Crisp, White Envelopes

By Michael Alexander '10

On May 29, 2008, I received a crisp, white envelope in the mail. Little did I know, that envelope, would change the course of my life in more ways than I could’ve possibly expected. That envelope contained my acceptance into the 10th Executive MBA class at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

I thought the envelope contained the invitation to the fulfillment of a life-long dream – my dream to earn an MBA from Texas A&M University. In hindsight, the envelope contained more. It contained the first page of several new chapters in my life.

Fan to Raving Fan

Over the course of our first semester in the EMBA program in the fall of 2008, I became a fan. The engaging professors, the challenging coursework, the budding relationships with classmates, and the energy created by learning and growing – all came together to create a higher level of engagement than I’d ever anticipated. I was a fan. Over the following spring and our Washington Campus experience, my engagement and level of passion expanded and deepened. I found myself being less of a fan, and more of a raving fan.

My teammates started calling me “professor,” not because I specifically took on any sort of teaching role, and not because I was the oldest guy on our team, but because my passion began to mirror the passion we witnessed in Duane Ireland, Wendy Boswell, John Krajicek, Bala Shetty and all those who led our growth, our learning, our transformation.

Fast Forward to August, 2011

In August, 2011 I received another letter – the launch announcement for the new Professional MBA program and the exciting new facility at CITYCENTRE. My first thought was, “How can I help?”

I didn’t know if “help” meant serve on a committee, assist in student recruitment, help with a course or something else. I only knew that my “full-blown raving fan” status drove me to help in any way needed, or any way I could provide value.

The eventual result: On March 19, 2012, I became the director of the Professional MBA program at Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.

Today and Tomorrow

Our Professional MBA program is new, but we stand on the foundations built by the fantastic faculty and tremendous staff in our Full-Time and Executive MBA programs.

Today, we’re beginning the response to a market need. We’ll provide a high-quality, nationally-ranked MBA education to a growing and powerful group of professionals, a group of professionals who asked us to build a program just for them.

We’re also extending the Texas A&M and Mays Business School brands deeper into the greater Houston market. We’ll extend our brands through the use of a state-of-the-art, custom-built facility in the dynamic CITYCENTRE development. We’ll extend our brands by growing the Aggie MBA network in Houston. And we’ll extend our brands by providing one of the best, most valuable MBA experiences to a new group of working professionals.

Crisp, White Envelopes

I look back on the day I received that crisp, white envelope with great pride.

And I look forward to leading our Professional MBA program. A program filled with a new generation of professional MBA students, a new generation of business leaders.

I look forward to leading a program that gets to send out crisp, white envelopes.

Michael Alexander ’10 - is the director of the Professional MBA program at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School.