Baylor Professor Named “Emerging Scholar in Sport Marketing”
Lane Wakefield, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Marketing, has earned multiple national recognitions from the American Marketing Association.

Hagins Named to Lead Development for Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business
In early 2021, the Development team at the Hankamer School of Business saw new leadership and additional growth as Charles B. “Trey” Hagins III was appointed managing director of Development for the Business School.

Baylor Supply Chain Case Competition Team Earns “Final Four” Recognition
Four students representing the Hankamer School of Business placed fourth at the 8th Annual National Undergraduate Supply Chain Case Competition.

Baylor Graduate and Professional Programs Ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Edition of Best Graduate Schools
Several Baylor University graduate and professional programs were among those nationally ranked in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, released March 30.

Hankamer Professors Share Grant-Gaining Advice
As Baylor University continues its pursuit of Research I/Tier I recognition, professors in the Hankamer School of Business are doing their part by contributing to this vision.

Baylor Ranks Among the Top at the National Collegiate Sales Competition
Baylor University’s sales team ranked 13th out of 70 universities this month at the 22nd National Collegiate Sales Competition, sponsored by Kennesaw State University.

Top Finishers Announced for the BBSO
Baylor’s Center for Professional Selling announced Riley Smith, Gavin Hartoonian and Maddie McKenzie among the top ten individual finishers at the Baylor Business Selling Outside competition.

Baylor MBA-Healthcare Team Earns “Best in Category” and “Best in Show” at Healthcare Innovation Pitch Competition
A team of MBA-Healthcare candidates represented Baylor at Trinity University’s Healthcare PRISm Pitch Competition, bringing home “Best in Category” and “Best in Show” awards with their hospital price/quality patient empowerment tool, Lantern Health.

Global Business Forum Returns Amid World-Wide Change
Current and upcoming economic issues were in the spotlight as the Global Business Forum returned last spring. The forum, which was co-presented by Baylor University and the World Affairs Council of Dallas and Fort Worth, featured a series of Zoom webinars focused on “Economic Issues for the Next Decade.”

Alumni News

1980s

Jana Phillips, BBA ’80, was recognized by Today’s Honoree for her captivating thriller, “Power Lies.” Phillips’ book follows a public relations vice president investigating the cover-up of a murderous and corrupt industry.

Roland Garcia, BBA ’81, was nominated and approved to serve another term on the Board of Pilot Commissioners for Harris County Ports. The Pilot Commission also unanimously elected Garcia to serve as vice chairman of the board and as chairman of the Diversity Committee.

Andy Cullen, BBA ’86, was recruited to serve as the SVP–Sales & Marketing for RACK59 Data Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Scott Salmans, BBA ’87, was reappointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to the Judicial Compensation Commission. Salmans, the owner and CEO of WRS Group Ltd, will serve on the commission through Feb. 1, 2027.

1990s

Beck A. Taylor, BBA ’92, was elected as the 19th president of Samford University. Taylor previously served as dean for Samford’s Brock School of Business from 2005-2010, and has served as president of Whitworth University since 2010.

Jason Stephens, MBA ’97, JD ’97, received numerous professional recognitions in 2020, including his 17th consecutive appearance on the Super Lawyers list, which recognizes the nation’s top attorneys.

Greg Shepard, BBA ’98, celebrated 17 years as founder and CEO for Dallas Maids, an award-winning, locally-owned home cleaning service.

Ace Roman, BBA ’99, was promoted to chief financial officer of Granite Properties, a commercial real estate investment, development and management company. Roman, who joined Granite in 2009, previously served as senior director of finance for the company.

2000s

Thasunda Duckett, MBA ’01, was named TIAA’s new president and CEO in February before joining the firm in May. Duckett also serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Hankamer School of Business.

Amber Roy, BBA ’04, MBA ’14, was appointed CEO at Triumph Business Capital. In this position, Roy will lead all operational functions, including underwriting and customer experience.

Lauren Whitney Kirchner, BBA ’08, was named to Horticulture Industry Magazine’s “40 Under 40” Class of 2021. As director of Sales and Marketing for Spring Creek Growers, Kirchner has created a fun plant shopping experience that sparks joy in consumer spaces.

2010s

Lance Sepulvado, BBA ’14, was named vice president and chief financial officer of Harvest Oil & Gas Corp. Prior to joining Harvest in 2016, Sepulvado worked in the Energy Finance group at Comerica Bank.

Meredith Montrose, BBA ’15, joined Dinsmore & Shohl LLP’s San Diego office as an associate. Montrose will practice with the firm’s national litigation and insurance defense groups.

Hunter Bingham, BBA ’18, began working toward his MBA at the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University. Bingham interned for PIMCO with their Institutional Investor group.

2020s

Brittany Blakey, JD ’20, MBA ’20, joined Gray Reed’s Energy Transactions practice group as an associate. Blakey participated in the firm’s summer associate program in 2018 and 2019 while attending Baylor.

In the News

Pandemic Propels Sports Sponsorships to Outperform Expectations
Executive Director of Sports Strategy & Sales Kirk Wakefield discussed the effectiveness of sports sponsorship campaigns in 2020 due to digital transformation and pent-up demand in an article in Forbes.

Gender Discrimination Is Still Alive and Well in the Workplace in 2021
A Forbes article included a reference to a study by Management Professor Kaylee Hackney who researched the link between mothers on maternity leave and gender discrimination in the workplace.

Phishing Tests Are Necessary. But They Don’t Need To Be Evil
A Harvard Business Review article covered recent research by Professor of Information Systems Daniel Pienta who found that companies who use phishing tests with questionable tactics have the potential to harm the company’s relationship with their employees.

2021’s Best & Worst Small Cities to Start a Business
T. Stevens Chair of Free Enterprise Steve Bradley was a featured expert in a Wallet Hub article about starting a business in small cities and offered advice on what entrepreneurs should look for in a small city.

Popular Stocks That Hedge Funds Are Buying
William Reichenstein, professor emeritus of Finance, offered tips for investors about sectors that are expected to grow in the coming years in a Wallet Hub article.

Car Insurance for Teens & Young Drivers: Cheapest and Best Companies in 2021
Franklin Potts, finance professor, was quoted in a MoneyGeek article as a personal finance expert who offers teens on a budget advice on shopping for a car with insurance rates in mind.

This Type of Manager Will Eventually Create Unethical Employees
Covered in a Ladders article were recent findings from a study by Associate Professor of Management Matt Quade who found that managers without morals can lead employees to engage in unethical behavior.

Baylor Study: What Motivates People to Prevent COVID-19?
Professors of Marketing James Roberts and Meredith David have found that fear of COVID-19 is the primary driving factor that motivates people to take preventive measures to safeguard against it in a Baptist Standard article.

Baylor Prof Leads Innovative Team Working to Disrupt Human Trafficking
Stacie Petter, professor of Information Systems and Business Analytics, has earned a nearly $250,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation to provide law enforcement a technological edge in combatting human trafficking, covered by Baptist News Global.

As GameStop Shares Surge Amid National Attention, What’s Next for the DFW Company?
Shane Underwood, chair and professor of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, was quoted in a Dallas Business Journal article about GameStop and the challenges it faces.

Jerry Johnson, ‘Quintessential Baylor Professor,’ Voice of Marching Band for 46 Years, Dies
Jerry Johnson, recently retired professor of marketing, passed away on May 4th. An article from Waco Tribune-Herald shared details about his career of service and multiple tributes from colleagues whose lives he touched.

Waco Family & Faith Film Fest Goes Drive-in on Return
Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing Tyrha Lindsey-Warren is the founder of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival and was quoted in a Waco Tribune-Herald article about the return of the annual event.

Give Light

Two years into the public phase of the Give Light Campaign, the Hankamer School of Business is 80 percent of the way to achieving our $125 million goal. With significant resources being infused into student scholarships, new faculty chairs and research funding, the future of the Hankamer School of Business—and future business leaders—is truly bright.

“The key to the success of the Give Light Campaign is serving the interests of partners who want to impact future principled business leaders,” Trey Hagins, managing director of development for the Business School, said. “From the beginning, Dean Terry Maness provided strong leadership and direction as our team of development professionals worked with him to outline the Business School’s needs as we look at future growth and the continued rise of the School’s profile. We are grateful for his support and commitment to the future of the Hankamer School of Business. We look forward to working just as closely with our new dean, Sandeep Mazumder, who joined the Business School in July.”

With Maness retired, the Hankamer School of Business will move forward and build upon this incredible success with the William E. Crenshaw Endowed Dean Mazumder.

Business School alumni have embraced the call to support, representing more than 65 percent of donors to a campaign that has raised nearly $100 million in total support for scholarships, program resources and endowed faculty positions. Led by Maness, the Business School’s faculty and staff have engaged with University Advancement team members to connect academic program initiatives with alumni, parents and friends who have a passion for excellence in higher education. For example, donors may choose to honor their favorite professor with a named endowment or, as a business leader, they can support areas to expand on the Business School’s excellence in areas like ethics, analytics or entrepreneurship.

The Baylor Family has pledged and given more than $38 million in scholarship support for business students since the start of the campaign and helped establish more than 100 endowed scholarships to support students. Baylor alumni, parents and friends have also created five new endowed faculty positions in free enterprise, lab-to-market entrepreneurship and to target research and teaching priorities. The Business School’s endowment has increased by more than $63.5 million, creating significant and enduring resources that will ensure future generations of business leaders have the resources they need to succeed during their time at Baylor.

The future of the Hankamer School of Business truly is bright!

For more information about how you can support HSB through the Give Light Campaign, please visit baylor.edu/business/giving or contact the following:

Trey Hagins
Managing Director of Development
Trey_Hagins@baylor.edu

Jamie Youens
Director of Development
Jamie_Youens@baylor.edu

Adam Contreras
Assistant Director of Development
Adam_Contreras@baylor.edu

Right Place, Right Time

Wayne Salazar knows there is something to the power of timing

By Justin Walker

Sometimes, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Army Capt. Wayne Salazar would agree, especially since he knows what can happen in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Salazar grew up in Canyon Lake, Texas, about an hour north of San Antonio. He was a self-described “normal country kid,” participating in football, basketball, track and the Future Farmers of America. He graduated from Smithson Valley High School in 2007 and decided to pursue a criminal justice degree from Sam Houston State University (SHSU).

“At the time, I was interested in joining law enforcement,” he said. “I had not fallen in love with the idea of going into the military as my older brother had. Somewhere around the second semester of my sophomore year, I changed my mind.”

Salazar’s brother, who joined the U.S. Army five years prior, connected his younger brother with Lt. Col. Richard King, the Military Science Department chair at SHSU, which lead to a unique experience.

Arriving at the meeting in slacks, a dress shirt and a tie, Salazar expected an interview where he would ask for a scholarship. Instead, it turned into a physical fitness test consisting of a two-mile run and two minutes’ worth of pushups and situps.

Wayne Salazar, Graduate Student
MBA-Cybersecurity Certificate Candidate
Copperas Cove, Texas

Right place. Right time. Wrong clothes.
Luckily, Salazar was able to borrow his brother’s tennis shoes, while King had a spare pair of athletic shorts. Dressed in a hodgepodge uniform—including his professional dress socks—Salazar went on to earn the maximum number of points possible. After King made a series of phone calls, Salazar had a full-ride scholarship through the ROTC program.

“I worked my way up to greater positions of responsibility once inside the program,” he said. “I wound up being the student battalion commander my senior year and then commissioned after that.”

Salazar commissioned in the Army in 2011. Two years later, he deployed to Afghanistan for a village stability operation as a platoon leader. He rotated from outpost to outpost in his first two months with no true place to call home.

One evening while on patrol, one of his soldiers was shot and required a medical evacuation. When relaying his coordinates, he discovered a miscommunication. The error had sent Salazar’s patrol 45 kilometers away from where they were intended to be.

Wrong place. Wrong time.
Salazar was not at fault for the error and was placed in charge of the special operations mission while still leading his platoon.

“I just remember being absolutely terrified,” he said. “I was a 24-year-old kid with an organization of people who had probably no less than 12 to 14 years of experience.”

Salazar was awarded a Bronze Star Medal at the end of his rotation, an honor presented for heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone.

Salazar returned to the U.S. in 2014 and enrolled at Texas A&M University, where he earned a master’s degree in International Affairs. In 2015, Salazar earned his Army Rangers Instructor certification and served as an instructor until 2017, when he was restationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Over the next two years, he was deployed to both Iraq and South Korea. Returning home in 2019, he decided this was the time to pursue his MBA.

Salazar enrolled in the MBA program at Baylor in the spring of 2020. He was fascinated with the idea of how cybersecurity and business intersect and decided to earn a cybersecurity certificate as well.

“The future of business is all intertwined with cloud computing, storage and automated intelligence,” he said. “That is where business is going. If people aren’t into technology, others are using and leveraging those resources to get ahead of their competitors.”

After graduation, Salazar will be restationed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he will pursue a master’s in Operations Management through the Command and General Staff College. As far as what is beyond that, time will tell. He is just hoping to be in the right place at the right time.