Stay Connected with friends and former classmates
Register for the May 4th JSOM ReunionWelcome home, Jindal School alumni!
The JSOM Alumni Relations team is dedicated to keeping you connected to your alma mater and helping you support your university! To reach us directly, visit the JSOM Alumni Contact page or email us at jsomalumni@utdallas.edu.
Alumni Spotlight
Chris Spartz, MBA’11
Senior Associate – Risk Consulting, Contract Compliance KPMG
At KPMG, Spartz serves in multiple roles including reviewing contracts between his clients and their third party service providers to identify risks within the agreement and help his clients to ensure compliance with contracts, standards, policies and regulatory requirements. “I also collect, manipulate, analyze and interpret large data sets, and use results to develop recommendations for corrective and preventative actions for identified risks,” Spartz says.
Randy Black, CFP, CDFA, BS’06
Financial Planner, Spectrum Financial Group
Black, a certified financial planner, is certain that a successful leader will go above and beyond what is expected when helping others. This value is evident in his work helping numerous clients reach their financial goals. Since his May 2006 graduation from the Jindal School, Black has exceeded several industry standards even though he has not yet reached his 10-year mark in the professional world.
Jessica Pillado Gonzalez, BS’10
Vice President, Santander Consumer USA
Gonzalez is vice president of the U.S. operational strategy and digital transformation team at Santander Consumer USA. In her role, Gonzalez’ team is focused on enhancing business performance and fintech solutions. She manages relationships with key partners and global digital leaders as the digital liaison for Santander Consumer.
Charles Gillis, MBA’04
Executive Director, Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, PC
Technology and an evolving mindset about work-life balance is completely changing the legal services profession.
Taylor Lipsett , MBA’16
AVP, Private Wealth Management And Portfolio Manager, US Trust at Bank Of America
In his role at Bank of America, Lipsett manages investment portfolios for the bank’s private wealth clients. He says his MBA “expanded my breadth of knowledge across various business areas [and] taught me how to balance a full workload, work with others to accomplish a common goal, and how to network and build relationships with other professionals.” For Lipsett, his extracurricular passion has been all things sled hockey.
Jason Ellison, BS’03 MBA’06
Entrepreneur
While Ellison began his professional career at KPMG in audit, he now is on his second (or third) career, as owner of Ellison Business Consulting in Allen.
Ernest Lowery, BS’08, MS’09
Assurance Director, PwC
Ernest has worked in the assurance practice at PwC for over 10 years. He has worked with public and private clients in a number of industries, including energy, industrial products, media and entertainment and technology. He most recently worked in a digital role, where his primary focus was helping to develop new tools to be used across the assurance practice. What he enjoys most is working with clients and his teams to complete a common goal.
Marla Wilkerson, MS’05
Partner, New York Life Insurance Company
I’ve had the benefit of working in several roles within several industries, with no regrets. But my current role is by far my favorite.
The Lanes
Giulia Ippolito Lane and Robert Lane
When Rob entered UT Dallas, he already held an undergraduate degree from University of Southern California. He eventually earned four additional degrees at UT Dallas.
Luis Ortiz, MBA’10
Brand Manager, North America Ericsson
As a young professional, Luis Ortiz found a way to further his company’s goals and initiatives while helping individuals in need. He developed a business initiative for Ericsson that not only met and surpassed company objectives but also helped a nonprofit organization. By looking beyond boundaries between for-profit and nonprofit organizations, Ortiz crafted a creative solution to help Ericsson increase its brand awareness while assisting the North Texas Food Bank.
Sarah Hagan, EMBA’11
CFO, Omnitracs
Hagan, a Dallas resident, joined Omnitracs, LLC, in April 2016, after a successful 11 years at Sabre Corp., where she held senior leadership positions in accounting and finance.
Capt. Chris Hampton, USN, Retired , MBA’11
Consultant
Hampton, who by his own account was at the doorstep of international relations and global events as an officer with the U.S.
Joe Warren, BS’11
Software Engineer, USAA
Each day, I strive to use best practices, creating beautiful and accessible experiences for our internal and member-facing systems.
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.
Frank Martinez, MBA’07, MS’14
Supervisor, Project Management Office; Federal Reserve Bank Of Dallas
Martinez, who started working at The Fed in 2011, keeps returning to UT Dallas and Jindal School to upgrade his skills.
Kuntesh Chokshi, MS’01, MBA’04
GM, Sales Director New Business, PepsiCo
Chokshi, a 2017 Minority Business Leader honoree by the Dallas Business Journal, credits his business success to both hunger and curiosity
Ankit Takallapaly, MS’15
Software Development Manager, Amazon
At Amazon, Takallapaly manages a team of software engineers who are responsible for building data-driven solutions to support hiring needs for Amazon globally. “The information technology and management program at Jindal School helped me gain deep knowledge in data analytics, program management and people management,” Takallapaly says. “Looking back, these skills were an integral part of my career in the initial days. In my current role, I actually rely on all three of them equally to execute my responsibilities and deliver results.”
Brett Philips, BS’05, MS’09
Founding Partner, Shifflett & Philips
Philips, and his friend Nick Shifflett, started Shifflett & Philips accounting firm in 2014 in Frisco. Philips, a CPA, had worked at other accountancies for more than nine years before going out on his own. His practice now primarily focuses on the performance of federal and state tax compliance and consulting with individuals, estates, partnerships and closely held corporations. Philips holds two Jindal School degrees – a bachelor’s in Business Administration, which he completed in 2005, and an MS/Accounting which he completed in 2009.
Brittany Weber, BS’14, MS’15
Assurance Senior, EY
As a member of the Professional Program in Accounting, Brittany Weber graduated with a BS in accounting in spring 2014 and an MS in accounting in spring 2015. Through the PPA recruitment process, she was able to secure an internship and later a full-time offer from EY.
Eugene Gicheru, MD, MBA, FACEP, MBA’16
Chief Executive Officer, Careculture Health Partners
Several physician colleagues along with myself founded CareCulture Health Partners, where I serve as CEO.