Students meet with Mays
December 1, 2006
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Blake Parrish
Straight from the horse’s mouth—that’s where you’ll find the information with the most valuable price tag. So when Texas A&M’s Aggie Investment Club sponsored a trip to San Antonio as part of its travel series, being able to hear four successful entrepreneurs speak about their work experiences was an opportunity to jump at. What the students took from the trip was more than a few helpful words of wisdom—they witnessed the truth behind the phrase actions speak louder than words.
When the eight students arrived to their appointment this November with Mays Business School’s namesake Lowry Mays ’57, it wasn’t just his advice that impressed them. Senior finance major Madison Marceau says Mays was working on finalizing a deal for the sale of Clear Channel Communications when he heard that the students had arrived. To the group’s surprise, Mays dropped the call and asked that the students enter his office.
“He showed amazing commitment and the great Aggie spirit we always hear about,” Marceau said.
AIC travel series director Nichole Ledder, a senior accounting major, seemed to have taken a similar note. “The most valuable information that I learned is to always treat people as you would like to be treated—because people are the most important part of any business.”
In addition to their time with Mays, students also met with Valero CEO Bill Greehey, Lewis Energy president and CEO Rod Lewis, as well as David West “90, president and founder of FourW Restaurants.
“All were exceptionally kind and helpful,” Ledder said. “I think that the biggest encouragement came from the fact that all of the men we met with were some of the kindest, most considerate people I have ever met—and they were modest enough to consider themselves “ordinary.'”
The trip was open to all majors, but designed to accommodate motivated students who intend to open a business. The students who attended are from a broad array of majors, including accounting, finance, economics, land economics and real estate, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering.
