The McCombs School of Business will induct three prominent business leaders into its Hall of Fame at a ceremony and celebration at the ATandT Executive Education and Conference Center Nov. 12.
The honorees are John W. Carpenter III, Gary Kusin and Corbin J. Robertson Jr., all alumni of The University of Texas at Austin.
Carpenter is founder and chief executive officer of the Lachlan Alliance, a company engaged in real estate development, private equity investments, oil and gas production and public securities since 1998. Prior to this, he co-founded and was involved with JPI Companies, which develops, constructs and manages multi-family residential properties. As CEO of Southland Financial Companies and Las Colinas, Inc., from 1986 to 1992, he worked on the development of the 12,000-acre Las Colinas master-planned community in Northwest Dallas County, the Williams Square office project, the Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas and the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin.
Carpenter has served as director of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and Irving Community Hospital Foundation and president of the Highland Park Independent School District Board of Trustees and its education foundation. He is also a member of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council, Urban Land Institute and Dallas Citizens Council and serves as director of the Trinity River Improvement Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, State Fair of Texas and is a trustee of the Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation.
Carpenter earned his bachelor of business administration in 1974 at Texas Tech University, from which he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Honor, and his master’s of business administration from The University of Texas at Austin in 1977.
“I’ve worked with a lot of board presidents through my 34 years in the business, and John is the finest board president that I’ve ever had the privilege to work with or observe in action,” says Cathy Bryce, former superintendent of the Highland Park Independent School District. “He is a consummate leader.”
Kusin is a senior advisor to TPG Capital, a private equity firm, and former president and CEO of FedEx Kinko’s. Appointed to a nine-person Strategic Management Committee for FedEx Corp. worldwide, Kusin led Kinko’s strategic growth and oversaw the two-year transition of the company and its sale to FedEx.
Prior to joining Kinko’s in 2001, Kusin served as CEO of HQ Global Workplaces (now part of Regus), which provides offices, meeting rooms, virtual offices and network access at locations around the world. In 1995 he co-founded Laura Mercier Cosmetics, which sold to Neiman Marcus in 1998. He also co-founded Babbage’s Inc. (now GameStop), the country’s leading consumer software specialty chain, in 1983 and served as president. Kusin’s experience in retailing extends back to his tenure as vice president and general merchandise manager for the Sanger-Harris division of the Federated Department Store (now Macy’s).
An Inc. magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, Kusin serves on the Board of Directors of Electronic Arts Inc., Petco, Sabre Holdings and TXU Energy. He is outgoing chair of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council and an executive committee member on The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Council.
Kusin earned his bachelor of arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1972 and his master’s of business administration from the Harvard Business School in 1976.
“Gary has run a wide variety of businesses over the years. He’s a serial transformational leader,” says Dick Boyce, senior partner at TPG Capital. “Gary’s very interested in, ‘How do we innovate, bring new products, meet new customer needs.’ He brings great energy and a unique lens for the rest of us at TPG, in both diligence and operations.”
Robertson is chairman and CEO of Natural Resource Partners, managing partner of Quintana Capital Group and CEO of Quintana Minerals Corp., where he oversees commercial mining reserves and pursues clean energy initiatives. Robertson also serves on the boards of directors for the Western Pocahontas Corp., Living Spaces Furniture and Great Northern Properties, where he provides counsel on land maintenance and improvements.
He is also the founding director of Northfield National Bank and chairman of the board for the Cullen Trust for Higher Education. Robertson has also served on the board of directors for the Gulf Coast Conservation Association, Houston Chamber of Commerce, United States Chamber of Commerce and The Menninger Clinic and chaired Texas Natural Resources Council’s Advisory Committee. He also sits on the National Petroleum Council and is former chairman of Baylor College of Medicine’s Board of Trustees.
Robertson’s accolades include the Hugh Roy Cullen Award for Distinguished Service, University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award, College of Natural Sciences Hall of Honor Inductee, Outstanding Texas Ex Award (Houston Chapter), Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation Inductee, Texas Children’s Hospital Outstanding Community Volunteer and Houston Technology Center’s Entrepreneur of the Year.
Robertson received his bachelor of business administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 1969, where he was a two-time Academic All-American and co-captain of the football team. He is a member of the university’s Chancellor’s Council and McCombs School of Business Advisory Council.
“I’ve been amazed as I’ve learned through the years about the number of things that he–quietly and without public credit–was doing in Houston,” says David Carmichael, a director of Natural Resource Partners and friend of Robertson’s for nearly 40 years. “Corby believes in the ideal of putting more into the system than you take out of it. He’s committed to leaving things better than he found them. It’s a wonderful set of values, and he lives it.”
Learn more about the McCombs School Hall of Fame.
