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Leadership investments

Corporate gifts establish Goolsby Academy scholarship, professorship

Goolsby Leadership Academy graduate Farah Lawler ('06 BBA) is a customer support analyst for BNSF.

The College of Business Administration’s Goolsby Leadership Academy recently received two gifts that, when matched, will total $750,000.

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation gift will be matched to provide $500,000 and establish the BNSF Railway Company Scholarship Fund. A Standard Meat Co. gift will be matched to create a $250,000 endowment for the E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal Endowed Professorship.

“The University of Texas at Arlington is a top-notch institution that provides the Metroplex with a pipeline of quality graduates,” said John Lanigan, executive president for marketing at BNSF Railway. “BNSF has firsthand experience working with Goolsby scholars. They are products of an outstanding program.”

Three 2006 Goolsby graduates—Chris Ballenger (B.S., economics), an agricultural products analyst; Kevin Ghassemi (B.B.A., management), who is in train operations in Amarillo; and Farah Lawler (B.B.A., marketing), a customer support analyst—work for BNSF, based in Fort Worth.

“During my Goolsby executive leadership class I was introduced to many area business leaders, one of them being Mr. Lanigan,” Ghassemi said. “His presentation to our class sparked my interest in the railroad business, and here I am one year later, working as a trainmaster with the BNSF Railway Company.”

Lawler says her Goolsby experience not only helped her land a job but also prepared her to succeed.

“The Goolsby Academy taught me the value of diversity and that listening is in fact a great communication skill,” she said.

Rosenthal was the former chairman of the board of Standard Meat and a longtime supporter of education. He was a frequent speaker in graduate business classes at UT Arlington and a former president of the College of Business Administration Advisory Council.

A 1942 Texas A&M University graduate, Rosenthal and his wife, Rosalyn, also donated an endowed chair at Texas A&M in 1987.

Standard Meat President Joe Penshorn says the company established the professorship for two reasons.

“First, we want to honor and recognize Manny Rosenthal for his tremendous leadership. Second, we want to use this as an opportunity to thank the many UT Arlington alumni, faculty, staff and friends who feel so passionately about the University that they demonstrate their support through the act of giving.”

Several UT Arlington M.B.A. graduates work for Standard Meat.

“They are solid employees with a strong work ethic,” Penshorn said. “This is a way for the company to express its appreciation to those employees as well.”

The Goolsby Leadership Academy now has three endowed faculty positions. The Alcon Foundation made a commitment in June 2005, and philanthropists Virginia and Paul Dorman funded an endowed chair in December 2005.

The academy was established in 2003 through an anonymous $2 million challenge gift, with $1 million designed for endowed scholarships and $1 million for endowed faculty positions.

For giving opportunities, visit www.uta.edu/giving.

— Jim Patterson