Global Giving

McCombs School of Business

Gift to McCombs Enhances Global Business Education

Donor Raymond Brimble and Deirdre Mendez, Director, Center for Global Business. Courtesy of McCombs School of Business

A $2.5 million gift made to the McCombs School’s Center for Global Business will enhance cutting-edge international coursework and global resources for UT students, preparing tomorrow’s leaders to enter a multicultural and interconnected workforce.

Donor, alum, and Austin business owner Raymond Brimble, who also serves as emeritus chair of the center’s advisory board, hopes the Brimble Global Impact Endowment will remove financial barriers to global business education for students in the McCombs School and across campus.

Initiative goals include new and updated international business courses; expanded study abroad scholarships; enhanced advising services; and broader outreach to alumni who could serve as speakers, mentors and employers. Read More

“Texas is a global player, and its future professionals need to be ready. It’s our dream that we can support new and enriched programs that will make an international business education available to more students. Rapid global change calls for the leadership that a UT education provides.”

— Raymond Brimble, Emeritus Chair, Center for Global Business Advisory Board

Texas Global

Donors Mobilize During 40 Hours for the Forty Acres

Photo by Octavio Kano-Galván

April 2024 marked the 10th anniversary of 40 Hours for the Forty Acres, UT’s annual day of giving, during which thousands of generous Longhorns donate to support the campus pursuits that matter the most to them.

Many alumni and friends donate to Texas Global’s efforts, including international student scholarships that help abate financial obstacles and attract global talent to the University. To bolster UT’s No. 2 national ranking for study abroad participation, Education Abroad scholarships provide access for students with financial constraints to study in more than 100 countries.

Donations also help fund the President’s Award for Global Learning, a program that empowers students and faculty to address worldwide challenges, both inside the classroom and outside the U.S.

“We are so grateful for the generosity and commitment of the Longhorn community,” said Fiona Mazurenko, director of Global Initiatives and Alumni Relations. “Funding contributed during 40 for Forty allows Texas Global to open doors that help international students thrive at UT and contribute valuable insight to the academic discourse on campus. It empowers Longhorns to study, research, and intern across the globe, further growing UT’s community of global leaders and changemakers.” Read More

“I hope more alumni, especially those who had a positive experience in global engagement while at UT, will become — and remain — regularly recurring donors.”

— Mandy Lai (B.S. ’04, M.S.’06), Cockrell School of Engineering

UT Tower and University Ave. with orange flowers in the foreground on sunny blue sky day

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES
TEXAS GLOBAL

Freeman Scholarship Empowers Career Exploration in Asia

In 2023, biochemistry major Elizabeth Suh received a prestigious Freeman Scholarship for Internships in Asia, allowing her to dedicate an entire summer to working at an internship with the CET Taiwan program in Taipei.

Suh also took a daily language class in Mandarin to increase fluency for her Chinese language minor and explored Taiwan with multinational friends and co-workers, which connected her more deeply with her family’s Taiwanese culture.

The Freeman Foundation fosters economic and cultural exchange between the United States and East Asia. In partnership with UT, the foundation funds undergraduate and graduate internships across a variety of industries in 11 countries.

Since 2012, more than 345 students across 12 colleges and schools at UT have received support from the Freeman Foundation, gaining a deeper understanding of the region’s cultural and geopolitical nuances, as well as other skills critical to success in a global workforce.

For her internship, Suh researched information about millet production in various countries and created infographics for the organization’s website. She said the internship helped her gain the confidence to communicate in Mandarin about work responsibilities.

“Thanks to the support from the Freeman Scholarship, I was able not only to learn about environmental activism in Taiwan and meet my language improvement goals, but also take the opportunity to integrate myself into Taiwanese culture.”

— Elizabeth Suh, Class of ’25, Biochemistry

“One of my major takeaways from this summer internship is that I have to take initiative, even in an environment where I am uncertain of myself,” said Suh. “I was able to learn how to operate in a Taiwanese work environment by not being afraid to ask questions.” Read More

Texas Global

African Leadership Bridge Supports Generational Change

Rick Reeder and John Kidenda with ALB board members and scholarship recipients. Courtesy of African Leadership Bridge

UT Austin alum Rick Reeder co-created the African Leadership Bridge (ALB) in 2007 with Kenyan student John Kidenda after a family illness jeopardized Kidenda’s finances, forcing him to face the possibility of returning to Kenya before completing his program. The two wanted to offer financial and community support to African students in similar situations. Together, they created the nonprofit to champion the next generation of African leaders at UT Austin.

“There are all of these brilliant, driven students from the continent of Africa who are either not getting the opportunity to come to the U.S. for college or getting to the U.S. and not being able to finish because they can’t afford the fees,” said Kidenda, now an ALB board member. “The foundation’s goal is to get as many of these students through college as possible. Providing them with the potential to be leaders is the highest-impact thing we can do to influence Africa’s development trajectory.”

Sixteen years later, Texas Global partnered with the ALB to create an endowment for UT Austin students who completed part or all of their preparatory education in Africa. The first endowed scholarship was awarded in 2023 to Nigerian student Usomine Omamegbe.

Omamegbe, who grew up in Lagos, studies finance and accounting at the McCombs School. After graduation, she plans to return to Nigeria to help expand the country’s financial institutions by creating affordable options for the many citizens who do not have access to financial advising.

“I worked two jobs last year, and I always had reservations on how I would balance that with organizations and classwork,” Omamegbe said. “The scholarship has helped me cut down on my working hours, so there’s a sense of relief. Now I can put more time into the African organizations that I’m a part of — and through that, give back to the community.” Read More

“Whenever you’re on campus and away from home, it’s easy to forget that you have a tribe. ALB is created to be that tribe that says, ‘Hey, I know what you’re passionate about, and I want to support you in creating change.’”

— Diana Ayoub, Board Member, African Leadership Bridge