Short Takes: McCombs turns 100 an alum wins a second Olympic gold medal, student innovators win cash, and more.

Ryan Crouser, MSF '16, took home an Olympic gold medal in August 2021 at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making him a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the shot put, a track and field event in which a person pushes (instead of throws) a heavy ball — the shot — through the air as far as possible. His first Olympic gold win was in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In Toyko, Crouser shattered all Olympic records for the shot put three times out of six throws. Crouser’s epic push was 23.30 meters, almost as good as the world record he set during an Olympic trial in June in his home state of Oregon. There, he pushed a shot 23.37 meters (76 feet, 8.08 inches).

Texas McCombs celebrates its 100th birthday this year. Although business classes were first offered on the Forty Acres in 1912, enrollments burgeoned during the next decade. In early April 1922, business department chair Spurgeon Bell learned that UT President Robert Vinson planned to create a separate School of Business Administration. Bell shared the news with students, who immediately planned a celebratory banquet, held May 8, 1922, at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel. The UT System Board of Regents voted that summer to make the new business school official, and Bell was named the first dean. Hermes, the Greek god of commerce, was named the school’s “patron saint.”

The McCombs Texas Social Innovation Challenge, sponsored by Bumble, a free dating app, culminated in a live pitch series in April in which the two top teams from UT won seed funding from a $10,000 pool and advanced to a global competition. The top two teams, Big & Mini and Throw-A-Weigh, moved on to the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge in June with more than 40 other teams from across the world. Big & Mini placed second, securing an additional $10,000. A free video conferencing service, Big & Mini connects older adults (big) and college students (mini) in conversation as a way to combat social isolation and bridge the generation gap. It was developed by Aditi Merchant, a UT biomedical engineering student; Allen Zhou, an electrical and computer engineering student at UT; and Anthony Zhou, a Columbia University student.

Michael B. Clement, the KPMG Centennial Professor of Accounting and department chair at McCombs, was honored as the co-author of an influential paper, “Inside the ‘Black Box’ of Sell-Side Financial Analysts,” published in the March 2015 issue of the Journal of Accounting Research. The American Accounting Association made the Distinguished Contributions to Accounting Literature Award at its annual meeting in August. Clement’s co-authors are Lawrence D. Brown of Temple University, Andrew C. Call of Arizona State University, and Nathan Y. Sharp of Texas A&M University.

The second Forty Acres Founders Pre-Accelerator Program pitch competition April 29, hosted by the McCombs School’s Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, gave 20 UT undergraduate students a chance to compete for a prize pool of $20,000. Conducted in partnership with Bank of America, the pitch competition came after students spent 14 weeks establishing product-market fit for their startups. The two winners receiving $10,000 each were Diego Balderas Allison from the College of Fine Arts for his Re:sole sustainable shoe concept, and Sydney Fischer from the College of Natural Sciences for ModernTrial, a clinical trial platform.

Three McCombs students were awarded scholarships in the UCREW Women's Real Estate Challenge 2021, held during the spring semester of 2021. First-place winner was Genevieve Miller, a BBA graduate who is completing an MPA this spring. Two students tied for second-place scholarships of $1,500 each, Jennifer MarieCalvo, now a fourth-year student pursuing a BBA in marketing and a Real Estate Certificate; and Swastika Sah, now a fourthyear student pursuing a bachelor’s in finance and a Real Estate Certificate.

Percentage of underrepresented minorities Percentage of underrepresented minorities among BBA freshmen, 2021-22. among BBA freshmen, 2021–22. 708 708