Rawls College Kicks Off New Semester of Roundtable Speakers

Texas Tech University’s Rawls College of Business hosts its first event in the Chief Executives’ Roundtable (CXR) speaker series of the fall semester at 11:30 a.m. Friday (Sept. 14) at Valley of Lubbock Scottish Rite, 1101 70th Street.

The college’s 10th dean, Lance Nail, will speak on “The Future of Business Education at the Rawls College of Business.”

Nail came to Texas Tech in August from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) where he was dean of the USM College of Business from 2008-2012.

On Oct. 3 the Rawls College will host Nick Vitalari, author, entrepreneur and managing director of Elasticity Labs. He will speak on “The Elastic Enterprise: Making Companies Competitive in the Twenty-first Century.” His unique background led him to serve as an academic, corporate executive, advisor, educator, analyst, and as a public servant in local government. At Elasticity Labs Vitalari works with executives to instill new levels of elasticity into their strategies and operations.

His most recent book ”The Elastic Enterprise,” outlines new strategies and structures that give leading firms unprecedented flexibility and competitive advantage. He has published three other books and numerous articles in professional journals, and his work has been covered in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today and other media.

On Nov. 6 the series continues at the Lubbock Country Club with Alan White, chairman and CEO of PlainsCapital Corp. He leads PlainsCapital’s strategic direction and oversees the corporation’s financial strength, stability and management. White founded PlainsCapital Corp. in 1987, and acquired Plains National Bank (later renamed PlainsCapital Bank) in 1988. Hilltop Holdings Inc. and PlainsCapital Corp. recently announced the two Dallas-based companies have signed a merger agreement.

White received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Texas Tech Alumni Association in 2005, was named Outstanding CEO by the Rawls College of Business in 2001, and received the Texas Tech University Ex-Student’s Association Lauro Cavazos Award in 1999.

The Chief Executives’ Roundtable series brings nationally recognized industry leaders to Texas Tech to share their experiences and insights with students, faculty and the business community. The CXR speaker series is open to the public by subscribing to the program.