AUSTIN, Texas — A landmark naming gift is empowering one of the nation’s premier accounting programs to chart bold new directions for the profession. The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business announced today that a foundational gift from accounting alumnus Jon Shulkin, BBA ’97, will name the Jonathan K. Shulkin Department of Accounting.
McCombs’ undergraduate and graduate degree programs in accounting have ranked in the top two by U.S. News & World Report for 20 consecutive years.
Shulkin serves as co-president and a partner of Valor Equity Partners, an operational growth equity investment firm serving exceptional founders, entrepreneurs and companies that are making the world a better place. Shulkin said he hopes the gift will expand career opportunities for the nation’s brightest accounting students.
“If I had to choose one primary objective I hope this gift enables, it’s to broaden the aperture for accounting students in terms of what they can do with their degree,” Shulkin said. “The landscape has changed, and there’s a massive need for experts able to deploy accounting as an operational skill set to help companies measure, identify and improve return on invested capital, throughput, cost and cash flow in a way that is enabled by a world-class accounting education.”
McCombs Accounting Department Chair Steven Kachelmeier said Shulkin’s professional journey illustrates the promise of this transformative gift. “Mr. Shulkin’s evolution from his UT Austin accounting roots to co-president of a top operational growth investment firm reinforces the sense that accounting can open new and exciting doors to success,” Kachelmeier said. “This gift enables us to embrace the challenges posed by new technologies, new regulations and new career paths.”
McCombs Dean Lillian Mills, herself a McCombs accounting professor, said this generous gift will help countless students maximize their potential in this new era. “This transformational gift will elevate our thought leadership through research support, sponsored conferences, and faculty development, and enable us to invest in cutting edge accounting education into our second century of excellence,” Mills said.
Rooted in the Forty Acres
Shulkin was raised in Chicago and said he “fell in love with UT” after a campus visit during high school. He attended on a generous academic scholarship, for which he said he is still grateful.
A member of Pi Lambda Phi and Zeta Beta Tau fraternities, Shulkin also served as president of UT’s Interfraternity Council. “Going to a school where game day was a ritual and experiencing what was effectively a totally different culture was a foundational experience in my life. I would return to Chicago for the holidays wearing my cowboy boots and saying ‘y’all,’” he recalled, laughing. “I could not have possibly picked a better place to go.”
He credits McCombs’ accounting program with giving him a technical foundation to understand business that shaped his career.
Shulkin began his career at Bain & Company and was hired by Antonio Gracias, Valor’s founder, CEO and chief information officer, in 1998. He became co-president in 2021.
Shulkin serves as fund manager for Valor Siren Ventures, a series of funds investing in emerging technology companies in consumer, food, retail and sustainability, backed by corporate partners including Starbucks and Nestle. He also oversees Valor’s Scale Group, which provides hands-on operational support to Valor’s investments in companies such as SpaceX and xAI, and Valor’s Finance and Infrastructure teams.
Accounting’s New Horizons
Across those roles, he said, the skills he gained at Texas McCombs have remained central. “I think a technical accounting education is one of the best ways to learn how to understand and analyze a business,” Shulkin said. “Whether making journal entries, running financial analysis, operating a business, or understanding cash flow, the education I received from the best accounting school in the U.S. proved foundational to what I do today.”
Shulkin noted that while many accounting graduates pursue traditional roles with Big Four firms, demand is growing for accounting-trained professionals in industry roles.
“McCombs’ accounting program has always blazed trails, but Jon’s munificent gift has us poised to shape the industry — and the lives of our students — in ways we couldn’t have imagined,” said Mills. “We are beyond grateful.”
Shulkin recently accepted an invitation to join the McCombs Dean’s Advisory Council. He also endowed a scholarship for McCombs students in 2018 and contributed significantly to build James J. and Miriam B. Mulva Hall, the school’s future home for undergraduate education, academic departments, research centers and faculty offices.
“An accounting degree from McCombs gives students the tools to add significant value in environments where purpose and innovation matter,” Shulkin said. “I hope McCombs accounting graduates expand their conception of career opportunities, enabling them to have a great life and give back to UT.”
