Two Naveen Jindal School of Management alumni have been recognized for excellence in their organizations and communities with the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award. Rebecca (Webb) Buell, MS’11, chief financial officer of National Breast Cancer Inc., and Dan Bowman, MBA’09, executive director/CEO of Allen Economic Development Corp., joined other 2021 award recipients at a July 20 virtual event hosted by the DBJ. They also were profiled in a special 40 Under 40 publication.
Rebecca (Webb) Buell: Flexibility While Working on Her Way to Becoming a CPA
Buell started her career as a bookkeeper and staff accountant for a Dallas luxury homebuilder. She soon decided to pursue a master’s degree in accounting and get her CPA. She chose JSOM in part because of its proximity to where she lived, but also because of the reputation and ranking of the part-time accounting program.
“Remote learning wasn’t as common at the time, but being able to do one in-class and one virtual class each semester allowed me the flexibility I needed in the style of learning that worked best for me while I also worked full time,” Buell said.
JSOM offered great resources, Buell added, to help her get her CPA, and she felt the program aligned perfectly with the next steps she wanted to take in her career.
“I had wonderful professors that I still remember to this day,” she said. “Learning from their teaching styles has helped me to teach and develop my team as we work to improve and expand the systems and reporting processes we have in place. I got hands-on learning with accounting systems that helped me very early on to add value at my job.”
Buell joined the National Breast Cancer Foundation as a staff accountant. Over the course of 10 years, she has held various positions in the finance department and managing the accounting team. She was named chief financial officer of the organization in 2018. She leads the foundation’s strategic planning and international operations, overseeing finance and accounting, risk management, human resources and information technology.
Buell is a 2008 graduate of Austin College. She currently serves on the board of Jewish Family Services of Greater Dallas and as chairman of the organization’s audit committee.
Dan Bowman: Finding Career Building Blocks Through an MBA
Bowman attended classes nights and weekends at JSOM, initially to get a master’s degree in public administration. He changed his focus, however, shortly after starting the program. He joined the Allen Economic Development Corporation — in his hometown — as an analyst in 2004 and was named to his current position in 2014.
Bowman has a strong interest in the way policies can impact business, and is able to see that firsthand in his current position. His responsibilities include identifying and assessing funding opportunities for economic and community development growth, working with the board to develop and implement a marketing strategy, developing effective working relationships with business and commercial contacts who can promote growth and quality development in Allen, and assuring the highest possible use of the land available for a development.
“Getting my MBA from the Jindal School provided me with the building blocks I needed to step into my current role,” he said. “It gave me the skills to evaluate companies and real estate, and to create a marketing strategy. It also taught me leadership skills.”
Among the corporate projects that Bowman was instrumental in recruiting to the city of Allen are Cisco Systems, NetSCOUT Systems, WatchGuard Video and KONE Elevators. He was actively involved in structuring the public-private partnership for the Watters Creek Hotel and Convention Center, with 90,000 square feet of convention space.
Prior to joining Allen EDC, Bowman worked for the San Antonio Economic Development Department. He is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio and of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
He has served in several leadership roles with the Kiwanis Club and has volunteered with Leadership Allen and Allen Community Outreach.
