Alumni

Class Notes

News and Notes from Rice Business Alumni

1983

George Brooks
In 1983, George Brooks joined a small D.C. think-tank advocating for a federation of NATO democracies. Just eight years later, the Cold War ended, shifting global priorities. Armed with a master’s degree from Rice Business, George instead transitioned his career path to accounting with Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young), then to aerospace manufacturing with Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation. His career path later led him from Florida to war zone logistics in Kuwait City and U.S. AID work in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. After returning to the U.S., George’s international experience helped him land a demanding role at Verizon Wireless, where he spent six years analyzing overseas telecommunication costs. “Sometimes it takes a while for success to come, but it takes a little longer if you don't take chances,” he shares. Since retiring in 2019, George has dedicated his free time to helping Afghans who were affected by the regional conflict.

1986

David Worth
Sherly and David are finally settled in Toronto, having moved from Indonesia during the coronavirus pandemic. David continues his work as a non-executive board member of Sentosa Capital, an Asian credit hedge fund based out of Singapore, and OneMed, the largest medical device supply company in Indonesia. They just celebrated their son’s wedding in December and, two days later, their youngest daughter’s 21st birthday. Busy times with family and enjoying their granddaughters who live with their eldest daughter and her husband in the Bahamas.

2011

Fred Valizadeh
Fred is now a lead buyer at Fluor Corporation, and he loves it. “Lead buyer” for an EPC is a project manager role in procurement. He never thought that he would enjoy a position as much as he does now. Having a Rice MBA helps his application stand out for future growth opportunities at Fluor Corporation, he says. He is happily married and has three children. He is a proud Houstonian and currently resides in Katy, Texas. Go Owls!

2012

Robert Turbow
Robert has taken a new position at Performance Foodservice as regional president, specialty. In this role, he has oversight for three operating companies located in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Florida. He continues his leadership in the foodservice specialty meat industry after having spent 18 years at Sysco. Robert and his family remain in the Houston area.

2019

Joe A. Meuth
In 2024, Joe celebrated two years as board chairman of a Houston-based biotech company and launched an investing newsletter.

2021

Fergus Hodgson
Fergus was blessed with his first child in late 2024. Born in Colorado, Patrick Hodgson was recently baptized in his mother’s home city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Baldwin Luu
Baldwin Luu and his wife, Katie, welcomed their newest addition, Benjamin, to their family on Jan. 30, 2025. Big sister Lucille (3.5) and pet brother Rocket (8.5) are excited to have another sibling.

2022

Juan Carlos Patino
JC Patino started a new role as chief commercial officer of CNC Flow Control.

2023

Abhi Bansal
Abhi moved to Boston, Mass., for an internal transfer with his current employer.

Todd Jones
Todd has been actively growing his entrepreneurial ventures in the financial and real estate sectors. He recently founded Salute Mortgage LLC, a veteran-owned small business specializing in residential mortgages and home equity loans. Todd has been driving strategic growth at Homebird Real Estate, recently securing a joint venture with Better Mortgage. Alongside his real estate finance work, he has been focused on improving operations and expanding acquisitions and sales within Black Knight Petroleum Exploration, LLC.

Mingyuan Li
After graduating from Rice Business, Mingyuan continued working full-time in the energy industry while exploring the entrepreneurial path. In 2024, Mingyuan launched UniCaddie, a brand dedicated to making golf more enjoyable for players of all ages, genders and skill levels. He is committed to leveraging his MBA knowledge to grow the brand and create a positive impact in the community. For more details, visit UniCaddie.com.

Liam Morris
Since completing his MBA, Liam has accepted a promotion within his company, United Airlines, as manager of quality control and regulatory compliance. Still Houston-based, Liam now oversees safety and regulatory standards for United at IAH airport and more than 77 airports across the southwest United States, Latin America and Central America. He could not have accomplished this without his Rice community, he says. “Keep growing, Rice Business — nothing is impossible!”

Catalina Vasquez
After Catalina earned her MBA in 2023 with a focus in strategic management — and a background in marketing and corporate communications — she never expected to pivot into consulting. But by 2025, she found herself leading large-scale projects for clients like Microsoft in project management, process operations, and analytics and business insights at a boutique consulting firm. She joined Nextant as a senior consultant and was recently promoted to consulting manager, making this unexpected career shift even more rewarding. She is especially grateful to her professors and classmates at Rice Business — so much of what she learned from them has been instrumental in getting her here!

Joe Makoid
Joe Makoid, a Lilie Launchpad alumnus and CEO of healthtech startup Voythos, is proud to announce the company’s acceptance into the inaugural Northwestern Medicine and Techstars Healthcare Accelerator. Voythos was also selected for Mayo Clinic Platform_ Accelerate — a 30-week initiative supporting early-stage companies leveraging imaging data for predictive and diagnostic advancements. These programs provide Voythos with capital, proprietary datasets and clinical expertise to help achieve its milestones. The company is developing a multimodal machine-learning platform designed to predict the likelihood of life-threatening complications in patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular diseases.

Krissy White
Magnol French Baking will be opening their second location in late summer/early fall 2025 in the historic Heights neighborhood of Houston. Otto Sanchez and Krissy White, EMBA ’23, are owners and opened the first location in 2019. Krissy also began work with business consulting organization Ethos Operations Group in January 2025.

2024

Jude deTar
Jude and his wife, Alli, recently found out that they are expecting twin girls! In other news, he started a new job in November as vice president of operations for MRC Global.

Angela Lawrence
Angela launched a skincare line. She hopes to expand the line to help those with various skin concerns. Learn more about The Design Bar at thedesignbarhtx.square.site.

Rice Business Remembers Professor Emeritus Wagner Kamakura

Wagner Kamakura, Jesse H. Jones Professor Emeritus of Marketing, passed away peacefully on March 11 surrounded by his family.

A distinguished scholar and educator, Wagner made a lasting impact on the field of marketing and on generations of students and colleagues. His research, spanning consumer analytics, market segmentation and quantitative modeling, shaped the discipline in profound ways. As a faculty member at Rice Business, he was known not only for his intellectual rigor but also for his deep passion for teaching and mentoring.

“Wagner lived a full life, and we feel so lucky for the impact he’s had on our school and campus communities,” wrote Dean Peter Rodriguez in an announcement to the school. “Joining Rice Business in 2013, he brought a unique global perspective and an exemplary record of teaching and research from universities including Duke, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh and Buffalo. He was grateful for the opportunity to spend his career doing what he loved. His wife, Nomaiaci, shared that he especially cherished his time at Rice.”

Kamakura was a prolific researcher and author with hundreds of peer-reviewed papers, thousands of citations and three books, including “Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations.”

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Wagner,” said Jing Zhou, deputy dean of academic affairs at Rice Business. “He was a brilliant scholar, a dedicated teacher, and, above all, a deeply engaged member of our academic community. His pioneering work shaped the marketing research field in lasting ways, but what truly set him apart was his relentless curiosity and love for learning.”

In accordance with his wishes, there will not be a formal service. Kamakura is survived by his wife, Nomaiaci, and their son, Daniel.