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CONTENTS
Dean's
Welcome
Happy,
Passionate Employees Key to Good Business
M.A.
Wright Investment Fund Wins National Title
Students
Head To Big Apple
Digital
Technology Revolution
Third
Annual Wine Tasting
Southwest
Business Plan Competition
Class
Gift Challenge
Perspectives
on Women in Leadership
Employment
Prospects in
Silicon Valley
Student
Club Updates
ALP
Profiled in Continental Airlines Magazine
Second
Annual All Class Reunion
Schuler's
Mission at Enron
Getting
the Word Out About the Jones School
Patrick
Van Pelt: Paving His Own Path
Diary
of an MBA: A First-Year Student Writes Journal for Business Week
International
Trip: Singapore and Vietnam
Serving
Unique Corporate Educational Needs
Life-long
Learning
Offshore
Technology Conference
Faculty
News
Rice
MBA 2001 Placement Report
Alumni
Association President's Letter
Class
Notes
Alumni
Leadership Challenge
2001-02
Alumni Association Board
Please send
comments to:
Deanna Sheaffer, Editor
Director of Alumni Affairs
Jones School of Management - MS 531 Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston TX 77251-1892
e-mail:JGSalum@rice.edu
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Patrick Van Pelt : Paving His Own Path
– By Nelrose A. Viloria, Class of 2002
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| Patrick
Van Pelt, MBA '99 |
The Greater Houston Preservation Alliance has honored Patrick Van
Pelt (MBA ’99) with a Good Brick Award. Van Pelt was chosen
for renovating the Benjamin Apartments at 1218 Webster from an abandoned,
worn-down brick building into cutting-edge corporate offices.
Looking around the renovated building, it is obvious how carefully
and thoughtfully certain features were kept in their original form.
Van Pelt ensured that the building preserve features from its construction
in 1924, leaving some of the layout, original tiles, and hardwood
floors intact. And yet, cutting-edge technology is prevalent within
the whole building, allowing today’s businesses to be very
competitive. Attention was given to improving employee efficiency
and comfort. For example, the layout, lighting, and wall color of
a workroom were chosen to yield the highest productivity. Even the
scenery outside the window and a breezy balcony space create an
atmosphere to encourage creativity.
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| Top: The
Benjamin Apartments at 1218 Webster prior to renovation. Bottom:
1218 Webster after renovation. |
Van Pelt’s passion for business is evident in almost all his
endeavors. He comes from a family of business owners and was very
involved in their operations. Prior to earning his MBA, he worked
for the family-owned financial consulting firm, Mid-Continent Companies,
Ltd., and for the family-owned construction company, LBJ Construction,
LP. Even his undergraduate studies were concentrated on business
administration. But Van Pelt is not one to follow the crowd. While
the rest of his MBA class spent their summer as interns, he took
on several independent projects that led him to Brazil and Germany.
Upon graduation from the Jones School, he thought about what it
meant to “master” business. While others may define it
differently, to him, it meant the entrepreneurial practice of putting
together all of the aspects of business and making it work. With
this philosophy in mind, he founded Van Pelt Enterprises within
a few days after graduation and began working on the Benjamin Apartments
project. After only about 18 months, his project has already won
him honor.
When asked his thoughts on what helped him most to achieve his
successes, he credits the Jones Graduate School of Management. Although
he knew exactly what he wanted to do in life, he acknowledges that
without JGSM, he would not have had the poise and the ability to
articulate convincingly his interests in order to garner support
for them.
The Benjamin Apartments project has been completed and is co-occupied
by the three family-owned businesses. Van Pelt is busy lining up
future projects.
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