Each quarterly meeting of the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s Advisory Council is a true meeting of the minds in industry and education. Coming together to talk about progress in Jindal School initiatives, suggestions for new initiatives and possibly even new companies to bring into the fold, the council also provides the opportunity for leading firms to find top job candidates at the business school while giving back.

“The business of education, in a way, is a simple business: You have to recruit good students, motivate them and show them the way,” said Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Caruth Chair and Dean of the Jindal School.

Believing that coursework can only prepare students so much, council members offer them a different kind of preparation, sharing knowledge of what their companies are looking for, which can take many forms, including guest lecturing. Council members are known to engage with faculty members when it comes to research and have been a presence at many important Jindal School events. But some are so hooked that their contributions to the council continue beyond their boardroom days.

“I have retired people here,” Pirkul said. “Because really, if you think about it, if you want to name one thing that can change a young person’s life for the better, that’s education. That is why they are here. Some students are first-generation college students, and this changes their lives and everyone else who will follow them.”

Advisory Council Chair Dan Sessa, chief human resources officer at Lennox International, has seen the impact on his company and the school through being a part of the council since 2010.

“The access to quality students is first-rate through being a part of this,” he said. “We’ll hire about half a dozen students for internships from UT Dallas, JSOM in particular, then try to convert them into full-time hires when they graduate if they perform well — and they almost always do. We just promoted internally a chief financial officer, and he was from JSOM. And there are so many ways we’ve been able to participate in giving back.”

Dr. Diane McNulty, associate dean for external relations, communications and corporate development at the Jindal School, heads up the recruiting and engagement efforts related to the council. She said the partnership always has been valuable in that it directly contributes to the school’s academic excellence, relevance and impact in preparing students to become future business leaders.

“I can’t say enough about what a valuable resource our council members are for the Jindal School,” McNulty said. “We are shaping the future of business leadership together and I am excited about the impact we will continue to make together.”

At the quarterly meeting Feb. 21 in the Jindal School’s Executive Dining Room, the Young Scholars Program (YSP) was a prime subject on giving back, as it prepares traditionally socioeconomically disadvantaged high school students for admission into four-year colleges and universities. From mentoring to test-preparation support to scholarships, the program offers direction to those considering the next educational step after high school who may not have many avenues of support.

One slide offered success stories from the program, including Jindal School graduates now at companies ranging from Fujitsu to KPMG. Five high schools from the Dallas Independent School District participate in YSP, and as announced in the meeting, Richardson ISD’s Richardson High School will be the sixth school in the program. Beginning with about 200 students in 2017-2018, the size of YSP has nearly quadrupled, reaching roughly 800 in the 2023- 2024 group.

“This is the other side of it,” Sessa said. “Being a part of helping a program like this. There are students who don’t have certain resources and this is where we can make a difference.” The meeting was also a chance to celebrate the Jindal School continuing to stand out in the rankings. An eye is also kept on the Jindal School endowment, which was announced to have a book value of more than $100 million as of Jan. 31.

A Shift in Perspective

Ashish Gupta, general manager and vice president for enterprise business at Adobe, said being on the council changes members’ perspectives of the school.

“You get insight into how the school is doing, and you might learn through meetings and members about aspects like the sales program at the business school, for example,” he said. “They are trained so well and that can be an asset. We like to bring over speakers from our company and explain how students can join us.”

Gupta particularly values the vast differences among council members.

“We have very different backgrounds,” he said. “We’re from different industries, and it all helps shape how to help the school for decades to come.”

Melissa Bettis, assistant dean for development and alumni relations at the Jindal School, said she can’t underscore enough the generosity of council members.

“They sponsor events, they might start scholarship funds and my team has the role of being similar to a conduit between the council and corporate,” she said. “A meeting can give you a sense of where we’ve come from and where we are headed, how we can keep traditions going while thinking about new challenges, possibly evolving topics such as artificial intelligence. These council members are really giving the gift of time and you see how enthusiastic they are to be a part of what is being built at the business school.”

Ray Hemmig, CEO of Retail & Restaurant Growth Capital, has been on the council for nearly a decade. A former council chair, he is one of the biggest proponents of the connection between the council and the business school.

“I’ve seen a wonderful amount of positive changes with the council but not any negative ones,” he said. “The one constant of JSOM has been Hasan Pirkul and Diane McNulty and they have a relationship with people who want to engage. When I became chair of the council, the dean said he’d like to get 50 council members. Within 12 months, we were able to do it. Some stuck, some didn’t, but what is key is we maintained a higher level of membership in those that are engaged.”

The Jindal School relationship with companies on the council is symbiotic; it offers a huge return on investment for those who have employment opportunities, Hemmig said.

“I was fortunate to have success in companies and the quality of human capital is very important,” he said. “My son in-law received his MBA at the business school, and so many of us have connections to this school in many different ways. I’m so proud of the Jindal School and it gets high accolades for good reason. It’s easy for people on the council to be engaged because it’s an honor to be a part of what the business school has accomplished — and will accomplish.