faculty have published fascinating studies on how business can improve health care including Professor Vikas Mittal’s recent research that analyzes worker retention in nursing homes affects patients’ quality of life. Professor Jack Gill, a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist, teaches entrepreneurship to physicians and engineers in high-tech startups. With his experience and enthusiasm, Dr. Gill plans to facilitate greater collaborations between Rice and the Texas Medical Center.

You can find these stories and more in this edition of the Jones Journal. Please take a moment to read about new changes, or take part in some of the exciting changes happening at the Jones Graduate School. We encourage you to attend a lecture series, meet our new professors or reconnect with old ones. I look forward to seeing you, and as always, I welcome any comments you might have.

The Business of Health Care. How do we improve the health care system? Can we increase patient quality of care while controlling costs for patients and hospitals alike? What skills will health care leaders need to effect change?

Bill GlickDeanH. Joe Nelson III Professor of ManagementJesse H. Jones Graduate School of BusinessRice University 713-348-5928 Bill.Glick@rice.edu

What can I do?

Dean’s Welcome

business.rice.edu

When Gale Wiley finally received the OK to document the 10-day journey of 20 Rice MBA students taking bio-

medical products to Rwanda, he became nervous. “I’m a hypochondriac, for one,” he said. “And I’d never been to Africa. There were a lot of unknowns, like malaria and yellow fever. Reading the government notices, you’d think we were going into the heart of darkness.” Reservations aside, Wiley got his shots, packed his video gear, and boarded a plane to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital and largest city. Wiley, currently director and senior lecturer of MBA Communications at the Jones Graduate School, was no stranger to chronicling stories in strange lands. He was a military correspondent for Stars and Stripes in the former West Germany and received a medal of commendation for his reporting in Amman, Jordan, during the Jordanian-Palestinian conflict. He also worked as a foreign correspondent for United Press International, Mutual Radio Network, the International Herald Tribune, Der Spiegel, and National Public Radio for 10 years. Wiley recalled, “The minute we arrived, the fear evaporated.”

What Business Does BestThe trip to Rwanda is an integral part of Technology Commercialization in Developing Countries, a new course that is offered to Full-Time Rice MBA students and taught by Distinguished Research Professor Marc J. Epstein. In his class, Epstein addressed Africa’s population nearing one billion and the fact that many suffered from diseases that had long been eradicated from North America and Western Europe. Although economic aid had been provided for years, much was diverted or ineffective. Africa needed better delivery systems, as well as affordable, useful products.

“Neither governments nor aid organizations have been effective at getting products to the people who really need them,” Epstein said. “But that’s what business does best. Products get delivered, and customers get served when there is a profit motive.”

As part of the Rwanda project, undergraduate Rice engineering students designed and developed three different bio-medical prototypes for the MBAs to market — a low-cost neonatal warming crib, a diagnostic lab-in-a-backpack, and a dosing device for liquid medicines. A fourth product made outside Rice was a micronutrient powder for children.

Reflections on the Rwanda ProjectNew course offers Rice MBA students opportunities to launch businesses in Rwanda

Around the School

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 5

Rice MBA students formed teams in order to create business plans for their assigned product’s commercial-ization. Ultimately, students hoped to help Rwandan entrepreneurs launch businesses producing and selling these products.

Epstein acknowledged that financing was just one of the many challenges his students would have to over-come to formulate viable business plans in Rwanda. They had to find out where products would be sourced, how much they would cost to produce and deliver, determine pricing, and more. “Even the simplest questions might have complicated answers,” Epstein said. “But there’s no way for students to know how good their products and ideas are until they go to Rwanda, meet their customers, and understand challenges that may be unfamilar to them.”

The Tale of one TeamFor the first five days in Rwanda, Rice MBA students worked day and night, meeting with doctors, nurses, and Rwandan health officials in local clinics and regional hospitals across the country. Students learned how health care worked in Rwanda and gauged how relevant their bio-medical products would be to different users.

Wiley followed team Agatanda Gato (‘warming crib’ in Swahili) made up of Jess Arnold, Abraham Chu, Jamil Ismail, Eric Mueller, and Patrick Porter. Their journey began at King Faisal Hospital, where they were briefed on how the government made its buying decisions. They learned that very little was actually manufactured in Rwanda and distribution to the countryside was a major problem, but building infrastructure was a top priority to grow the coun-try’s economy. After touring the hospital, the team proposed their warming crib prototype to top medical officials. After a convincing pitch that was met with success, the team set off to build a working model using Rwandan supplies and labor.

“On the one hand, we had amazing products with tremendous potential for truly helping people,” said team member Abraham Chu. “We just needed to formulate the right commerce model. With an opportunity like this, I knew that my classmates and I couldn’t help but have aspirations of saving the world. On the other hand, we had to really manage our expectations for what we could accomplish in a week and half and not get carried away.”

Around the School

Four student teams (below) comprised of 20 Class of 2009 MBA students fly to Kigali, Rwanda over spring break to market lifesaving bio-medical products designed by Rice bioengineering undergraduates. Through social entrepreneurship, Rice MBAs hope to show how business can help solve global health issues.

business.rice.edu

Their driver, who doubled as translator, took them to the furniture district where the team located a cooperative that produces beds, dressers, trunks, and caskets. Wiley watched with awe and pride as the team negotiated specifications and terms with the Rwandan craftsmen on a street corner swarming with curious bystanders. A deal was struck to manu-facture the simple plywood box equipped with a heating element that accommodates standard light bulbs. A few days later, the crib was ready, and by the following morning, a premature Rwandan baby, nicknamed ‘Baby Kigali,’ had already spent the night in the warming crib.

of Challenges and LearningDespite the warming crib’s effectiveness, the team anticipated additional improvements to the prototype and testing by the Rwandan certification agency. What they didn’t expect was that their low-cost warming crib wouldn’t meet aesthetic requirements. “As business students, we have to address the consumer aspect,” Chu said. “When you consider the human compo-nents of the business and the softer side of consumer consumption, effectiveness is not everything. This was certainly a challenge for us when we got there.”

For Epstein and Wiley, they knew all too well that the challenges — expected and unexpected — were part of a larger function: educating through transformative learning experiences.

Epstein was especially impressed by the innovation

his students showed in revising their business plans to address problems that surfaced in Africa. Some looked at leasing products rather than selling them. Others considered modular designs, giving customers options with different pricing levels.

“It was rewarding to get out of the classroom and witness what these students could do,” Wiley said. “They were brave, resourceful, smart, and compas-sionate. They put their training to work and solved problems that weren’t clearly defined. The project fits the school’s image and its mission to mold global leaders.”

The course, Technology Commercialization in Developing Countries, is in collaboration with Rice 360°, the University’s global health initiative. Undergraduate engineering students who designed the bio-medical products are part of the Beyond Traditional Borders program, a new undergraduate minor in global health technologies, which is associated with Rice 360°.

Around the School

Reflections of the Rwanda Project, cont’d

See video at business.rice.edu under the ‘Becoming a Student’ tab and Gale Wiley’s blog at ricembasinafrica.blogspot.com.

informationfor more

Director and Senior Lecturer of MBA Communications Gale Wiley (pictured on right) serves as cameraman for the Rwanda trip, which is a part of new MBA course in technology commercialization.

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 7

BY THE NUMBERS

Rice MBA Full Time Class of 2011

117students

Gains made on important metrics from last year

668 Average GMAT

680 Median GMAT

4.7 Average years work experience, an18 percent increase over last year

Program continues to be a diversity leader

33 percent Female students

13 percent Underrepresented minorities

17 countries Represented by international students

Earlier this year, Rice MBA-Baylor MD Meredith Williams ’10 was part of an effort to help students of the University

of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston recover Hurricane Ike losses. In conjunction with the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Foundation and the American Medical Associa-tion, the TMA UTMB Medical Student Relief Program initiated by the TMA Medical Student Section provided $70,490 to many of the 1,000 affected UTMB students.

“I went to UTMB and saw the damaged school and that my peers were severely displaced,” said Williams, who co-managed the fundraising campaign. “Classes were canceled for months and students were worried that they would not be able to find extra funds to help them rebuild.”

“To create a unified voice on behalf of the TMA and rally medical students and physicians across the country in aiding the UTMB campaign, I took what I learned at the Jones Graduate School, communication and leadership skills like networking, persuasion, and organization, and put it to work.”

The grants Williams helped raise were pre-sented before more than 100 medical students and physicians from across the state at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, this past spring. “A natural disaster like Ike can happen to any-one. If we have the ability and means to help, we can make a difference.”

Williams, who served as the medical student member of the TMA Board of Trustees this past year, is a Yale undergraduate. She plans to specialize in emergency medicine.

Around the School

Board Fellows Program New program places students on local nonprofit boards

Raising the Bar Rice MBA/MD Meredith Williams helps raise funds for UTMB medical students affected by Hurricane Ike

The Jones Graduate School Board Fellows Program matches Rice MBA candidates with Houston nonprofit

organizations to serve as non-voting board members. As Board Fellows, students develop valuable leadership skills and experience serving on boards in the nonprofit sector. Organizations gain access to the ideas and energy of future business leaders. In addition to attending board sessions and committee meetings, under the mentorship of a current board member, Board

Fellows apply their professional experiences and academic background to solve strategic, organizational, and operational issues to enhance the work of the board. “The new Board Fellows Program utilizes the talent and skills of top notch Rice MBAs to make a posi-tive impact on the Houston community,” said Donna Platt, associate director of Develop-ment and Student Outreach. “The program also prepares students to be socially respon-sible and community-oriented leaders.”

Accepting the foundation grant on behalf of the TMA UTMB Medical Student Recovery Program (from left): Rice MBA-Baylor MD Meredith Williams ‘10, Samantha Dallefeld, Susan Todd, Ashley Agan, and Liz Scherer.

R ecently appointed as professor of the practice of Entrepreneurship at the Jones Graduate School, Dr. Jack

M. Gill is on a mission: to use his vast experi-ence — from Silicon Valley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and others — and work with Rice faculty and administration to launch a new era of world-class collaborations between Rice and its neighbor, the Texas Medical Center.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Gill has observed his home state of Texas from both near and far. He sees enormous untapped potential in the area of high-technology enterprise, and his vision for the Jones Graduate School and Rice is to be on the cutting edge of that trend.

What draws you to enhancing collaboration between Rice and the Texas Medical Center?Over the years, I have witnessed the power of entrepreneurship and business education, as well as the enormous impact science and engineering are making on health care. Technology and innovation drives the world’s economies. Despite the fact that Texas has always been an innovator, we’re still in the

Perspectives: High-tech vision for Jones School’s futureEducator, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist Jack Gill is committed to groundbreaking Rice-TMC collaboration By Jan Hester

Around the School

Dr. Jack Gill at a GlanceCo-founded Vanguard Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in high-tech startups based in Palo Alto and Houston. Prior to Vanguard, Dr. Jack Gill served as executive vice president and group manager of the scientific divisions of Spectra Physics, Inc., then the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial, scientific, and industrial lasers.

Co-founded The Grand Order of Successful Entrepreneurs (GOOSE) Society of Texas, a group of successful entrepre-neurs active as angel investors who are dedicated to help-ing high-tech startups. Over the past five years, the GOOSE Society has provided more than $500,000 in cash prizes for winners of the Rice Business Plan Competition.

Teaches the successful graduate Rice course, “Life Science Entrepreneurship: Roles of Physicians, Scientists and Engineers in High-tech Startups.” In addition to his role as professor in the Jones Graduate School’s Entrepreneurship area, Dr. Gill teaches at Harvard Medical School and MIT and serves as a senior advisor to the Harvard-MIT Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology program.

Serves on the board of the Texas Emergency Technology Fund and as a director of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Horatio Alger Association, Project HOPE, and the Presi-dent’s Circle of the National Academies of Science, Engineer-ing and Institute of Medicine. He was a 1999 winner of the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.

early phases of entrepreneurial development. Fifteen years ago, Texas investors were uncomfortable with the risk culture of high-tech startups. Some of that fear still exists today. We were latecomers to the high-tech party, so we’re still playing catch-up, but great poten-tial exists for Rice and TMC. It’s time for us to step up to the bar and play a leading role.

How will you approach this project?By collaborating with some of the top minds in health care, science, engineering, and business, I believe we can develop a list of strategic initiatives that will greatly elevate the role of Rice in the high-tech arena. Starting this fall, I plan to meet with leaders from the main entities of the Texas Medical Center, as well as Rice’s deans and faculty heads in science and engineering.

My goal is to determine both entities’ entrepreneurial needs and priorities. Based on those findings, I will work with other entrepreneurship faculty to propose new MBA courses and collaborative programs and initiatives. After the Rice leadership prioritizes these items, we can present them to the Texas Medical Center.

What are your goals for the Jones Graduate School?I believe we will be able to enhance learning oppor-tunities for students in all the MBA programs, as well as the MBA/MD program, which offers a joint degree with the Baylor College of Medicine. These collabora-tions will ultimately provide expanded career options to Rice MBA students in the health care field and career enhancements for health care professionals. I’ll also work with the Jones Graduate School’s Career Management Center to develop solid relationships with health-care-based recruiters.

What life experiences have motivated you to get involved in high-tech enterprise?I grew up in a poor family in Lufkin, Texas, so I expe-rienced first-hand the power of good education. After earning a degree in chemistry and engineering from Lamar University and a PhD in organic chemistry from Indiana University, I went to Silicon Valley when I was 28 years old. It is the world’s greatest technology melting pot. I became aware of how smart, ambitious and hard-working the people around me were, and it made me run harder to keep up with them. I also learned a lot traveling worldwide. Most people perform better and achieve more in a dynamic environment.

I’m a strong believer in applying entrepreneur education to the field of technology, and I think this is an important next step. With all the potential we have at Rice — great science and engineering, a well-re-spected business school, and the Texas Medical Center across the street — we have all the important ingredi-ents for more, big-time success. The pacing ingredients are more collaboration and creative entrepreneurship.

Around the School

business.rice.edu

Energy ManagementWilliam M. ArnoldProfessor in the Practice of Energy Management

As a senior executive in energy, govern-ment, and banking, William Arnold

engaged at the highest levels of government in the U.S. and abroad to pro-vide geopolitical

insights, develop business strategies, and advance multi-billion dollar projects. As a professor, Mr. Arnold will teach courses in energy management and will contrib-ute to the Jones Graduate School’s various initiatives in energy. He earned a BA in Economics at Cornell University and an MA in Latin American Studies and an MBA in International Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

FinanceKerry E. Back Professor and J. Howard Creekmore Chair

Kerry Back, professor and J. Howard Creekmore chair, joins us from Texas A&M University, where he held the Jerry and Kay Cox chair in Business and

the Thomas W. Leland Memorial chair in Finance. A world-renowned

scholar of asset pricing theory, Dr. Back’s research has been recognized with a Bat-terymarch Fellowship, one of the highest distinctions in financial economics. He has a BS in Economics at Western Kentucky University and a PhD in Eco-nomics at the University of Kentucky.

Alexander W. Butler Associate Professor of Finance

Alexander Butler is a new associate pro-fessor in finance at the Jones Graduate School. His research has appeared in top

academic and trade publications and in the media. In addition to presenting his research at numerous universities and conferences around the world, Dr. Butler has won research awards at academic conferences, has been nominated for a Smith Breeden award, and has been a finalist for the Brattle Prize. His research primarily focuses on empirical questions

2009 New Faculty AppointmentsThis fall, the Jones Graduate School welcomes seven new full-time faculty members in areas of Accounting, Energy Management, Finance, Marketing, and Strategic Management.

in external financing decisions of firms such as security issuance and trading. He received his BA in Mathematical Economic Analysis at Rice University and an MB and PhD both in Finance at Indiana University.

John E. HundVisiting Assistant Professor of Finance

Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance

John Hund has years of experience in both business and academia with a research focus on credit and banking risk. After completing his PhD course work, Dr. Hund co-founded and co-managed the Financial Engineering Group at BankBoston. He has consulted for banks, served as an expert witness in legal cases, presented original research at industry conferences, and published several articles. His research focuses on the estimation of default risk as well as the influence of default on corporate decision making. He earned a BA in Politi-cal Economy and a concentration in Rus-sian, Soviet, and Eastern European Studies at Williams College and a PhD at the University of Texas at Austin.

Around the School

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 11

AccountingThomas Hemmer Houston Endowment Professor of Accounting

Thomas Hemmer is the new Houston Endowment Professor of Accounting. He recently served as

the Charles McMahen chair and profes-sor of Accountancy at the University of Houston. Dr. Hemmer has been invited by more than 40 schools to present his research which lies in information economics based modeling with a major focus on measurement and incentive problems in organizations, and problems pertaining to the use and valuation of employee stock options. Dr. Hemmer has a BA, MBA, and PhD in Economics at (Oecon) Odense University in Denmark.

Strategic ManagementRobert E. HoskissonGeorge R. Brown Professor of Strategic Management

Robert Hoskisson, the George R. Brown professor of Strategic Management, has

joined us from the W. P. Carey School of Busi-ness at Arizona State University, where he was a

professor and the W. P. Carey chair in the management department. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has been on several editorial review boards of top journals and has served on numerous boards of professional societies. As a well known and prolific researcher,

Dr. Hoskisson focuses on corporate strategy and its outcomes in relation to performance and managerial commitment to innovation. Dr. Hoskisson earned a BS and an MA in Organizational Behavior at Brigham Young University and a PhD at University of California, Irvine.

MarketingDinah A. VernikAssistant Professor of Marketing

As the newest member of the School’s marketing group, Dinah Vernik brings a fresh perspec-

tive and sophisticated approach to the area of digital distribution. She applies economic concepts and a game theoretic approach to real-world marketing problems in order to provide insight and intuition about optimal pricing and distribution channel strategies. Prior to obtaining a PhD, Dr. Vernik worked as a business analyst with ABBYY Software House and as an electronic banking systems expert with Credit Lyonnais Bank in Moscow. She earned an MS in Applied Mathematics and an MA in Linguistics and International Communication at Ulyanovsk State University in Russia and a PhD in Business Administration at Duke University.

Around the School

BY THE NUMBERS

Class of 2009 Full Time Employment As of August 31, 2009

$104.8KAverage total compensation (Base salary plus signing bonus and other guaranteed compensation)

$89KAverage base salary

81percent Employed three months after graduation

83 percent Accepted employment in Texas (46 percent of the class of 2009 are U.S. and international students from outside of Texas)

Employment by Industry

2009

The Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School, is the world’s richest and largest, graduate-level business plan competition. This year, the Rice Alliance received nearly 340 entries from teams around the globe looking to compete for more than $800,000 in cash and prizes. Forty-two teams made the final cut and were chosen to pitch new business plans on April 16-18, 2009 to more than 200 judges who themselves are successful venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.

Dynamics, Inc. of Carnegie Mellon University took first place and the grand prize that included a $125,000 investment prize from The Grand Order of Successful Entrepreneurs (GOOSE) Society, $100,000 investment prize from The Greater Houston Partnership, and $20,000 cash and $80,000 in services from Kenda Capital. Dynamics produces next-generation interactive payment cards that utilize programmable magnetic stripes to communicate dynamic information to the $60 million 1970s-era magnetic stripe readers.

This year, the home team advanced to the RBPC finals for the first time. Rice University’s team, 80Legs, which included Class of 2009 students Imran Charania and Shion Dev Deysarkar, placed sixth. 80legs is an inexpensive and easy platform for web-scale analysis that dramatically reduces the costs and challenges of analyzing web-wide content.

Around the School Rice Alliance

An Inside Look:Rice Business Plan CompetitionThe world’s richest and largest, graduate-level business plan competition

First photo: Rice University’s team, 80Legs, a web-scale analysis platform developed in-house by six team members, takes sixth place in the Rice Business Plan Competition. Team members include (from right) Imran Charania ’09 and Shion Dev Deysarkar ’09.

Second photo: First place team Dynam-ics, Inc. accepts a $125,000 prize. From right: Compaq Computer Corp. Co-founder Joseph R. “Rod” Canion, Jeffrey Mellon and Andy Hicks of Dynamics, and Robert “Bob” Brockman, owner of Universal Computer Systems Inc.

Third photo: Dynamics, Inc. win a total of $327,500 in cash and prizes and a New York trip to ring the closing NASDAQ bell. Pictured from the center, left to right: Dynamics CEO Jeffrey Mellon and Rice Alliance Managing Director Brad Burke at the NASDAQ OMX three-story billboard in Times Square.

business.rice.edu

2009

about the Rice Business Plan Competition or how to get involved with the Rice Alliance, visit alliance.rice.edu.

informationfor more

Rice Alliance Around the School

2006 Advanced Transit Dynamics Dartmouth University

Advanced Transit Dynamics (ATDynamics) dramatically improves the fuel efficiency of the freight transportation industry. ATDynamics’ TrailerTail® aerodynamics technology for tractor-trailers is on the road re-ducing the fuel consumption of long-haul trucking fleets. The company has an expanded aerodynamics product line with the potential to save the U.S. trucking industry more than $1 bil-lion in fuel annually. Series B funding closed in spring 2009 and included ongoing participation of the GOOSE Society members, who awarded the first investment prize to the company.

2005 Auditude University of California, Los Angeles

Auditude helps content owners man-age and sell ads on their distributed videos, publishers grow high-value inventory for buyers, and advertisers target premium video online. Already, the company has started powering a broader variety of video ads on MySpace.com and its MySpace Music product, Warner Brothers Entertain-ment, and others. The company has raised $10.5 million funding round from Redpoint Ventures and existing investor Greylock Partners. To date, the company’s funding totals $23 million.

2004 ClearCount Medical Solutions Carnegie Mellon University

ClearCount Medical Solutions addresses the large and growing demand for a simple and accurate system to account for sponges and instruments during surgical procedures. ClearCount’s first product offering the SmartSponge™ System uses radio-frequency identi-fication technology to track surgical sponges in the operating room. It is the only FDA-cleared sponge counting and detection solution available. This past spring, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City became the first hospital to switch to the SmartSponge™ System.

The Past Winners

228 teams have competed in the RBPC since 2001

At least 25 of 36 teams have launched their companies after competing at the 2008 RBPC

37 percent of past competitors have launched their companies and are in operation today

More than $145 million early-stage funding have been raised by RBPC companies

RBPC Fast Facts

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 13

One statistic had always alarmed and amazed Sean Self ’06 — 100,000 deaths a year

result from hospital infections, making it one of the

leading causes of death in the country. Many of these

infections take root in the operating room. Even the

face coverings, gloves, and special outer gear worn by

the surgical team cannot keep all the bacteria from

spreading throughout the air in the surgery theater.

For years, Self, who is now the president of Nimbic

Systems, had studied the impact on patients who

developed infections after orthopedic surgery. “When

implants go into a bone, it’s very different from put-

ting them into soft tissue,” he explains. “You may not

know infection is setting into a bone for a while, and

that can lead to a devastating outcome.”

Much technology has been developed for treating

infection after the fact — to mitigate the bacteria

that are already in the patient’s body. But, Self

wanted his company to focus on preventing such

infection in the first place.

Sean Self views innovation as the best medicinePreventionInventionBy Ann S. Boor

Rice ’93, MBA ’06

Prevention InventionSean Self

If your story is simply about getting rich, then you attract people who want to get rich quickly. If it’s a story about a groundbreaking technology that would help thousands of patients, and it could be a successful economic venture as well, then you attract people who are interested in being part of a larger vision. That’s my story.

Selling the StoryBy late 2006, Lone Star had turned things around and was

doing very well when CooperSurgical came knocking on the

door of its new 35,000-square-foot facility. Even though

Lone Star had not been looking to sell, a deal was struck.

Self stayed on for six months to help with the transition, but

he felt compelled to follow his entrepreneurial instincts as

well as his passion for products that made a significant

impact on health care. In fall 2007, Self and business part-

ner James Fowler launched Nimbic Systems, a company

that develops medical devices.

When Self started the company, he had some general

ideas about how a device for preventing infections could be

accomplished. But even if he could design such a device, was

it a commercially viable product? He had always thought the

idea of localized isolation at the incision site was a powerful

one. The challenge was how to create those conditions in

a way that minimally impacted a surgeon’s access to the

incision area.

Self began canvassing surgeons in the Houston area. After

receiving positive responses, he moved to find the right

team to realize his concept. Self was able to bring on some

talented tool-and-die and development people from Lone

Star, and he says the team’s coherence was a big reason

Nimbic was able to take its idea from concept to prototype

so quickly.

Starting PointFresh out of Rice University with a bachelor’s degree in

mechanical engineering, Sean Self made a bold career move

in 1993. He decided to join Lone Star Medical Products as

quality assurance manager, after both the founder and the

president had died, and the company had been temporar-

ily shut down by the FDA. Self saw it as an opportunity. He

figured he could get good experience and exposure to all

aspects of the business, from engineering and operations

to sales and marketing.

Describing the environment at Lone Star, Self says, “It was

‘What do we need today? OK, I’ll be that person.’ ” He and

his partners turned the company around, growing from six

employees to 75 over the next 10 years and reaching annual

sales of $10 million. Self felt the need for a bigger toolbox

of ideas and strategies, however. He decided the best way to

learn — and learn fast — was to return to Rice and enroll in

the Rice MBA for Executives program.

“The professors encouraged us to bring in real-world issues,

and I was the poster child for that,” says Self, who completed

the program in 2006. “I created a more powerful marketing

and branding campaign for Lone Star as part of my class

assignments and was able to pull financial, communication,

and leadership concepts out of the program and put them to

immediate use.”

Self also needed advisers who possessed

strengths in the areas where he was lacking, and

investors to provide the financial fuel. “You tend

to attract people depending on what your story’s

about,” he says. “If your story is simply about

getting rich, then you attract people who want

to get rich quickly. If it’s a story about a ground-

breaking technology that would help thousands

of patients, and it could be a successful econom-

ic venture as well, then you attract people who

are interested in being part of a larger vision.

That’s my story.”

Self found suitable collaborators, including some of the top

orthopedic surgeons and infection control experts in the

country. And just 18 months after Nimbic opened its doors,

his invention was undergoing clinical trials, being tested

in orthopedic joint replacement procedures at Texas

Orthopedic Hospital in Houston.

Healthy Outlook Self’s device, the Air Barrier System, creates a sterile

cocoon about two feet long and six inches wide over the

incision site and is small enough that it does not get in the

surgeon’s way. The device has been highly effective in mini-

mizing the intrusion of bacteria into the body. “The secret

sauce is in how it delivers air onto the surface of the body,”

Self explains. “The consistency of the flow field prevents air-

borne contaminants from reaching the surface of the body.”

When the clinical trials are completed, Self will apply for

FDA clearance. He hopes to introduce the product to the

market by the end of 2009. His ultimate goal is for the Air

Barrier System to be used in all types of surgeries. “There

are a lot of high-infection-rate types of surgery, including

cardiovascular and neurological, and we have an inexpen-

sive device that can provide a gold-standard level of protec-

tion in operating rooms anywhere in the world,” he says.

Self is optimistic about Nimbic’s future, but he recognizes

that successful entrepreneurs have to be realists. “You need

to believe in what you’re doing, but not deceive yourself,”

he says. “Starting something new challenges you to think big

and meet goals, but you have to be realistic in terms of what

can be accomplished and how much time it will take

to accomplish it.”

Beyond the economic factors, Self says one of the most

overlooked keys to being a successful entrepreneur is having

a source of strength. For him, it’s his wife and kids, whom

he never forgets are part of the entrepreneurial equation.

“There are times you’ll be going home, and you’ll have no

idea how you’re going to solve something, and you have to

keep pushing on,” he says. “The thought of money alone will

never be enough to nurture you through those times. You

better have another reason to push, and people to help keep

you in the game.”Prevention Invention

A barrier but not an obstructionPictured, the mold for the Air Barrier System. The System is currently in development and has been highly effective in minimizing infections that can develop during operations. To be worn on the hip, the device creates a sterile cocoon about two feet long and six inches wide, but is small enough that it does not get in a surgeon’s way.

business.rice.edu business.rice.edu business.rice.edu

Dr. Doug Ardoin ’07, physician-in-chief of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System

For physicians like Doug Ardoin, an affinity for medicine runs deep.

“I knew I was going to be a doctor at age six when my mother said to me, ‘You’re going to be a doctor when you grow up,’ ” he laughs. But as it turns out, he listened to his mother. Dr. Ardoin grew up in the city’s Clear Lake area near NASA, where his father worked. As an un-dergraduate, he studied at the University of Louisiana, Monroe, then went to medical school at the University of Texas. After a residency in family medicine at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Dr. Ardoin spent 12 years in private practice and found himself increasingly intrigued by what he calls, “the hospital side of things.” In 2004, he became the chief medical officer for Memorial Hermann North-West Hospital. He came to Rice for his MBA, and in 2007 graduated with his new business acumen firmly in place. In 2008, Dr. Ardoin became CEO of Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital — becoming the first physician to fill that role. And this past February, he took on his current position as physician-in-chief of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. With his combination of medical training and business understanding Dr. Ardoin is partic-ularly well suited to playing a role in advancing the future of medicine while also garnering the respect, confidence,

and support of other physicians on his staff.

Business of Medicine

By Kathleen S. Carr

Q & A

GH

What is your perspective on current health care trends and needs?Health care should take a lesson from business. We

must be better, faster, and cheaper. By better, I

mean focusing on quality, patient safety, and reliable

evidence-based care. By faster, I mean access. Certainly

access to quality primary and preventive care for low-

income patients is important, and a national plan for

that makes sense. But we must maintain competition

between public and private players and not create

a single-payer government system. By cheaper, I mean

that we need to focus on the waste in the system and

use business principles — like the Six Sigma approach

— to make health care more effective.

In addition, the American public needs to get comfort-

able with the idea that more health care is not always

better. Hospitals can be dangerous places. Longer stays

make patients susceptible to injury and infection. More

drugs and antibiotics can be dangerous. Preventive

care should be our primary focus. Currently, we only

pay lip service to wellness care. We could be doing so

much more. At the end of the day, is it more impor-

tant for health care insurance companies to pay out

dividends to shareholders? Or is it more important to

build disease management and prevention and wellness

programs for the policyholders?

How did you become physician-in-chief?The CEO, Dan Wolterman, came to me and described

the systemwide strategy he wanted to pursue, and

asked me to serve as the physician chief of systems.

And, of course, I agreed. That means I’m responsible

for the medical staff, employment, and integration

and alignment with our private staff of more than

3,000 doctors. I am the owner of physician strategy,

and I am the president of the System 501a physicians’

association. I promote and push out our physician

strategy.

How has your training prepared you for this role?When I was CEO, I knew the physicians, and I had a

unique knowledge base. I understand what’s important

to doctors, and now I understand what’s important to

hospitals. We are both playing on the same team. We

both want to provide the highest-quality patient care

in the most effective way possible. We can do this

together, while respecting each others’ goals. Doctors

came to me and said, “we are here to support you, so

don’t mess this up.”

GH

Q & A withDoug Ardoin

21What are your thoughts on the potential for innovation in health care?There are great incentives right now for innovation

— imaging and MRIs, for example, from Siemens/GE

have allowed great advances, and there are others in

pharmaceuticals and the device industry. But it’s also

time for innovation and creativity in the delivery of care

and in how hospitals function. Physicians will tell you,

“don’t come to me with the problem and the solution.

Get us to the table at the problem level and let us help

you with the solutions.” That’s what we do. Physicians

don’t like you to tell them the answers. They don’t want

legislators designing your health care program, and

neither do you. You can’t just have policymakers at the

table; you must have academic physicians and com-

munity physicians. You need administrators from large

and small hospitals. You need representatives from

specialties and from primary care. And you need folks

with strong economic, finance and regulatory, and

compliance backgrounds. I’d also add a couple of

patients to this mix, so that we can truly address the

needs of all stakeholders.

Describe your experience at Rice.One of the greatest experiences of my life was the two

years I spent at Rice. The camaraderie between the

students and the professors and the beauty of the

campus were fantastic, and I’ve recommended the pro-

gram to so many people. Rice delivered on its promise

of an outstanding educational experience. I’ve used so

many of the tools I’ve learned there — from leadership

and strategy to accounting and finance. My education at

Rice positioned me very well to have a real impact, and

I’m looking forward to continuing what I’ve set out to

do. And I’m also having a ton of fun.

Health care should take a lesson from business. “”

GH

PRESCRIPTION FOR GROWTH

By MOlly ROSe Teuke

PReSCRIPTION FOR GROWTH

PRESCRIPTION FOR GROWTH

Wayne Bohannon ’00

takes a hard look at the soft skillsWayne Bohannon got his start at the international company Air Liquide when he was recruited for a sum-mer internship in 1999, as a student of the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. After graduat-ing with a newly minted MBA degree in hand, he accepted a full-time po-sition at Air Liquide. A typical enough path for an MBA. However, in less than ten years, Bohannon has found his way to the top serving as CEO of Air Liquide Healthcare Ameri-ca. As he continues to lead the division successfully into the world of health care, he gives insight into what he’s learned over the years that has helped him — and the company —

move full speed ahead.

INTERN TuRNed

CEO

ReCIPe fOR SuCCeSS In many ways, one might say Wayne Bohannon had been preparing for this job most of his life. Other than his humble background — a family of farmers from Georgia — he was interested in numbers and business from a young age. He went on to study accounting at Georgia South-ern University, and in 2000, he earned his Rice MBA with a concentration in finance. His first assignment with Air Liquide dealt with acquisi-tions and divestitures, but he confesses, he was willing to do anything. Eager to grasp the bigger picture, Bohannon jumped into discussions that increased his understanding of the company and its markets, competitors, regional and global standing, and long-term strategy.

“I was willing to do anything but farming,” Bohannon adds — in jest. Although he ad-mits, it was somewhat true. “No matter what the assignment was, I took on anything

they asked me to do and treated each project with equal importance. As a result, I got a lot of high-profile projects which asked a lot of me. I had to prove myself very quickly.”

Bohannon worked in several areas of Air Liquide including its global headquarters in Paris — an experience that he says prepared him to lead the Air Liquide Healthcare America division (ALHA). He points out that, by and large, Air Liquide is a company of engineers. Although his background is in accounting, Bohannon was able to bring the diverse set of skills the job required, especially the soft skills, which he says frankly, are often overlooked. “Your skill set and knowledge base have to span a pretty wide range. Engineering and those related technical skills are important, but regardless of your background, you must con-tinue to develop diverse skills to be successful in any role, especially the soft skills that add value to the company.”

For instance, Bohannon learned early on in his career that the power to influence oth-ers could help move projects and promote

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WHeNeveR I HAd THe OPPORTuNITy TO PuT MySelf IN A POSITION Of ReSPONSIBIlITy, I dIdN’T SHy AWAy, eSPeCIAlly fROM ROleS THAT RequIRed SAleS ANd NegOTIATION.

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Stepping on the Gas LENOXe, a product of Air Liquide Healthcare America, is already being marketed in Europe as an innovative anesthetic agent. The xenon gas-based product allows surgical patients to wake up quickly, even after lengthy operations, and begin healing sooner.

PRESCRIPT ION FOR GROWTH

ideas quickly, even in an organization as large as Air Liquide. “Whenever I had the opportu-nity to put myself in a position of responsibil-ity, I didn’t shy away, especially from roles that required sales and negotiation,” says Bo-hannon. “It is critical to be able to persuade

effectively, defend your opinion, and indirectly influence others, espe-cially those within the company.”

exPANdINg INTO HeAlTH CARe

It’s evident that the success of Bohannon’s divi-sion has grown in tandem with his career at Air Liquide. The 107-year-old company’s core busi-ness relies on supplying gases for the chemical, food and beverage, and electronics industries. In the 1990s, the company began specializing in producing and distributing pharmaceutical-qual-ity gases used with patients and in calibrating medical equipment in hospitals and health care settings, thus spurring the ALHA, his division.

“Air Liquide is an industrial company that ex-panded into health care, which has become an important piece of our global strategic expansion regarding our core gas products and services,” explains Bohannon. As of today, ALHA’s strate-gic approach has paid off in revenue growth of roughly 50 percent higher than most of its com-petitors. Under Bohannon’s leadership, ALHA continues to move into new areas that are gener-ating positive outcomes for Air Liquide, but more importantly, for hospital patients. That kind of impact makes his job particularly rewarding.

“A current trend in health care revolves around pa-tient quality of life,” says Bohannon. “That means a safer hospital environment and returning home as quickly as possible. We develop many of our products and services around this thinking.” One of Air Liquide’s latest projects, LENOXe, a xenon gas-based product, is already being marketed in Europe as an innovative anesthetic agent that allows surgical patients to wake up quickly, even after lengthy operations, and begin heal-ing sooner. Innovative products such as LENOXe are slated for introduction in the U.S., as the company works through the regulatory approval process.

AT THe COReBohannon agrees that his Rice education was ideal preparation for his current role, not just in the degree of rigor, but in the depth and breadth of the curriculum. “Marketing, power and politics, negotiation — these have all been very valuable in a corporate environment,” he says, “especially in a company like Air Liquide, where I have been asked to perform many functions. Rice taught me that, yes, we need a core strategy, but it’s important to remember those other components in being an effective leader.”

For all the success Bohannon has achieved up until now, he points out that his parents still don’t quite understand what he does for a living. “They call me every April to see how I’m doing and ask how busy the tax season is,” he says en-dearingly. And that’s OK with Bohannon. As long as they know the work ethic they instilled in him continues to thrive.

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PRESCRIPTION FOR GROW

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AYNE BOH

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PRESCRIPT ION FOR GROWTH

TACKLING HEALTH CARE THROUGH MARKETING

TACKLING HEALTH CARE THROUGH MARKETING

BY CHRIS WARREN

PROFESSOR VIKAS MITTAL SHOWS HOW MARKETING CAN IMPROVE HEALTH CARE OUTCOMES FOR ALL

Marketing MisconceptionsThese days, Mittal is focusing much of his research and teaching prowess on the subject of health care, one of the most pressing issues facing politicians, business leaders, and consumers across the country. Indeed, the Obama ad-ministration has made major health care reform one of its top priorities. So what could a marketing professor possi-bly have to add to what will no doubt be a sprawling, some-times contentious national debate?

Quite a lot, it turns out. But Mittal prefaces his insights by first exploding what he sees as the pervasive myths sur-rounding marketing in the health care industry. Marketing is not simply about placing ads on TV urging consumers to buy drugs to lower their cholesterol, or battle depression. That, he says, is communications, and it’s only a small as-pect of health care marketing. “The first principle of mar-keting is that you need to understand what consumers — in this case, patients — need and what they want and then try to figure out the best way to accomplish that,” he says.

For example, Mittal points out that one of the main mar-keting-based gauges of effective health care is patient sat-isfaction, because it gets to the very heart of good health care. Patients who are satisfied, Mittal says, are more likely to listen to their doctor’s advice, stick to a prescribed medi-cal regimen, practice preventative medicine, and follow up with their physician if there are any problems. But this element of marketing is given little weight, in general, by physicians, even though it has a direct bearing on patient health. “If you talk to doctors, their concept of what they need to do for the patient is simply treat them clinically,” he explains. “Most don’t understand this broader aspect.”

Given his background, it’s not a huge surprise that Vikas Mittal ended up a professor at a business school. Mittal, the J. Hugh Liedtke Professor of Marketing, grew up in India im-mersed in a business culture. “My parents and numerous generations before them had retail stores, clothing stores, and real estate,” he says. “I’ve always been studying business.”

But Mittal took a somewhat circuitous route to his cur-rent role at Rice. After coming to the U.S. to attend the University of Michigan, where he was drawn to courses in psychology and sociology, Mittal worked briefly for a mar-ket research company. He quickly realized, however, that a career in market research might not offer enough intellec-tual variety to satisfy his curious mind. “A lot of times in business, at least in the company I was working for, you’re working on the same problem again and again, but for dif-ferent clients,” he says. “The thing that was interesting to me about academia was the freedom to choose the prob-lem I wanted to solve.”

Since arriving at the Jones Graduate School, Mittal has tak-en advantage of that freedom — and he has built upon his background. He received his PhD in marketing at Temple

University in Philadelphia and has been published in top marketing journals. He has taken on a diverse range of research studies, from how religiosity drives people’s job satis-faction, to how emotions affect risk-taking behavior, to how men and women differ in their contributions to charity, to factors affecting the professional lives of the so-called “working poor.”

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF MARKETING IS THAT YOU NEEd TO UNdERSTANd WHAT CONSUMERS — IN THIS CASE, PATIENTS — NEEd ANd WHAT THEY WANT ANd THEN TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THAT.

“”

Mittal insists that patient satisfaction and other impor-tant aims of health care marketing — such as improving the job satisfaction among nurses and nurse assistants at long-term-care facilities, another topic of Mittal’s research — should factor into the national debate over health policy and how to best provide patient-focused care. Right now, he says, the debate is focused on three essential questions: How much choice should patients have? How can costs be lowered? And how can patient involvement be increased? The work that Mittal and other researchers are doing can provide helpful guidance about what works and how to achieve desired results. “You may not be able to lower the cost of a particular medicine,” he says, “but by getting the patient involved and by getting them to take their medi-cine more regularly, you can still bring down the overall costs of health care.”

A Role for Business SchoolsThis need for research into what works in health care begs for input from business schools, says Mittal. Disciplines such as marketing, finance, organizational behavior, and operations management are the forte of institutions like the Jones Graduate School, and drawing upon that exper-tise can provide vital guidance in the overall debate around health care. “Companies thrive when they can lower costs and satisfy their customers,” he says. “Health care compa-nies don’t adopt that perspective. They haven’t thought about the problem so broadly. That is the benefit that a business perspective can bring to the health care debate.”

Mittal is helping the Jones Graduate School embrace the opportunity to improve health care. For one thing, he is de-signing a course for fall 2009 that will help students un-derstand how to use marketing techniques to improve pa-tient-focused care. In December, the Jones Graduate School is hosting its inaugural health care conference, designed to bring business knowledge to practitioners.

Additionally, says Mittal, the School has extensively re-vamped Executive Education’s health care certificate program, which operates in conjunction with the Baylor College of Medicine. The new program, geared specifically to physi-cians who also have manage-ment responsibilities, will at-tract participants who come from hospitals like Baylor, Tex-as Children’s, and Memorial. Mittal says past participants in the certificate program have voiced how helpful the instruc-

tion has been in improving their work. “Over the last five or six years, we have had at least 150 doctors come through the program, and we went out this year and talked to them. They all said that the program had a huge transformative effect and helped them improve as doctors and professionals.”

In the ClassroomMany academics, particularly those at the top of their field, keep research projects separate from classroom instruc-tion. But Mittal says that he probably couldn’t keep the two separate even if he tried, given how much time and effort he devotes to research. Drawing on his work is a way, he says, to illustrate points and enliven discussions. “I always bring my research into class,” he says. “So when I’m teach-ing students, I try to bring the latest findings from my re-search and others.’ ”

Not that Mittal seems to need a lot of help in capturing students’ attention, or that of his colleagues. Brent Smith, who has frequently brought Mittal in to speak to his own Executive Education classes, says audiences are usually rapt, drawn to Mittal’s easy, conversational style. Richard Batsell, Mittal’s colleague in marketing, says that he has blown fresh life into the student marketing club. Batsell describes Mittal’s enthusiasm as “subtle but substantive” and says that Mittal’s willingness to devote himself to the club — given his numerous research, administrative, and teaching responsibilities — has not gone unnoticed. “As a result of his time investment, he has done an excellent job of building up the kind of momentum and interest in a marketing career,” Batsell says. “It leaves an impression when someone of his stature comes in and devotes his time that way.”

29TACKLING H

EALTH CARE THRO

UGH MARKETIN

G

WHAT DOES JONES FUND SUPPORT?

The Jones Fund is the annual fund that provides unrestricted revenue to support scholarships, program enhancement, and other operating expenses. More than 70 percent of the contributions raised though the Jones Fund in the 2009 fiscal year will directly support scholarships and recruitment efforts for top candidates. The Jones Fund also supports the Career Management Center, international travel programs, and student-alumni networking events.

on giving to the Jones Graduate School, visit business.rice.edu/give.

informationfor more

Giving to Jones

BY THE NUMBERS

Giving to Jones School in 2009 As of August 31, 2009

$21.6 million Raised in pledges and gifts including Jones Fund

$237,305 Class gift pledges Average pledge is significantly higher than class gift programs at other business schools

784 Alumni contributions New record for alumni making an annual financial contribution

20 percent Alumni participation in annual giving, comparable with the top 25 U.S. business schools

Rice Centennial Campaign

$1billion by 2013Rice’s most ambitious fundraising effort marking its 100th anniversary

Jones School Commitment

$65 millionFunds will be geared for recruiting top students and faculty

Corporate Investors in Health Care Baylor College of Medicine

Baylor College of Medicine, an internationally respected medical and research institution known for excellence in education, research and patient care, was the first health care institution to join the Corporate

Investors group. Since 2008, Baylor has enjoyed recognition and benefits, in multiple ways:

Volunteerism through representation on the Jones Partners Board•

Partnership in health care management education through the Rice MBA-Baylor •MD program

Sponsorship of a Rice MBA Action Learning Project•

Increased access to potential recruits•

Baylor is also a sponsor of the Jones Graduate School’s Executive Education health care certificate program, with a record number of employee participants as well as Baylor physicians serving as adjunct faculty. As Baylor’s relationship with the Jones Graduate School continues to grow, the School appreciates Baylor’s landmark membership and leadership role in supporting health care initiatives.

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 31

Media MentionsThis is a partial listing of the Jones Graduate School community’s appearances in the media. For a more detailed report of international, national, and local media coverage, visit: business.rice.edu/news.

A conversation with Dr. Wayne Riley, Meharry MedicalNashville Business Journal, June 5, 2009Alumnus Dr. Wayne Riley ’02, president of Meharry Medical College, is interviewed on his efforts to strengthen the school.

How to win a business plan competitionThe New York Times, June 10, 2009The Rice Business Plan Competition, which gave $800,000 in cash and prizes this year, is mentioned in an article on business plan competitions nationwide.

Mobile TV benefits from U.S. switchoverThe Financial Times, June 14, 2009Alumnus Bill Stone ’92, president of FLO TV, is quoted on FLO TV’s expansion in other countries and going beyond the mobile phone.

Jobless MBAs opt for entrepreneurshipBusinessWeek, June 18, 2009 Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance, is quoted in an article about recent MBA graduates starting new businesses.

Climate Corps stations Rice student in Toyota Center for summer schoolHouston Business Journal, June 19, 2009 An article reports that Carin Giga, a class of 2010 graduate student, was accepted into the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps program as part of an internship.

Grad students show businesses it’s easy being greenPhiladelphia Inquirer, June 23, 2009 Alumnus Tyler Monzel ’09 is mentioned in an article on ways recent graduates are helping businesses save money by moving toward environmentally friendly initiatives.

Jones School means business with new brandHouston Business Journal, July 3, 2009Bill Glick, dean of the Jones Graduate School, reports on how the school’s recent name change may affect its national image.

Picks and Pans From Market ProsWall Street Journal, July 7, 2009Soros Fund Management Chairman George Soros leaves most day-to-day trading decisions at his $24 billion fund to alumnus Keith Anderson ’83, a former BlackRock portfolio manager.

More consumers choosing warranties to fend off repair costsBloomberg.com, Aug. 20, 2009Professor of Management Ajay Kalra is quoted on a study finding that people with lower incomes are more likely to purchase a warranty.

Gender gap exists for giving, too U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 27, 2009The article, which appeared in dozens of media outlets across the nation, features research on the connection between chari-table donations and gender by Vikas Mittal, the J. Hugh Liedtke professor of marketing.

Entrepreneur’s agave farm rises with tequila’s popularityHouston Chronicle, Sept. 6, 2009Alumnus Inaki Orozco ’05 is featured on the expansion plans of his tequila company, Riazul Imports.

Media Mentions

BY THE NUMBERS

JGS Snapshots

In the Community

602 current students

3,900 alumni

109 faculty members All-time high of 61 full-time and 48 part-time faculty members including seven new full-time faculty members in fall 2009

New Fall 2009 Programs

30 students Incoming class of the Rice MBA for Professionals weekend program

4 students Incoming class of PhD in Management in Marketing; other area of studies be-ginning in 2010 to include: Accounting, Finance (currently accepting applica-tions), Organizational Behavior, and Strategy

Jones School ‘Firsts’First ever lead academic sponsor for the National Association of Women MBAs (NAWMBA) National Conference; October’s conference expected to be largest conference in NAWMBA history

First business school in the U.S. to have authority to certify aspiring principals; inaugural Rice Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) class includes 22 students

Dear Fellow Alumni,It is with great pleasure that I serve as the 2009-10 Jones Graduate School Alumni Association (JGSAA) president. I am committed to strengthening the Jones Graduate School’s outreach to our global community of over 3,900 alumni spanning the last 35 years. The JGSAA’s fundamental mission and purpose is to strive for continual engagement with each other, our school, faculty, and students.

With the energetic support of the JGSAA Board of Directors, Association of Rice Alumni (ARA), our Alumni Relations team, and the Jones Partners, we are ready to lead the JGSAA further with strategic alumni engagement and expanded alumni services and programs. I hope you will take advantage of the enhanced career services, the numerous networking opportunities, both within and outside the Rice community, and lifelong learning opportunities the School is providing.

With Rice University approaching its centennial, and in anticipation of building into the next century, I invite you to visit our Web site, JonesAlumni.com, and carefully consider how you might participate as alumni through the variety of programs and events planned for 2009-10.

As a graduate, you are among the most important constituents and our most influential and valued stakeholders in the Jones Graduate School and Rice University. I thank you for your continued interest and support, and I look for-ward to your active participation with the JGSAA. If you would like to discuss any existing or potential alumni initiatives, please send your comments to JonesAlumni@rice.edu. I welcome your thoughts.

Sincerely,

W. Robert Parkey, Jr. ’88 JGSAA PresidentW. Robert Parkey, Jr. ’88

Jones Graduate Student Alumni Association (JGSAA) 2009-10 Officers and Board Members

PRESIDENTBOB PARKEY ‘88 FORMER PRESIDENT & CEOICO, INC.

PRESIDENT ELECTTED DIMITRY ‘02 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVEHAYS COMPANIES OF TEXAS

Board Members: ERICH BELL ‘03 ASSISTANT CONTROLLERQUANTUM ENERGY PARTNERS

BO BOTHE ‘05PRESIDENT & CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICERBRANDEXTRACT

PHILLIP BROWN ‘08MANAGERHEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY

DAVID CASE ‘05ASSOCIATEJP MORGAN CHASE

FRANCISCO CASTRO ‘02CEOALIANT CAPITAL S.A. DE C.V.

MARK COURTNEY ‘94DIRECTORCIMA ENERGY, LTD

JULIE DAVIDSON ‘04DIRECTORCOGENT COMPENSATION PARTNERS, INC.

CAROLYN GALFIONE ‘97 FINANCIAL ADVISOR & CFOLINSCOMB AND WILLIAMS

JAY HAWTHORN ‘05VICE PRESIDENTBARCLAYS CAPITAL

JACK LEDFORD ‘02PROJECT MANAGERKBR, INC.

NKEM OGBECHIE ‘03 CAPPELLO CAPITAL CORPORATION

PIERCE OWENS ‘98VICE PRESIDENTCB RICHARD ELLIS

PRISCILLA PLUMB ‘01 DIRECTORHEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY

KIM-KAY RANDT ‘07DIRECTOR, PAYMENT SYSTEMS MARKETINGCONOCOPHILLIPS

DOREEN STOLLER ‘91EXECUTIVE DIRECTORHERMANN PARK CONSERVANCY

KATHRYN YOUNG ‘04VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONSSIRIUS SOLUTIONS

BY THE NUMBERS

Jones Alumni in the School

1,300Jones Graduate School LinkedIn membership base doubled in the last year

195Number of ambassadors for the Jones Alumni Volunteers for Admission (JAVA) program doubled in less than a year

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 33

1970sRod L. Norville (MAcco ’75) is the sole shareholder in the Law Offices of Rod Norville in Houston.

1980sTim T. Griffy (MAcco ’80), is partner at Ernst & Young in Dallas.

Michael Novelli (MAcco ’80) serves as president of Cypressbrook Company in The Woodlands, Texas, where he is responsible for the coordination of the company’s development teams, capital transactions, brokerage efforts, and equity financing activities.

Paul Lewis (MBPM ’81) is the principal of Paul Lewis Communications in Boston.

Jerlyn Mardis (MBPM ’82) is a lecturer at the Jones Graduate School and the president of Applied Cognitive Solutions, a specialized IT firm focusing on computer forensics, data recovery, and eDiscovery and technology consulting, in Houston.

Martin O’Malley ’83 is the principal/director of Colliers International, a global affiliation of independently-owned real estate services firms, in the Houston office.

Wendy Cadmus ’84 is the owner of Cadmus Environmen-tal, a mold consulting business in Houston.

Patricia Lewis ’85 is excu-tive director of Aim Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Aim Investments, in Houston.

Quentin Mimms ’86 is a managing director with Alvarez & Marsal Dispute Analysis & Forensic Services, in the Dallas office.

Timothy G. Cockshutt ’87 is managing director at Advan-tage Capital Partners, in the Austin office.

R. Chris Kreidler ’87 recently joined Houston-based Sysco Corporation as executive vice president and CFO. He was formerly executive vice president and CFO at C&S Wholesale Grocers. He, his wife Karen, and daughter will relocate to Houston.

1990sChad Kinzelberg ’90 is a director at investment firm Scale Venture Partners in Foster City, CA. He focuses on internet and enterprise software investments.

Timothy Schier ’90 is a senior vice president at Cain Brothers & Company, LLC., an investment banking and strategic advisory firm that focuses exclu-sively on the medical services and medical technology industries, in the Houston office.

Douglas Beck ’91 is a senior vice president at commercial real estate services firm, CB Richard Ellis, in San Francisco.

James Nattier ’91 is CEO at Seatex, Ltd, a company that provides chemical compounding, toll manufacturing, and private label packaging services, in Rosenberg, TX.

Lynn A. Lednicky ’91 serves as executive vice president – Asset Management, Government and Regulatory Affairs, at Dynegy in Houston.

Robert Mckenna ’92 is the owner of Austin Real Estate Partners in Austin, TX.

Patrick Holley ’92 is vice president and general manager of the Measurement Systems division at Cameron, a provider of flow equipment products, sys-tems and services, headquartered in Houston.

Douglas L. Foshee ’92 is president and CEO of Houston-based El Paso Corporation, which owns North America’s largest natural gas pipeline system.

Lee Partridge ’92 recently launched Integrity Capital LLC. His first investor is the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association.

Bill Stone ’92 is CEO of FLO TV, a mobile TV entertainment service and subsidiary of Qual-comm Incorporated located in San Diego, CA.

Richard Lummis ’93 is vice president of Compliance and Secretary and director of Ausam Energy Corporation, a natural resource company located in Calgary, Alberta.

John LaCour ’93 is COO at the integrated marketing firm, Direct Marketing Network, in Houston.

Amy Downey (MAcco ’94), her husband Phil Gartner, and their two-year-old daughter, Anna, welcomed Abigail Caroline Gartner on April 4, 2009.

Benjamin Curran ’95 is di-rector of development at Atlantic Realty Partners in Atlanta, GA.

D. Cal McNair ’95 is vice chairman of the Houston Texans and Palmetto Partners, Ltd., the private equity investing arm of The McNair Group.

Mark Miller ’95 was appoint-ed CFO of Sabre Holdings, which is headquartered in Southlake, Texas, and has approximately 9,000 employees in 59 countries.

Paul Allen ’96 is the senior vice president of Amerapex Corporation, a world-wide engineering and construction company in Houston.

Marshall Lynn Bass ’96 co-founded Houston-based GasRock Capital LLC in 2005.

Maury Bronstein ’97 is director of brokerage services at The Situs Companies, a provider of commercial real estate services and consulting solutions head-quartered in Houston.

Jon Belanger ’98 currently serves as vice president of Cypressbrook Company in The Woodlands, Texas, where he assists in various financing and development activities for its projects.

ClassNotes1

Update Your Contact Info!

Visit JonesAlumni.com and log in to the alumni directory.

Help us find lost alumni!Go to the lost Alumni link on JonesAlumni.com and help us reconnect with your classmates.

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JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 33

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Aaron Stai ’99 and wife Sarah are proud to announce the birth of twins on Feb. 13, 2009. Tate Conrad and his sister, Em-erson Browning, each weighed 6 lb and 1 oz, and were 21” long. Aaron is a senior director at Alvarez & Marsal, a consulting firm headquartered in Houston. He specializes in dispute analysis, forensic analysis, valuation, economic analysis, and damage calculations.

2000sEric Baca ’00 joined Emory Investment Management at Emory University as manager of Investment Risk Analysis in 2008.

Henry Ahn ‘01 is program manager of Technology Funding Programs at Maryland Technol-ogy Development Corporation in Washington, D.C.

Gregory Broussard ’01 is director of Global Commodities Trading at Citi in Houston.

John Andell ’02 is vice presi-dent at John Hansen Investment Builder in Houston.

Derek Anderson ’02 is an IT business analyst at Shell Trading in Houston.

Walker Barnett ’02 is senior vice president at Colliers Interna-tional, in the Houston office.

Peter Andronaco ’03 is a commercial advisor at Exxon-Mobil in Houston.

Sean Burnett ’06, who recently served as director of MBA Programs at the Jones Graduate School, joined Sugar Land-based Freed Advertising to lead its account management and planning efforts.

Seth Barrett ’07 is vice president of Live Oak Capital, Ltd, a principal investment firm specializing in middle-sized busi-nesses, in Houston.

Scott McLean ’08 is business development manager of Saxon Drilling LP, an interna-tional oilfield services company. His office is located in The Woodlands, Texas.

Marcelo Cisneros ’09 and wife Ana are happy to announce Alana as the newest addition to the family. Marcelo, whose current assignment is in Miami, is the Latin America Supply Chain Project Lead of Johnson & Johnson.

John Bain ’03 founded Houston-based Bain Geophysi-cal Services, Inc., which provides integrated geophysical/geological interpretation solutions to the worldwide exploration com-munity.

John D Almon ’04 is chairman and CEO at Lone Star Industries in Houston.

Alejandro Avendano ’04 is global commercial manager, Subsea Systems at FMC Tech-nologies in Houston.

Kelly Duman ’04, her husband Ryan, and proud big brothers, Brayden and Preston, welcomed Colton Richard into the famil. He was born on June 29, 2009 and weighed 7 lb and 2 oz. The Duman’s currently reside in Denver, CO. In addition, Kelly joined the University of Phoenix faculty, teaching marketing.

Rajat Aggarwal ’05 is senior associate at PROS Revenue Management, a provider of pricing software and margin optimization software products, in Houston.

Doug S. Aron ’05 is executive vice president and CFO of Frontier Oil Corporation, an independent oil refining and marketing company head-quartered in Houston.

Kory Brendsel ‘05 and his wife Karin celebrated the birth of their son, Kolton Anthony Brendsel, on May 6, 2009. Kolt

weighed 7 lb and 5 oz and was 21” long. The Brendsel’s now reside in Washington, DC.

Jay Hawthorn ’05 and his wife are proud to announce the birth of James Franklin Hawthorn, Jr. on July 16, 2009 at 3:35 p.m. James Jr. was 7 lb and 7 oz and 20” long. Everyone is doing great! Jay is currently vice president of Investment Banking at Barclays Capital, where he focuses on mergers and acquisi-tions in power, utilities, and infrastructure.

Inaki Orozco ‘05, president and CEO of Houston-based tequila company, Riazul Imports, plans to expand his liquor brand into New York, Illinois, Florida, and California.

Raju Adwaney ’06 is senior internal auditor at Direct Energy in Houston.

Zameer Bade ’06 is senior strategy consultant in the Indus-trial Strategy & Change Practice of IBM Global Business Services in Houston.

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business.rice.edu

Jones Journal spring 2009 35

Alumna Robyn O’Brien is getting the word out on how food additives are connected to today’s chronic conditions includ-ing allergies and cancer. She has been featured on the Today show, in The New York Times, and other media. To learn more, check out Robyn’s new book, The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It.

What role do you think food policy plays in health care reform?

In our commercialized health care system, sickness sells, therefore, there is little incentive to prevent disease in the for-profit industry that we call ‘health care.’ As a result, we have looser food regulation policies than countries whose health care system is not-for-profit. In those systems, taxpayers shoulder the burden of the sick, so the incentive is to prevent disease and lessen the economic impact.

How does thought leader-ship apply to your story?

I always had a research-driven background, but my interest in exploring the impact of corporate profit-ability grew out of my expe-rience at the Jones Graduate School. I realized the link be-tween the U.S. food system and illness was based on a financial incentive structure and flawed federal policy. A deregulated food supply means there are no checks and balances. I am helping consumers understand the need for a paradigm shift based on economics.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for” — what do you mean by that?

Today, there’s an entire generation of remarkably talented and gifted men and women who are visionary in their work and have a mental athleticism that in turn inspires others to do great things. There’s an awaken-ing in this country, in which we’re realizing the respon-sibility and embracing our own strengths to affect good change.

Jones Citizenship AwardsLauren L. ByarsJames Matthew CosmanPascal Eyongarary EnohnyaketAndrew Mark HelmeyToni Marie HenningWilliam Brandon HoustonDavid E. MerchantDiego L. MolinaEric Thomas MuellerEvelyn Harris PappasMelissa Dyan PierceJill Denise SandersLindsay Merrill Snider

Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Alumni Award forExcellence in TeachingLeo Edward Linbeck III

Rice MBA for Executives Award for Teaching ExcellenceBarbara Ostdiek

Rice MBA for Professionals Award for Teaching ExcellencePrashant Kale

Rice Full-Time MBA Award for Teaching ExcellenceSteven Crawford

Lorane T. Philips Award forExcellence in WritingLeah Elizabeth McKnight

M.A. “Mike” Wright AwardsToni Marie HenningDiego L. MolinaEvelyn Harris Pappas

Jones Scholar AwardsBrian Jonathan AppelSylvain BedouetIgnacio Claudio BincazKristal Amber BroussardRichin ChhajlaniClinton Ray ClarkDanielle Enage ConklingMichael David FolandJonathan HookOluyemi F. KoyejoDevin Richard KruglyTheodore Dennie LalandeWeimiao LiCaleb Paul MarutzkyLeah Elizabeth McKnightNicolas Marcel Edward MorlinoPrabhu MuruganMeena PalaniveluJonathan Wyn ParryRoma PatelSanup D. PathakPatrick Byron PorterLuis C. RodriguezChad Michael RossNirav Narendra ShahRahul Jayesh ShahYuetong William ShenThomas Antoine Theo SoulasAudra Elisabeth TimminsSean Michael TraceyTommy Chun-I Wu

2009 InvestitureHONORS, PRIZES, AND AWARDS

Robyn O’Brien ‘98 Shedding Light on the Food Industry

JoNES JoURNAL FALL 2009 35

business.rice.edu

Save the Date! Rice Homecoming 2009

Share your professional and life experiences with future leaders in a variety of ways.

about alumni involvement opportunities, visit JonesAlumni.com.

informationfor more

Alumni-Student LunchesThe Alumni-Student Lunch Series is an opportunity for current students to meet with alumni during lunch sessions. Lunches provide students an infor-mal setting to gain insight into professional areas of interest and to engage the alumni in current happen-ings at the Jones Graduate School.

Alumni Mentoring ProgramMentor a second-year Rice MBA student who is seeking first-hand information about prospective careers from professionals. Through the mentoring program, alumni:

Cultivate a deeper connection through an •open forum

Share professional and life experiences with •future alumni

Provide guidance in an ongoing relationship•

Jones Alumni Volunteers for Admissions (JAVA)The Jones Graduate School is actively seeking ambassadors from around the world to represent the school in attracting top-tier candidates to the Rice MBA program. JAVA ambassadors may:

Interview prospective students•

Represent Rice at recruiting events•

Counsel admitted students during the decision-•making process

AlumniGet Involved

Visit JonesAlumni.com to learn more about the opportunities and resources for alumni.

Alumni Career ServicesLifelong support for alumni throughout their careers; confidential access to job postings and other online resources, as well as avenues to recruit top caliber students at the Jones Graduate School.

Lifelong LearningDiscounts on Executive Education open enrollment programs; custom programs for your corporation; class audit opportunities; lecture series events; ‘Alumni College’ weekend featuring a business track.

Online Networking ResourcesSee JonesAlumni.com for directions to join these online networks: Jones Alumni Directory; official JGSB groups on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Networking OpportunitiesMBA Council of Houston (MBACH) The Jones Graduate School is a member institution of the MBA Council therefore all alumni are invited to Council programming events. These events provide a great opportunity to network with other MBAs in the area from member institutions that include HBS, Whar-ton, MIT, Texas, Tulane, Kellogg, and others.

Corporate Investors Talk to your company today about the networking opportunities and other benefits of joining the Corporate Investors’ annual membership program.

Jones Partners Join the corporate affiliates program and network with people from a variety of industries at events throughout the year.

Rice Business Network (RBN) Connect with fellow Rice alumni for a monthly networking lunch. This is a great way to share business referrals and career opportunities while broadening your network with the Rice alumni in the Houston area.

Wharton-Rice MBA Alumni Network The Jones Graduate School is proud to announce a collabo-ration with the Wharton Club of Houston. The Wharton-Rice MBA Alumni Network is designed to assist MBAs who are seeking employment opportunities and career advancement. All member schools of the MBA Council of Houston are invited to attend these meetings. Details available at WhartonRice.JonesAlumni.com.

Jones Alumni Real Estate Club A club for Jones alumni who are interested in building their network in the real estate community via monthly happy hours and other events.

Jones Graduate School Entrepreneurs Organization Join the Jones Graduate School Entrepreneurs

Organization (JGSEO). This group will provide the

systems, processes and social networks to bring

together Jones alumni with real world

entrepreneurial experiences. Details available

at JGSEO.JonesAlumni.com.

AlumniResources

Come back to Rice on November 13-15 and reconnect with old friends and faculty. A full list of events is on JonesAlumni.com.

AlumniEvents

Cinco De Mayo Partio May 2, 2009

Scott Sitton ’00 Susan Espinoza ’05 and Stuart Wagner ’98

Ryan Carbrey ’11, Taneshia Barton ’10, Jenny Lewis ’11, and Gustavo Kolmel ’08

Sherrie Reinhackel ’02

Jones Graduate School Entrepreneurs Organization Launch (JGSEO) – Sept. 10, 2009

Jones Graduate School Career Conference Aug. 28, 2009

Tony Wyllie ’07, Jacob Ratner ’02, and Andrew DeGeorgio ’05

Samir Sharma ’08, Alex Cestero ’08, Kim-Kay Randt ’07, Dean Saghier ’07, Patrick Holley ’92, and Brian Spector ’96

Edwin Bosso ’09 Lester Tran ’08, Herman Hsuan ’08, Amy Pita Good ’06, andJohn Spurrell ’99

Alumni Mentoring Program Kick-Off Breakfast Sept. 3, 2009

Simon Doyle ’06 and Ajay Prakash ’10

Chris Neale ’02 and Eno Ukpong ’10

Brandon Houston ’09 Sandeep Challa ’10 and Richin Chhajlani ’09

nonprofit organization

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houston, texas

p.o. Box 2932Houston, texas 77252.2932

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