Gerald Youngblood, MBA’10, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. He is the first chief marketing officer to join the board. The organization has been championing economic development for minority business enterprises for over 50 years. The NMSDC represents over $480B in total production, 1.8 million jobs supported, and over $135B in total wages earned as of their 2022 MBE Impact Report. Their goal is to increase that impact to $1 trillion.

J. Michelle Maraj (Abuda), BS’14, MS’15, and her husband Ravi Gattamaraju, BS’15, are expecting a baby girl April, 2024.

Jason Hendricks, MS’22, founded a business, TIED Luxury Limo. Hendricks said the business has flourished, catering to a clientele ranging from friends celebrating birthdays to executives in need of reliable transportation.

“I’m delighted to announce that our team has expanded to eight employees, a testament to the growth and success of our business,” he said. “In addition to professional achievements, my personal life is also filled with joy and anticipation. My family is expanding, and my wife and I are expecting a baby boy in April.

This new chapter reflects the blessings and opportunities that have come my way, thanks in part to the foundation laid by my education at UTD. I am immensely grateful for the skills and character development instilled in me during my time at UTD. The knowledge and experiences gained have undoubtedly played a crucial role in shaping my journey thus far.”

Hendricks joined the MSIE program with a side business earning $9,000 per year. In two years, that revenue has grown to $250,000 per year. He appreciates the MSIE professors, staff and mentors who provided the encouragement for him to move forward on this successful path. He was also a Texas Business Hall of Fame awardee.

Since July 2023, Mahesh Jajoo, BS’23, has been on the corporate communications staff of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, managing content for social media channels. He recently completed a six-month co-op on the social media team, including research and social listening across platforms. Jajoo is a recipient of the Annie Laurie Bass Scholarship (Fall 2023).

Aishwarya Trivedi, MS’23, recently joined SAP America as a client delivery manager. During his studies at the Jindal School, he served as a team lead for the mentorship team within the MS ITM student leadership council. He was actively involved in SUAAB during the spring semester of 2022. “Throughout my journey, I’ve cultivated strong relationships and seized remarkable

Marketing Professor wins “Best Paper” Award

The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) has awarded its 2023 Robert D. Buzzell Best Paper Award to a faculty member from the Naveen Jindal School of Management. Dr. Joonhwi Joo, an assistant professor in the Jindal School’s Marketing Area, won for his working paper, “Millennials and the Take-Off of Craft Brands: Preference Formation in the U.S. Beer Industry.”

“As far as I understand, the award committee comprises not only academics but also marketing executives,” Joo said. “I am glad that my academic work is recognized widely within the marketing community and has a practical impact. I am also grateful for the continued support from JSOM for my research.”

Dr. Riki Takeuchi, Dr. Joseph Picken Distinguished Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a professor in the Organizations, Strategy and International Management Area and coordinator of the PhD Program at the Jindal School, received the grand champion trophy in a taekwondo competition.

He participated in the October 2023 annual competition held by Grandmaster Lee at Lee U.S. Taekwondo in forms and power break. In the power break category, he was able to exceed the school record of 21 boards with a break of 23 boards (out of 25 attempted)

Dr. Guihua Wang, Sydney Smith Hicks Faculty Fellow and an assistant professor in the Jindal School’s Operations Management Area, won first place in the 2024 Chelliah Sriskandarajah Early Career Research Award. He received public recognition during the awards luncheon at the 34th Annual POMS Conference on Sunday, April 28 in Minneapolis.

“This award means a lot to me because it recognizes the quality of my research and its impact on the society,” Wang said. “I am most proud of this award because it is one of the most competitive awards in our field. The award decision is based on not a single paper but a body of work. The judges have reviewed the information regarding the total productivity of the individuals, their citations, their H-index and their respective papers and contributions.”

Jackson Burns, BS’23, who was enrolled in the Special Topics in Entrepreneurship — Hacking4Defense (ENTP 4v000) course in the fall 2021 semester, has been accepted in the U.S. Air Force’s Palace Acquire Program, a threeyear internship.

The Palace Acquire (PAQ) program is a formal three-year training and career development program with opportunities for employment across the country. Burns will attend a seven-month intelligence officer training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, support realworld missions and be eligible to receive annual promotions. Upon successful program completion, PAQs are placed into permanent GG-12 intelligence analyst positions

Final Four of Chess at UT Dallas
The top four teams in collegiate chess faced off March 30-31 in the 2024 National Championship of College Chess, officially known as the President’s Cup. The event was held this year on the UT Dallas campus. The UT Dallas team, consisting of Brian Escalante Ramirez, Koustav Chatterjee, David Brodsky and Karolis Juksta, finished fourth. Escalante, an information technology and management graduate student, and Chaterjee, a finance freshman, are students in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, as is the team’s coach, Julio Catalino Sadorra, BS’13.

Jindal School Team Wins Pitts Business Analytics Case Competition
A team of students from the Naveen Jindal School of Management took first place recently at the Pitts Business Analytics Case Competition.

Team JSOM consisted of Alaya Sirigiri, a business analytics graduate student; Isha Mumbrawala, a supply chain management graduate student; Hamza Qadir, a finance senior; and Michael Chheng, a business analytics senior. They beat 38 teams from across the U.S.

“It is an incredible honor for me to mentor these fantastic, gifted and talented students,” said Dr. Prajakti Akarte, an assistant professor of instruction in the Jindal School’s Information Systems Area. “Our strategy to collaborate across the students’ academic programs definitely paid off.”

McCombs National Women’s Case Competition
A team from the Jindal School competed recently at the McCombs National Women’s Case Competition at UT Austin. They placed in the top five out of 25 teams. Team members were Saphalaa Iyer, a marketing senior; Srinithya Kodali, a supply chain management and finance senior; Isabella Spartz, a senior with a double major in finance and economics; and Paulina Bravo Mora, a business analytics senior.

“This competition was genuinely intense and challenging,” said faculty sponsor Dr. Prajakti Akarte, an assistant professor of Instruction in the Jindal School’s Information Systems Area achievement in itself, given that it was their first time competing in a competition of this kind and just the sheer magnitude of the event.”

UTD Team Wins in State Leadership Competition
Students from The University of Texas at Dallas, most of whom are enrolled in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, performed admirably at a recent student competition at the Future Business Leaders of America-Collegiate (FBLA) State Leadership Conference (SLC) in Pasadena, Texas. They competed against four other Texas schools. Of the 30 events in which they competed, They placed first 19 times, second 10 times, third 3 times and fourth 3 times. All 24 UTD students advanced to the finals, which will be held in June in Orlando, Florida.

“The conference is becoming more competitive each year, but UTD students consistently dominate their events,” said Dr.Kathryn Lookadoo, a clinical assistant professor in the Jindal School’s Organizations, Strategy and International Management Area. “The students gained confidence by competing in these events and are motivated to excel at nationals.