First EMBA Graduating Class Celebrates 10-Year Reunion (1) A collection of memorabilia from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Executive MBA (EMBA) Class of '94 was a focal point at the class's 10-year reunion last October at the Dallas Petroleum Club. The Class of '94 is the UTD EMBA Program's first graduating class. (2) Class member Doug Gordon (left) reminisced with School of Management (SOM) Associate Dean for Executive Education David Springate, Ph.D., about the "Springate Cup." Members of the EMBA Class of '94 started the traveling trophy to recognize outstanding student performance. (3) 2004 Springate Cup recipient Mahesh Chandiramani, a member of the EMBA Class of 2006 (4) Dr. Springate and 1994 alum Rich Allen (left) look through an album of photos taken during the Class of '94's tenure on the UTD campus. (5) Class of '94 alums Karen Sledge (left) and Diane Larson (right) with Dr. Springate (6) Class of '94 members who attended the reunion, (left to right) Rich Allen, Diane Larson, Tim Moline, Richard Burton, Sam Gilliland, Karen Sledge, Chris Hannah, Doug Bruton and Doug Gordon (7) Richard Burton (left) and Rich Allen (8) Doug Gordon (left) and Doug Bruton (right) presented Dr. Springate with a Superman suit to acknowledge his "superhuman" efforts to build UTD's nationally ranked EMBA Program. The SOM faculty founded the program in 1992, and Dr. Springate was appointed to run it. (9) (Left to right) Diane Larson, Sam Gilliland and Tim Moline (10) SOM Associate Dean for External Affairs and Corporate Development Diane McNulty, Ph.D. (left), who has been a faculty member of the EMBA Program since its beginning, and class member Rich Allen Taking on a Partner How business acumen took root in an SOM class and blossomed into marriage BY Helen Bond Talk about closing the deal. When Wendy Cordray and Oliver Cone became a team to create a business plan as part of a class assignment, the pair never imagined it would lead to a lasting partnership. "Never in a million, gazillion years," laughs Wendy. Flashback to January 2001. It was the last semester at The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management for Wendy and Oliver. Both were pursuing Master of Business Administration degrees. Wendy was busy working to boost the opportunities of her undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management. Oliver, a University of Oxford graduate with a degree in oriental studies, turned to UTD to expand his knowledge of the business world. Then came the class. On the first day of the entrepreneurship course - made up of mostly married folks - students introduced themselves and touted why they would be a good group member. Oliver caught Wendy's eye - for more than one reason. "He was cute," recalled Wendy. "But my main motivation was that he said what he did all day long was read business plans. ...If he understood the good and bad of a business plan, I thought, 髟 want to be on his team'." For his part, Oliver, who hails from Cambridge, England, couldn't refuse Wendy's business pitch. He was pleasantly amused when this outgoing and chatty classmate strolled across the room to snatch him up as a teammate, while most students simply picked people sitting next to them. The duo began to bond over their assignment to help a start-up catering business and even had another class together. Wendy, who is from Fort Worth, Texas, suspected romance might be brewing when Oliver regularly brought her a copy of online class notes after she complained her computer was too old and slow to do the necessary searches. "We both began to get to class earlier and stay later," says Oliver, 30. After a group gathering with classmates, their first date was the Byron Nelson golf tournament - and the two never looked back. By the way, they got a 釕' on the entrepreneurship class project, which Wendy says was criticized because "it didn't seem realistic. It was a catering company that specialized in selling to the medical sales reps." The criticism, she says, "is ironic, since one of my friends actually turned our idea into a real business, and it has been going strong for three years now." Wendy also reports the course was "the only class Oliver got a 釕' in. I ruined his 4.0 [grade-point average]. I can't say the same." By the time they got engaged in May two years ago, Wendy, 32, was ready - but she didn't know for what. Oliver had been hatching a plan for weeks, when he casually proposed a last-minute trip to San Antonio. As the Southwest plane landed, Wendy was listening to the "welcome to San Antonio speech" over the loud speaker when the flight attendant suddenly veered to another script penned by Oliver on a napkin: "And Oliver wants to know if Wendy will make him the happiest man in the world and marry him." After she said "yes," the passengers clapped their approval, and the good people at Southwest met Wendy and Oliver at the gate with champagne. Southwest chiefs Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barrett even responded to the couple's thank-you note with a wedding gift, a picture frame inscribed with the word, "Love." Southwest Airlines' first logo was a red heart, and early advertising and corporate mottoes regularly included "love" in the company's message. Oliver and Wendy were married June 5, 2004, in Dallas. These days, both are working in Dallas; Oliver is an investment officer for Bulkley Capital, and Wendy has put her management skills to work as general manager of a Good Eats restaurant. They have fond memories of their UTD days and see parallels in the dedication it takes to get a graduate degree - which they both completed in 2001 - and build a lasting relationship. "It shows someone's character to go to graduate school. We both know how hard it was to go to school and work [at the same time]," says Wendy. "Anyone that is doing this has got to be dedicated to something, whether that means work or marriage and family," says Wendy. Not to mention the fact that they have a nice tale about how romance can happen when you least expect it.