JSOM Alumni

Jindal School alumni gathering at the Crow Museum

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Welcome 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

Darla Ripley portrait

Darla Chapman Ripley, EMBA’97

Associate, Dave Perry-Miller & Associates Real Estate

Darla Chapman Ripley places a lot of importance on maintaining all networks, regardless of industry or location.

Abuda Michelle portrait

J. Michelle (Abuda) Maraj, BS’14, MS’15

Financial Systems Analyst, Lyft

J. Michelle (Abuda) Maraj, now living in San Jose, California, powered through her master’s degree in business analytics just a year after she earned her BS in what is now information technology and systems. In 2014, she was selected to give the commencement address for her Jindal School class, where she pointed out it took her a few semesters to settle on majoring in what is now known as information technology and systems. Thanks to the Jindal School’s Career Management Center, she held an internship each summer during her college years. She also is a past contributor to the JSOM Perspectives blog.

Jessica Pillado Gonzalez

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 portrait

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.

Susan Kassen portrait

Susan Kassen, MBA’00

Associate, Ebby Halliday Realtors

After several years spent working in sales and marketing, Susan Kassen decided to combine her passion for real estate and love of the local community, and pursue a career in real estate. During this transition, she relied on lessons learned while earning an MBA from the Jindal School.

Dewei Jiang portrait

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.

Sajal Desai portrait

Sejal Desai, MBA’99

Program Director, Entrepreneurs for North Texas

Establishing the Desai Family Fellowship at Naveen Jindal School of Management is just one thing Desai has done to improve the lives of others.

Chris Hampton portrait

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.

Gigi Bryant portrait

Gigi Bryant, GLEMBA’02

Business Development Consultant, GMSA Management Services

Throughout her life, Gigi Bryant has overcome adversity – spending more than a decade in the foster care system. Since then, she has dedicated herself to serving others. She has started her own business consulting firm, established a foundation to assist youth in the foster care system and devoted her free time to volunteer work.

Abhishek Sharma

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.

The Perdue Family

Connie, Caitlin and Brad Perdue

For the Perdue family, attending the Jindal School is a family tradition that stands out among many others. Parents Brad and Connie met while graduate students in the 1980s, and many years later, daughter Caitlin received her undergraduate degree as well.

Eugene Murray portrait

Eugene Murray, MS’03

President, W&M Environmental Group, Inc.

With more than 30 years of experience in environmental consulting and two degrees in geology, Eugene (Gene) Murray, president of W&M Environmental Group, Inc., intended to take just one statistics class to further enhance his business skills. But after one class, Murray discovered the numerous benefits of a Jindal School education and decided to pursue a master’s degree.

Joe Warren portrait

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.

Randall Tan portrait

Randall Tan, BS’13

Key Account Manager, An IBM Company.

Randall Tan had plenty of success before launching his academic career at The University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to coming to UT Dallas, he earned the Gold Individual Physical Proficiency Test while serving with the Singapore armed forces. As a marketing student at the Naveen Jindal School of Management, Tan was involved in the Chinese Student Association, American Marketing Association student club and served as public relations chair for the University’s sales club. He lives in the Dallas area.

Art Trepanier portrait

Art Trepanier, MS’76

Retired, Lockheed Martinr

Trepanier was in one of the School of Management’s earliest graduating classes, earning what was then called a master’s in Management and Administrative Science

Fallon Wallace portrait

Fallon D. Wallace, MS’15 MBA’15

Associate Site Administrator, Parkland Health And Hospital System

Wallace, who earned her MBA and master’s degree in Healthcare Management at Jindal School, assists with all aspects of operations at Parkland’s Southeast Dallas Health Center, including administrative, business and clinical, in addition to the design of work processes, prioritization of initiatives and clinic performance improvement projects. She’s been at Parkland for almost four years.

David Smithen portrait

David Smithen, MBA’05

Americas Transactions Manager, Cushman & Wakefield

Right after graduating from college, Smithen worked with juvenile delinquents at Texas Youth Commission (now the Texas Juvenile Justice Department).

Gerald Youngblood portrait

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.

Pate David portrait

David Pate, BS’88

CFO, Richardson Independent School District

Pate, a resident of Rowlett, has spent almost all of his professional career in the service of education.

JB Yett portrait

J.B. Yett, BS’09, MS’10

Audit Manager, Grant Thornton LLP

Yett earned both his undergraduate and master’s degree in accounting from Jindal School, where he was part of the selective Professional Program in Accounting. The PPA offers top accounting students smaller classes along with training in soft skills and access to choice internships. Upon graduation, Yett joined Grant Thornton where his current responsibilities include managing multiple audit engagement teams and client relationships. His role includes ensuring high quality audit execution and distinctive client service.

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