Honoring a Leader
An Anonymous Baylor alumnus gave a $1.5 million gift commitment to help establish a new endowed faculty position within the Hankamer School of Business, honoring Dean Terry S. Maness, B.A. ’71, M.S. ’72, D.B.A., on his upcoming retirement and years of service. The gift is part of a fundraising effort among the business school’s alumni to honor Maness’ legacy and provide endowment support for the Lab-to-Market (L2M) program, an interdisciplinary program that serves as the pipeline for translating research into viable commercial and business concepts at Baylor.
“For more than 43 years, Dean Terry Maness has served tirelessly to advance the mission of Baylor University through his time as a member of our faculty, as a mentor and leader and ultimately, as dean of the Hankamer School of Business,” Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., said. “It is a testimony to the impact he has made on the School and his students that so many have stepped forward to honor him through the establishment of this important endowed position.
Livingstone, who taught in Hankamer in the 1990s, said personally benefited from Maness’ mentorship and guidance when he named her associate dean in 1998.
“I will always be grateful for his support, and I appreciate the alumnus whose generosity, paired with fellow classmates, will make this honor possible,” Livingstone said. “Baylor’s faculty and administration have a calling to teach and lead, and I celebrate the support this will provide our Hankamer School of Business. I will continue to be grateful for the legacy of Dean Maness.”
The Terry S. Maness Endowed Chair in Lab-to-Market Entrepreneurship also qualifies for the Baylor Academic Challenge program, the University’s dollar-for-dollar matching program for faculty positions created through donor support that undergird and advance the priorities of Illuminate. The faculty holder of the Maness Chair will provide leadership and strategic planning for the Hankamer School of Business’s efforts through L2M and will be instrumental in pursuing opportunities for students to participate in the program.
The Maness Chair also will coordinate faculty efforts and collaborations with other stakeholders — both within the University as well as the commercial sector — that will produce viable and efficient strategies for commercialization of research. The chairholder will collaborate with faculty across disciplines and academic units who conduct their research on campus as well as at the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaboration (BRIC).
“It is truly humbling to be the recipient of such a great honor as the naming of an endowed faculty position here at Baylor,” Maness said. “It is critical to our research enterprise that we strengthen our approach to commercializing and monetizing that research so that it, in return, can fund future academic discovery, especially at the BRIC. As I have said before, the success of the Lab-to-Market program is critical to Baylor fulfilling the promise of the BRIC. I am so thankful for the support of our alumni and the University in helping to fund this important endeavor.”
The gift results from discussions among the University’s administration and alumni leaders, who voiced a desire to give a gift to the University that celebrates and commemorates Maness’ service and leadership within the business school.
Upon being approached for what would be an area of meaningful impact, Maness proposed the L2M program for its potential to dramatically increase the amount of funding supporting research throughout Baylor’s 12 schools and colleges.