Associate Professor Joe Hahn studies oil prices over time; Finance Professor Ehud I. Ronn researches energy valuation; Professor Jim Dyer developed a “cone of uncertainty” forecast tool with Hahn; John C. Butler is associate director of the KBH Center; Professor David Spence is an expert in energy law; Professor Sheridan Titman says economic analysis is central to all energy disciplines.
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offers students a unique education in alternative energy, including classes in wind energy law and climate change policy. Understanding renewable energy sources is particularly essential now, when world leaders are preparing for a potential transition away from traditional fuels. In June, G7 leaders agreed to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century. Shell joined five other European oil majors in calling for governments to implement a carbon emissions pricing system. No U.S. oil majors signed the letter, but President Barack Obama introduced a plan to cut carbon emissions in the U.S. by 30 percent by 2030. If his new Clean Power Plan survives the years of legal challenges that are beginning now before the plan is even finalized, Spence says refineries could be targeted next. That would be years down the line, but these are the kinds of scenarios Spence speaks about in his classes to prepare students for long-term
changes in the energy field. At the same time they are learning from Spence, McCombs energy students take courses in other schools across the UT campus. They have access to geosciences professors who study reservoirs and engineering professors who are figuring out the best ways to tap those resources. They learn the basics of energy law from professors at one of the top law schools in the country and remain informed about global energy policy through the LBJ School. Yet at the center of all this interdisciplinary knowledge, “economic analysis is the filter for all of it,” says Finance Professor Sheridan Titman. “Engineering and science are required to understand the physical characteristics of the project — and the law puts constraints on what can be done, where and when — but it’s economic analysis that links everything and examines the impact on the bottom line. That
McCOMBS’ ENERGY-FOCUSED BUSINESS DEGREE PROGRAMS McCombs offers an energy management program (which recently received formal accreditation from the American Association of Professional Landmen) for both business and non-business undergraduates, as well as a bachelor of business in finance with an energy concentration. The school’s energy-focused master’s degrees include a master of science in finance with an energy concentration, an MBA in finance with an energy concentration, a Cleantech MBA, and a three-year Dual Energy Earth Resources/MBA, a multidisciplinary dual degree program that spans the Jackson School of Geosciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering, the McCombs School of Business, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. ability to analyze an energy project’s viability from a business perspective is what we provide here at McCombs.” Priscila Mosqueda, BA ’12 Journalism, covers energy, the environment, and crime in Texas and Mexico.
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