UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012 - (Page 35)

also has represented numerous nonprofit corporations. Crawford has been involved in pro bono work since the 1980s and currently serves as the pro bono coordinator for the Jones Day Dallas office. Her in- volvement in the legal community is extensive. She is a director of the Dallas Bar Association and a member of the Dallas Entrepreneurship Institute, College of the State Bar of Texas and Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Greater Dallas. Crawford is a fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation and serves on the board of the Richardson Symphony. “I spent a day on campus recently and got to see how fabulous it has become. The programs that give students new opportunities along with the University’s general outreach to the community— these initiatives are tremendous. They are priceless. It makes me really proud to be a graduate of UTD.” clients have included Best Buy, Pizza Hut and Microsoft. During his tenure as CEO, Postfuture became Forrester Research’s top e-messaging technology provider, ranked fourth in the Deloitte Fast 50 and was honored in the Inc. 500. Before starting Postfuture, Merrick worked for Richardson-based Micrografx Inc., where he developed and marketed system software products for Microsoft Windows. Merrick has written several books and articles on the physics and historical and social ramifications of harmonic science, which explores perception of music. Throughout his career, he has maintained close ties to the University. Merrick is a guest lecturer at UT Dallas and serves on the advisory council for the School of Arts and Humanities. “I’ve become convinced that schools need to become more interdisciplinary and more integrated in their approach to keep pace. After all, you just can’t tell which combination of skills is going to be needed for the future. I believe we’re entering a modern renaissance. And we have no choice but to create more renaissance thinkers. This is the vision and philosophy I see at UT Dallas and I’m proud to be part of it.” fascinated with rocks long before seeking a post as a geological advisor for ExxonMobil Exploration Co. In fact, as an undergrad at Stony Brook University in New York, he not only explored the petrology of moon rocks but also studied rocks with his geology lab partner and future wife, Selena. In 1975, both Jim and Selena enrolled in the UT Dallas geosciences graduate program. As a student, he taught geology classes at Eastfield College and interned for a summer at Mobil Oil’s research lab in Dallas. Liking his expertise, Mobil hired Dixon to conduct research on the origin of uranium deposits, the characterization of sandstone oil reservoirs and the fluid flow behavior of reservoir rocks. When Mobil merged with Exxon in the late 1990s, he moved his family to the Houston area so he could join ExxonMobil’s Upstream Research Company. Later, Dixon transferred to ExxonMobil Exploration Co., where he teaches, mentors and oversees core analysis for worldwide exploration projects. “I’ve been able to thrive in the energy business because of the skills and experiences and mentorship and values I received on this campus.” JAMES R. DIXON PhD’80 became is vice president and general manager of the Systems Engineering Solutions strategic business unit of Ball Aerospace & Technologies “I want to thank all the people at UT Dallas who decided to make their life’s work something that enriches and transforms the lives of the Corp. Based in Broomfield, Colo., Ball Aeropeople that they touch and the families for generations after that.” space develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors and DAVID NORRIS BS’90 is CEO of components and solutions for strategic, tactical BlueCava Inc., an Irvine, Calif., startup that and scientific applications. Gibson is responprovides device identification and reputation sible for all aspects of Systems Engineering Solutions’ nationwide technology that protects against online fraud operations. He has held many leadership positions at Ball Aerospace, and promotes online marketing. Prior to joining including director of programs and director of advanced systems for BlueCava, Norris created several companies Systems Engineering Solutions. Before hiring on at Ball Aerospace in where he also served as CEO. These companies 1997, he spent several years developing and delivering systems and include OnRequest Images and ObjectSpace. As professional services to the defense, intelligence and civil space markets. an entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in During his career, Gibson worked in business development and technical building successful brands around the world, Norris is often a guest roles at Raytheon and General Dynamics. speaker at industry conferences for organizations such as Microsoft and “My career at UT Dallas transformed my life. I want to thank you for the Harvard Business School. Norris has appeared on CNN and Bloomthe opportunity to meet with professors, deans and students today. berg Television, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and The New York I am really looking forward to the opportunity to continue to reconTimes as an expert in the areas of branding, technology, international nect and forge the future with the faculty, staff and students.” business and entrepreneurism. Norris has received many honors, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Inc. 500. RICHARD S. MERRICK BA’81, MS’87 has spent 25 years “Going to such a great University, I’ve met many inspiring leaders successfully exploring software design, multimedia development and that helped shape and form my attitude on how to take ideas Internet communications. He founded Postfuture Inc. in 1999 to seize forward even when people might not agree with me.” the growing opportunity in digital marketing. Over the years, Merrick’s The University of Texas at Dallas Winter 2012 WM. DANIEL GIBSON JR. MS’90 H. RONALD NASH MS’79 is an entrepreneur and business executive in the technology industry. Based in the Dallas office, he is a partner in InterWest Partners, a Silicon Valley-headquartered technology venture capital partnership with practices in information technology and life sciences. Nash began his career at EDS, now HP Enterprise Services, in both technical and business management positions. He was a senior vice president at Perot Systems from 1993 to 2000. Over the years, Nash’s investments have created companies with a current market value of more than $450 million. A longtime supporter of UT Dallas, Nash serves on the Development Board and the Jindal School of Management Advisory Council, which honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2000. In 2010, he and his wife established the Susan C. and H. Ronald Nash Distinguished Professorship in the Jindal School of Management. 35

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012
Contents
On Campus
From the Lab
Arts and Culture
Courtside Success
Athletics
Research Is Teaching
Town and Gown
In Your Footsteps: An Alumni Perspective
Alumni Notes
In Memoriam
Hindsight

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012