Chicago Booth Magazine The View From Houston

A city once known for strip malls and sprawling suburbs has grown into a sophisticated metropolis in recent years. With a serious art scene, one-of-a-kind restaurants, and luxury condominiums going up in the city’s more pedestrian friendly areas, there are suddenly more reasons to leave the office a little earlier and experience some of Houston’s Southern charms. Almost 40 percent of the 655 Booth alumni in the Houston area work in the city’s energy sector. Many visit the city’s historic private clubs and more-casual dining spots for networking. Others use the well-connected airline hub as a springboard for sector-related international work travel.

The Houston Experts

Je’Anna Abbott, ’02 (EXP-6), Professor of social responsibility, University of Houston
Robert Beck, ’91, Manager of international business development, Anadarko Petroleum
Frank Bella, ’99, Director of business development, Shell Energy North America
Michelle Burchfiel, ’98, Treasurer, ExxonMobil Corp.
Dan Pickering, ’94, Copresident, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co

Throughout her 17 years at ExxonMobil Corp., Michelle Burchfiel, ’98, now a treasurer at the energy giant, said she’s been able to meet a close-knit group of Booth graduates both inside and outside the company. Most recently Burchfiel has returned to Houston from a stint in Prague, and is enthusiastic about “re-engaging” with fellow Booth graduates through informal after-work meet-ups that are sometimes organized by alumni. “It’s interesting to see how different paths evolved,” said the executive about the group. “We all landed in the same city, but took different paths to get here.”

When Booth alumni settle in Houston, Frank Bella, ’99, is one of the folks on their speed dial. Bella, director of business development at Shell Energy North America, often dispenses the kind of advice it takes to make it in the city’s highly competitive energy industry. “It’s a welcoming alumni community and we are pretty good about helping out,” said Bella, a 15-year veteran of Shell. Several times a year, he takes calls or lunches with fellow Booth graduates who are thinking about breaking in, and also meets with current students through the Energy Group’s trip to the city.

For Robert Beck, ’91, flying back to Chicago’s campus and participating in the Energy Group’s annual conference is a good time to reconnect with fellow alumni—some of whom also come from Houston to participate as panelists, said the manager of international business development at Anadarko Petroleum, based in The Woodlands, Texas. Back home, he’s focused on speaking with prospective Booth students, many with engineering backgrounds who are eager to take the next steps toward a business career. The connections tend to linger. Recently, a Booth graduate whom he had advised on a career path relocated to Houston and “we grabbed a beer one afternoon,” he said.

Je’Anna Abbott, ’02 (EXP-6), said attending the annual Worldwide Booth Night hosted each fall by various alumni clubs around the world has been a great way to ramp up her networking in recent years. But tapping into the network doesn’t always mean mingling over drinks, said Abbott, a Houston native and a professor of social responsibility at the University of Houston. As a runner, Abbott often goes on 5 a.m. jogs with fellow Booth alumni through sprawling Memorial Park.

The tight-knit network of alumni in the city are often part of the same social circles, says Dan Pickering, ’94, copresident and head of asset management at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., an investment bank. “There’s a fairly cohesive group of energy-focused Booth people that are brought together by common geography,” said Pickering. But that doesn’t mean he avoids speaking with newbies. He always obliges a cold call from a Booth graduate: “For me, the hook is, ‘I’m a Booth person and looking for some help.’ That’s just not something I want to turn down,” he said.

Booth Selects

The culture break: The Menil Collection