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Rawson Succeeds McNabb as Dean’s Executive Board Chair
The UH Bauer 2009-2010 Dean’s Executive Board: Standing from left: Duy-Loan T. Le, Senior Fellow, Texas Instruments; Dave Warren, CEO, Energy Alloys; Robert Casey, Associate Dean, Bauer College; Arthur Warga, Dean, Bauer College; Fran Keeth, retired CEO, Shell Chemicals Inc.; Gerald McElvy, President, ExxonMobil Foundation; Michael Cemo, Michael J. Cemo Interests; Darren Wolfman, CPA, EEPB; L.R. “Robin” French, Founder and CEO, FEC Holdings, L.P.; and Latha Ramchand, Associate Dean, Bauer College. Seated from left: Richard Rawson, President, Administaff; John McNabb, Chairman of the Board, Growth Capital Partners, L.P.; and Melvyn Wolff, Chairman, Star Furniture, a Berkshire-Hathaway company. Board members not pictured: Rex Adams, Chairman, Invesco; Anthony Chase, Chairman & CEO, ChaseSource, L.P.; Samuel DiPiazza Jr., CEO, PricewaterhouseCoopers Int’l, Ltd.; C. Gregory Harper, SVP and Group President, CenterPoint Energy Pipelines and Field Services; Karen Katz, President and CEO, Neiman Marcus Stores; Aylwin Lewis, CEO, Potbelly Sandwich Works; David Mendez, Chairman, JPMorgan Chase Texas Middle Market; Jack Moore, President and CEO, Cameron; Mark Papa, Chairman and CEO, EOG Resources; and Bruce Williamson, Chairman, President and CEO, Dynegy.
Richard Rawson, ’72, president of Administaff, the premier professional employer services company, has been named the new chairman of the C. T. Bauer College of Business Dean’s Executive Board. Rawson thanked outgoing chairman John McNabb, founder of Growth Capital Partners, for his strong leadership at a recent DEB meeting.
“Just to be in a room with each and every one of you is off the chart,” Rawson said, addressing the gathering of Bauer’s high-powered group of advisers. “We just want Bauer to continue to be a strong contributor to UH and to the city.”
In a commencement speech Rawson gave at Bauer last year, he commended Bauer for instilling in him the leadership skills he has drawn upon for success in business. Now he’ll use the same skills as the DEB continues to work with Dean Arthur Warga to shape Bauer’s future.
“It’s an interesting time to try and educate our students for the next business cycle,” Rawson said.
One discussion topic for board members at the meeting was the need to constantly be updating curriculum to meet the changing needs of Bauer graduates – especially given the rapidly evolving economic climate, sweeping changes in technology, and a global focus on ethical challenges in business. But some aspects of Bauer don’t require fine-turning, McNabb said.
“It’s amazing — the spirit, the determination of the students that I saw when I taught my first leadership class here, continues to be something that inspires me. The students at this university for the most part are resourceful people. They’re paying their own way and they’re hungry.”
“Being an urban school can actually be a plus because it attracts students who want to succeed.”
Dean Warga noted that many of the ways Bauer has been working to build community among its highly diverse student groups seem to be making a difference. “We have been successful in building the cohesive student body necessary for a successful business school,” he said.
For more information on the Dean’s Executive Board, click here.
By Julie Bonnin
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.
About the Bauer College of Business
The C.T. Bauer College of Business has been in operation for more than 60 years at the University of Houston main campus. Through its five academic departments, the college offers a full-range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business. The Bauer College is fully accredited by the AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In August 2000, Houston business leader and philanthropist Charles T. (Ted) Bauer endowed the College of Business with a $40 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the college was renamed the C.T. Bauer College of Business.