U. T. Dallas Alumni Association To Honor Six Former Students

RICHARDSON, Texas (Sept. 13, 2005) — The alumni association of The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) will honor six outstanding former students at a dinner Saturday, Oct. 29, during Alumni Weekend. UTD President Dr. David E. Daniel will be the featured speaker for the evening’s festivities, which will be held at the Renaissance Hotel from 6 to 11 p.m. and will feature a silent auction.

Recipients are chosen for the Alumni Achievement Awards based on their leadership and achievements in various endeavors. Their contributions bring honor to the university and can be felt in the sciences, business and in the civic arena. Past honorees include NASA Astronaut Dr. Jim Reilly; Albert C. Black, Jr., CEO of On-Target Supplies & Logistics; Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman , director of UTD’s Center for BrainHealth; Texas Railroad Commissioner Charles R. Matthews; and James Von Ehr, founder and CEO of Zyvex Corporation, a leading company in the field of nanotechnology.

Winners of the 2005 UTD Alumni Achievement Award are:

• Debbie Dudley Branson, ‘94 M.S., School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences –
  

  Branson is an attorney with the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson of Dallas. She has participated in many professional organizations, including the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, where she currently serves on the board of directors and oversees the direction and operation of the organization. She also serves on the SMU Law School Chapter Advisory Board, Association of Trial Lawyers of America and Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association. Branson has coauthored various articles relating to trial techniques and demonstrative evidence for magazines and served as editor of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association Forum from 1991 to 1994. She is also a contributor to various social and political organizations.

• Sam Gilliland, ‘94 M.B.A., School of Management –
  

  Gilliland is director, chairman and CEO for Sabre Holdings Corporation. He has served as group president of the company’s Airline Solutions business and senior vice president and general manager of product marketing, where he managed the company’s global product and service portfolio for the travel industry, and as executive vice president of Sabre Holdings and president and CEO of Travelocity. Before joining Sabre Holdings in 1988, Gilliland worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space in Austin, developing hardware and software for land and air-based defense systems.

• Alan Halliburton, ‘90 M.A. in international management, School of Management –
  

  Halliburton is president of his own company, Halliburton Investor Relations. In just 15 years, the firm has grown to a staff of more than 12 professionals serving numerous public companies with comprehensive, full-service investor relations programs. Prior to forming the company, Halliburton was vice president of investor relations for Texas Industries, a Fortune 500 company, and for its subsidiary Chaparral Steel. In 1988, he served as interim president of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, at that time the nation’s largest chamber, with 7,500 members and an operating budget of $12 million. He is past president of the Dallas chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute.

• Dipak C. Jain, ‘87 Ph.D. in marketing, School of Management –
  

  Jain has served as dean of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University since July 2001. He is also the Sandy and Morton Goldman Professor in entrepreneurial studies. His research areas include the marketing of high-tech products; market segmentation and competitive market structure analysis; cross-cultural issues in global product diffusion; new product diffusion; and forecasting models. He has had more than 30 articles published in leading academic journals. In 2003, he was appointed as a foreign affairs adviser for the Prime Minister of Thailand. His teaching honors include the Sidney Levy Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995 and the John D.C. Little Best Paper Award in 1991, among many others.

• Melendy Lovett, ‘82 M.S. in accounting, School of Management –
  

  Lovett is president of Texas Instruments (TI) Educational & Productivity Solutions and senior vice president of TI. Lovett has worldwide responsibility for TI’s leadership position in math and science educational technology and professional development. She is also a member of TI’s strategic leadership team. During her 11 years with TI, Lovett has specialized in leading cross-functional initiatives involving major investments of company resources. Prior to joining TI, Lovett was a senior manager with consulting firm Coopers & Lybrand, where she advised clients in the manufacturing, distribution, real estate, publishing, communications, and oil and gas industries. Lovett also helped found and currently leads an initiative of TI women working to improve math and science education for girls.

• Richard D. McCullough, ‘82 B.S. in chemistry, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics –
  

  McCullough is dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. McCullough was the department chair for the chemistry department at Carnegie Mellon University from 1998 to 2001, when he began serving in his current position. His research interests include organic, polymer and inorganic materials chemistry. Specifically, he studies the self-assembly and synthesis of highly conductive organic polymers and oligimers, conjugated polymer sensors, nanoelectronic assembly, and other areas.

Alumni weekend is held annually on the last Saturday in October at UTD. Graduates from the classes of 1995 and 2000 will be recognized at this year’s celebration. In addition to the dinner at which President Daniel will speak, this year’s activities will include a Saturday morning family “pancake” breakfast, Alumni University 101 and 201 with current faculty featured, and the inauguration of the new National Alumni Council.

For more information about alumni weekend, please call (972) 883-2328.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.