Advisory Council

Beyond Business Magazine

COBA Advisory Council

The purpose of the Sam Houston State University College of Business Administration (COBA) Advisory Council is to enable effective partnership between the business community and the College in order to ensure that:

  1. Our curriculum and programming reflects the current and future needs of the business community so that our graduates become significant contributors.
  2. Our students are exposed in meaningful ways to businesses during their course of study in the appropriate balance of theory and practice.
  3. The COBA provides appropriate mentoring, internship opportunities and job placement opportunities for students.
  4. Our faculty remain current in their fields and have opportunities to contribute to the body of knowledge in these fields through meaningful research projects.
  5. The COBA contributes to the competitiveness, growth and overall success of the business community.
  6. The COBA develops funding sources to enable investment for expansion.

The COBA Advisory Council is comprised of individuals with significant experience and expertise in a diverse set of business and professional disciplines representative of the Houston Metro Area, with a focus on the global nature of our business environment. The Advisory Council meets formally two to three times per year. In the interim, members work with the COBA, singly or in groups, based on their individual skills and interests, to achieve the above goals.

Advisory Council Members

Jill S. Vaughan '82
Chair of Council
Senior Vice President
Amegy Bank of Texas

Justin Burnett, '98
Vice President of Materials Management & Warehousing
BP

Royce Burnett '81
KPMG Research Fellow in Accountancy
Southern Illinois University

Ronny Carroll '65
President
Ronny Carroll Custom Homes (ret.)

Gary Dudley '69
President
Southwest Business Corporation

Walter Fitzgerald, '79
Sr. Vice President (ret.)
CenterPoint Energy

Brian Hall, '88
Manager of Corporate Supplier
Shell Oil Company

Robert E. Hutson ‘65
Senior Vice President
Texas Capital Bank

Charles W. Jones, III '81
National Indirect Lending Head
SunTrust Bank

Gibson D. Lewis, '62
President
Lewis Label Products

Michael Rohrig, '97
Partner
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Chris Sower, '96
Vice President, America & West Africa Logistics
NALCO Champion

Brian Starr '02
Partner
Whitley Penn

Mary M. Vitek ‘86
Chief Executive Officer
Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council

Dawn Wesneski '15
Smith-Hutson Scholarship Coordinator
Smith-Hutson Foundation

Charles E. Amato '70 (Inactive Status)
Chairman
Southwest Business Corporation

Todd A. Zuspan ‘88
Partner
Ernst & Young LLP