Felix Dawson BA, Economics, 1990 MS in Accounting, 1991
The road from Rice led to Baltimore for Felix Dawson. The road to Rice was a lot shorter. In fact, it was about two blocks. Dawson grew up in the tree-lined neighborhood of Southampton in the shadow of Rice University. Proximity wasn’t the only thing influencing his affinity for Rice—both of his parents were Rice graduates. After spending a year abroad following high school, Dawson moved on campus and began studying civil engineering. But, he says, “it didn’t take too long to realize I was more interested in business, so I switched to economics.” Once he made that transition, Dawson became aware of a combined program offered at the time that would allow him to get his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. “I knew I wanted to get an advanced degree. I felt it would be necessary to my career progression,” he explains. “Why not do it in one fell swoop?” After earning both degrees, Dawson went to work for Arthur Andersen as a management consultant. “I was there for seven years,” he says, “primarily starting an energy trading consulting practice inside Arthur Andersen.” That experience was the next step in Dawson’s education. “I was exposed to different management concepts, the way different companies work, and how organizations behave,” he recalls. Ready to build on his education and experience, in 1997, Dawson joined Goldman Sachs in Baltimore. “It was a good match,” he says. “They were opening a trading company, and I had the energy background.” Goldman Sachs was starting a joint venture with Constellation Energy to start a wholesale energy commodity trading and marketing company, which Dawson ultimately joined. Constellation has grown into one of the nation’s largest wholesale power sellers. “Even though I’m in Baltimore, I stay connected to Rice,” says Dawson. “Constellation recruits heavily at Rice. We have a number of alums up here, so we opened the door to new graduates. Everyone can see the quality of graduates is consistent.” What sets the Rice MBA program apart in his book, Dawson explains, is the unique focus on energy capabilities that his company does not find at other schools. Constellation recruits at MIT, Harvard, Wharton, and the University of Chicago. “But at Rice you find a number of students who already understand the industry,” he points out. “You will not find that at schools in the Northeast. When students have completed the type of energy derivative course work offered at Rice, they have a unique edge in my line of work.” And for those in a business as competitive and evolutionary as energy, Dawson stresses, “You need to be ahead of the pack.”
Susan Shantz Fargason BA, Mathematical Economic Analysis, 1999 BA, French, 1999 MBA, 2003
Susan Fargason joined Boston Consulting Group in Dallas after earning a BA at Rice. She figured project work would be the best way to determine what she wanted to do with her career. “I spent the majority of my time on a project for a packaged goods company working with their brand manager,” she says. “I discovered that is what I wanted to be. I also determined that in order to be in brand, you have to have an MBA.” To Fargason, the MBA background is necessary because running a brand is just like running a business. “If you think of running a business like a wheel,” she explains, “the brand manager is the hub and all the other departments are like spokes. You have a variety of partners in the company who don’t report to you, but the brand team still coordinates and gives direction. You need to understand what’s going on.” During the summer between her two years of business school, Fargason worked for Kellogg’s in Chicago, a position she landed at a campus interview. She assisted with the launches of Special K Bars and Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops cereal and milk bars. “The Special K bar launched in July, and the cereal bars were scheduled to launch the following February,” Fargason says. “So that summer I experienced all aspects of launching a new product into the marketplace.” The experience confirmed Fargason’s desire to build her career in brand. “I got to try it and see that it was a right fit,” she says. Her business experience that summer and before graduate school had made a big difference. “A lot of the MBA learning is in talking about situations you have been in or seen and how you would handle it better or differently now.” After earning an MBA, Fargason was offered a position in brand at Quaker State Motor Oil in Houston. But her husband, also a Rice alum, accepted a job in New York, and Fargason began interviewing there immediately after they moved. She finally accepted a position with Cadbury-Adams as assistant brand manager for Trident and Trident White chewing gum. “I’m learning all the things you need to know to be successful in brand,” she says. “There’s a team of us on that brand. We work on operations, marketing, and all aspects of the supply chain.” Fargason and her team currently are busy working on several new product launches for 2005. While she cannot divulge what they are, she is excited about the products and their impact on an already very successful brand.
Fall ’04
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