About the Jindal School of Management

Shaun Robinson, MBA’01

Vice President- Product Management, AMX

Robinson, a Dallas resident, has been at AMX since 2002, and in his current position for three years, where he leads the AMX Product Management team.

Turning Adversity into Achievement: Abinav Bayya’s Academic Transformation

Abinav Bayya came to the Naveen Jindal School of Management to pursue his Master of Science in Supply Chain Management. After a turbulent first semester, Bayya found himself on academic probation.

Joseph James, MBA’10

Entrepreneur

James, who completed his Executive MBA degree in 2010, manages two startup businesses. At 2020 Commercial, he provides commercial real estate sales, leasing and development services. At Mango Farms Digital Marketing, he and his staff provide web and mobile application development and manage digital marketing for clients.

Richard E. Peck, MBA’04

Senior Technical Process / Quality, AT &T, Second Vice President, Toastmasters International

Peck has been with AT&T for more than 30 years where his responsibilities include leading cross-functional teams; project management, overseeing numerous high-tech, multimillion-dollar projects annually (he is also PMP certified); and developing and reviewing project-related business cases, among other responsibilities. Peck is also Robotic Process Automation certified.

Gerald Youngblood, MBA’10

Director, North America Marketing Advanced Micro Devices

Gerald Youngblood, a graduate of the Professional MBA Online program, credits the Jindal School with preparing him to progress beyond the traditional business environment and into the wireless workplace. He now manages marketing and strategy development at Advanced Micro Devices, a multinational technology company that designs and integrates technology for intelligent devices, such as personal computers, tablets, game consoles and cloud servers.

Andy Mangham, BS’07 MBA’12 MS’13

IT Audit Manager – Global Sox Assurance; CBRE

In his role at the real estate services giant CBRE, Mangham manages IT audits for global operations, works on special projects for executives.

Dewei (Wayne) Jiang, MS’13

Strategic Analyst, Midway Asia Head Office, Merlin Entertainments Group

Jiang, an MS/Finance graduate, has a broad range of responsibilities at Merlin, where he works in its Hong Kong office.

Brian Livingston, MBA’01 MS’02

President and COO, Firebird Restaurant Group

Livingston holds two degrees from the Jindal School, his MBA and his master’s degree in accounting. His undergrad degree in finance is from UT Austin. He is now with Firebird Restaurant Group, LLC, the parent company of El Fenix Mexican Restaurants, Snuffers Restaurant & Bar, Meso Maya, Village Burger Bar, Taqueria La Ventana and Tortaco, where he oversees the daily operations of 54 restaurants, a food manufacturing company and related companies.

Pat McCown, BS’91

Partner, State and Local Tax, Grant Thornton LLP

Pat McCown has combined hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit in an accounting career that spans more than 20 years and includes a major merger and two partner positions. He is credited with creating and introducing new ideas into the accounting profession, generating dramatic increases in revenue and developing constructive client relationships. Pat earned a degree in from the Jindal School and says his coursework helped him develop his work ethic and commitment to excellence.

Michelle Ketsler, MBA’14

Senior Manager, Vistra Energy

Michelle Ketsler, whose MBA studies included a concentration in finance and strategic management, is the senior manager for demand management and account service management at Vistra Energy. She is responsible for establishing and managing the governance of Vistra Energy’s retail technology investment portfolio and ensuring approved projects are aligned with the company’s strategy.

Abhishek Sharma, Class of ’21

Finance Manager at Amazon

My background experience was a mix of technical qualifications as a software engineer and work experience as a futures trader and Sales Finance Manager. Even though I had worked in the finance domain in different capacities, I didn’t have experience of academic finance and when looking for options for my graduate level education my priority was to complement both my previous education and work experience. The MS Finance program at JSOM not only fulfilled all the criteria but also boasted of world class faculty and a very enhanced learning program and facilities.

Walter L. Sutton, Jr. , PhD’89

Adjunct Faculty, Consultant

Dr. Sutton, who earned his PhD in Business Policy and Strategy when Jindal School was just 14 years old, now serves on the school’s adjunct faculty, teaching Business Law. He’s had a far-ranging career that includes staff legal positions with oil and gas companies as well as Walmart; with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (in Dallas) and a presidential appointment to the Federal Highway Administration (in Washington, D.C.); and as chief of staff at UT Dallas.

Tina T. Hoang, BS’09

Financial Advisor, Northwestern Mutual

Hoang, who graduated cum laude with a Business Administration degree, says her degree gave her the knowledge, resources and connections to help people with their financial planning needs. “It helped me build character, business acumen and find the passion for what I do now,” she says. She says she is proud her work will impact families and businesses now “and last … on into the following generations.” She was recently selected as one of 60 representatives nationwide to attend a special fast-track program for young advisers in Milwaukee. While there, she took part in the challenge course.

David Taylor, MBA’09

Chief Operating Officer, Intellicentrics.

Taylor completed his Global Leadership MBA (GLEMBA) degree, which, he says, “opened up (my) ability to be multi-disciplinary and global yet local.” IntelliCentrics, based in Flower Mound, focuses on safety and security in healthcare operations. As COO, Taylor oversees global operations, innovation, technology and people operations.

Ian Martinez, Class of ’21

DVC informatics Analyst at Houlihan Lokey

I chose my MS degree in Finance at JSOM primarily because of the curriculum and the faculty staff. The courses taught covered all of the areas in finance and it gave the opportunity to specialize in different concentrations, such as financial technology or investment analysis. Additionally, the faculty is very well prepared and up to date in the latest research.

Andrew Joseph Limas, BS’19

Assistant Language Teacher, RCS Japan

After graduating from Jindal School with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Limas signed up with RCS Corporation Japan, a staffing company based in Tokyo that finds English teachers for local schools. The company placed him in a job in Tokyo, where Limas now works as an assistant language teacher. In his role, he shares language skills with his students along with information about American culture and traditions. He credits opportunities to work on start-up business ideas at the Jindal School with expanding his understanding about how businesses work.

Farhad Rizvi, BS’11

Founder, Shamak Associate, Gerson Lehrman Group

Farhad Rizvi had a vision of combining commerce and philanthropy into one business strategy. Along with his older brother, Hammad, he created Shamak Sandals, a company that sells leather sandals handcrafted in the Middle East. But Shamak Sandals reaches beyond shoe sales.

Robert Kientz, BS’04

Senior Security Analyst, Verizon Wireless

In his role with Verizon, Kientz performs risk assessment of information security vulnerabilities and system security policy compliance.

Chanel Ebanks-Texada, BS’16

Watson Customer Engagement Account Executive, IBM

Ebanks-Texada has launched her career at IBM, where she is prospecting and generating business in the public sector.

Jonathan Seyoum, MBA’03

Partner and Chief Operating Officer, The Original Pancake House

Jonathan Seyoum never imagined a part-time job would one day lead to part ownership of one of DFW’s most well-known breakfast eateries.