$1.5 million from Davises underwrites Neeley entrepreneur-in-residence position

Few fields are as entrepreneurial as the energy industry. So it’s fitting that a commitment of $1.5 million from a leader in the natural gas industry and his wife has enabled the Neeley School of Business to establish a new entrepreneur-in-residence position that more closely links the TCU Energy Institute and the business school.

Barry Davis ’84, chairman, president and CEO of CrossTex Energy, and his wife, Antoinette, who holds both bachelor and master degrees from TCU, made the commitment. To be held by a “successful business leader with experience in entrepreneurship and innovation,” the position will support ongoing programs of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, as well as the entrepreneurial initiatives of the TCU Energy Institute. A key focus is to be mentorship.

CrossTex is a leading independent midstream energy services company. Mr. Davis has more than 20 years of experience in the natural gas industry and serves on the TCU Energy Institute’s Board of Advisers, the Neeley Entrepreneurship Board and the board of the National Petroleum Council.  A member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, he earned the BBA in Finance from TCU in 1984.  He was a presenter at TCU’s recent Investment Strategies Conference on Energy: Conventional and Alternative Investment Opportunities. Antoinette May Davis earned the BFA in Communications in 1984 and the MS in human relations communications in 1986.

The first Davis Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Brad Hancock, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, is teaching a new course that counts toward TCU’s minor in energy, which is open to all majors. Twenty-two students from across the campus are enrolled in Entrepreneurship and Energy this semester. Mr. Davis was integral in the creation of the energy minor. Prof. Hancock was one of three national winners of the Entrepreneurship Master Teacher Award in 2007.