Why Mulva Hall Matters

Our present facilities are principally the ones I attended in the late 1960s. They are old, require a significant amount of maintenance, and are not conductive to teaching in today’s environment. I believe a new facility will further enhance recruitment of the best students and faculty. We are McCombs and our facilities should be first class.

Mindy and I couldn’t be more impressed with the leadership, students, and alumni of Texas McCombs. We hope our investment will help the University accommodate the growth of the school while maintaining its world-class reputation. As parents of a current student at McCombs, it was important to us to contribute to the success of this project and support the vision of President Hartzell and Dean Mills.  

We believe McCombs offers students one of the premier undergraduate education programs in the country. We invested early in the Mulva Hall project because we felt it was important to provide these students a new space to learn and collaborate — a space that is representative of the quality and character of McCombs and The University of Texas. 

We are proud to be early investors in Mulva Hall. The project is breathtaking and represents even greater national prestige for the McCombs School of Business. Donors can rest assured that future students will benefit from the many building amenities as they prepare for their careers in business. At a time of immense employment competition, we’re excited to give our UT graduates yet another edge. 

Upon completion of Mulva Hall in 2028, the McCombs School of Business will offer one the finest business learning and research complexes in the world. McCombs students will be able to follow executive and lifelong learning opportunities at the ATT Hotel & Conference Center. Undergraduates will attend via Mulva Hall and graduate students via Rowling Hall, all within walking distance of each other. 

When approached to be a part of the early-stage investment, there was no hesitation. We were excited to be Early Investors and support the forward thinking and planning of the institution’s high-integrity leaders. This was back in August 2020, and we were motivated to contribute to the future of business education at The University of Texas at Austin. We wanted to be part of the momentum of having the McCombs School recognized as one of the country’s premier business schools. To do so, we must live up to that standard, not only to increase the numbers of students enrolled in undergraduate programs, but to create an environment with all the bells and whistles of a premier public research business school. The students and faculty will be excited to work in such an environment, which will lend to the first-class experience, and students will take pride in their accomplishments and the tangible outcomes during their years following graduation from the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin.  

My hope is that Texas will continue to improve the quality of its business school over time and ultimately become the most coveted destination in the country for top students and faculty. I think we are well on our way, and having a world-class facility that creates space for learning, collaboration, and building lifelong relationships is an essential ingredient to our success. Mulva Hall will be an important part of our successful future, and we are proud to be a small part of the team that will support the next generation of UT’s continued advancement. 

A new modern undergraduate facility of comparable quality to Rowling Hall will contribute greatly to the favorable trajectory of the academic excellence, ranking, and prestige that the McCombs School of Business has earned over the last 45-plus years. As an Austin resident, business owner, and local employer, we have witnessed the impact of the school’s success on the business community, city, and state as a whole. It is a great privilege to invest in that success. Our early-stage investment speaks to our confidence that McCombs will continue to flourish in educating and equipping the next generation of business leaders. 

Mulva Hall represents a unique opportunity to showcase some of the world’s next generation leadership, a place where for the next 50 years UT can provide a place to learn and to inspire our talented students. I couldn’t be more excited to participate in the project. 

As members of the McCombs community, we are fortunate to have a McCombs graduate leading The University of Texas at Austin. President Hartzell recognizes the need for a new undergraduate building in order to attract and retain students and faculty, and to remain a top 10 Business school. The existing building was appropriate in the ’80s when I was a student. However, teaching styles have evolved, requiring different special conditions for optimal learning. Jeff and I were happy to be one of the first investors in Mulva Hall and hope many of you will join us in supporting the project! 

I think it’s going to be very important that students can look down and learn, then look out and project their ideas onto the world. 

Top-tier business schools demand best-in-class facilities. The value of my undergraduate degree from McCombs was life changing! My UT BBA degree provided the path, such that many years later we could evidence early support of this much needed and long overdue investment in the McCombs undergraduate-focused facilities.

As a top ranked business school, McCombs should have the best faculty and facilities possible to foster the next generation of leaders. We clearly have the top-tier faculty, and now our facilities will be the best in the country. When I heard I could play a small role to help make the reality of a new business school facility come to life, I was all in. It is the vision and great generosity of the Mulvas that is making this happen, and I am happy to follow their lead to help start this project for McCombs. 

This isn’t just a building. It’s an investment in education — an investment in youth. 

Philanthropy in Texas is a competitive sport. We all love to be part of the same team, and when we know that other donors we respect have already done the due diligence, it’s easy to come alongside. 

Mulva Hall is truly transformational for Texas McCombs, allowing its physical infrastructure to be on par with its already top-decile human capital: faculty, academics, and programs. Importantly, the project design was not meant for today; rather, it is meant for the future — to accommodate and grow with a leading undergraduate business school and facilitate the continuing cutting-edge education of future industry leaders across a variety of disciplines in business. 

The McCombs family is honored to continue the legacy started by my grandfather, Red McCombs. He was convinced that the future success of the state depended on educating as many young Texans as possible in the field of business, and that The University of Texas at Austin was the best possible place to do just that. With Mulva Hall, we get the chance to fully realize that vision — by providing the best-in-class setting to educate thousands of undergraduate students. 

I have no doubt the building is going to be world class and serve us well for the next 50 years.

We expect Mulva Hall to be a best-in-class facility that will continue to attract the top students and enable them to learn in a more collaborative, dynamic, and embracing atmosphere. Being Early Investors signals strong support for the project so critical to the advancement of the McCombs School and Mulva Hall.