40 Under 40

Three powerful Texans join Taylor Swift, John Oliver and Jessica Alba on magazine's 40 Under 40 list

Austin really is the new Silicon Valley. Fortune’s annual 40 Under 40 honors the most influential people in business, from entertainment to healthcare to food, with a heavy emphasis on technology. While many of these young innovators are based in the Bay Area, Austin found representation on the 2015 list with two impressive execs.

Jason Buechel
Joining Whole Foods Market two years ago, Buechel is probably still considered “the new guy” due to the fact that the next shortest time on the executive team is a 19-year tenure. He’s also the youngest, at age 37, and as the EVP and CIO of Whole Foods has forged important partnerships to boost the technological component of Whole Foods’ services.

In addition to working on systems that allow traceability into the supply chain and inform customers about products’ nutritional and allergen information, he’s also teamed up with Apple Pay (making Whole Foods one of the first retailers to offer this payment platform) and home delivery service Instacart. Another item on his plate is the development of the company’s recently announced millennial-aimed 365 by Whole Foods.

Brian Sheth
What’s better than going into business with your best friend? Sheth teamed up with his best man to establish Vista Equity Partners in 2000, one of the first private equity firms focusing solely on software. Because of this, co-founder and president Sheth has an advantage in the market with investment companies who are newer in the software business.

“In software there are a lot of great technologies, but not as many great business people,” Sheth told Fortune. “We’ve really learned how to put systems in place that improve the companies that grow up around the software.” A 39-year-old billionaire, Sheth and Vista Equity Partners’ future in the equity game have never looked brighter.

Only one other Texan made the list, El Paso native Michelle Dip. She’s the co-founder and CEO of OvaScience, a company that uses a woman’s own mitochondria to “freshen up” older eggs before they’re fertilized, enhancing embryo quality for in-vitro fertilization. Since the company’s founding in 2011, 10 babies have been born using the technology.

The Texas winners join other notable influencers on Fortune’s list, including Taylor Swift, Ronda Rousey, John Oliver, and Jessica Alba. To view the full list, visit Fortune.

Taylor Swift performs at her recent Houston concert.

Photo by Jane Howze

Taylor Swift performs at her recent Houston concert.

bests rankings

a major award

$2.6 million grant funds UH research towards a fentanyl vaccine

Photo by Jellybee on Unsplash

UH has received a new financial gift towards the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program, which is developing a fentanyl vaccine.

The estate of Dr. William A. Gibson has granted the University of Houston a $2.6 million gift to support and expand its opioid addiction research, including the development of a fentanyl vaccine that could block the drug's ability to enter the brain.

The gift builds upon a previous donation from the Gibson estate that honored the scientist’s late son Michael, who died from drug addiction in 2019. The original donation established the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program in UH's department of psychology. The latest donation will establish the Michael Conner Gibson Endowed Professorship in Psychology and the Michael Conner Gibson Research Endowment in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

“This incredibly generous gift will accelerate UH’s addiction research program and advance new approaches to treatment,” Daniel O’Connor, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, said in a news release.

The Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program is led by UH professor of psychology Therese Kosten and Colin Haile, a founding member of the UH Drug Discovery Institute. Currently, the program produces high-profile drug research, including the fentanyl vaccine.

According to UH, the vaccine can eliminate the drug’s “high” and could have major implications for the nation’s opioid epidemic, as research reveals Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is treatable.

The endowed professorship is combined with a one-to-one match from the Aspire Fund Challenge, a $50 million grant program established in 2019 by an anonymous donor. UH says the program has helped the university increase its number of endowed chairs and professorships, including this new position in the department of psychology.

“Our future discoveries will forever honor the memory of Michael Conner Gibson and the Gibson family,” O’Connor added in the release. “And I expect that the work supported by these endowments will eventually save many thousands of lives.”

----

This story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

research university of houston