The SMU Cox School of Business honored three 2023 Distinguished Alumni and two Outstanding Young Alumni during its annual Alumni Awards luncheon in May. In alphabetical order, this year’s SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni Award honorees are Mark Griege, BBA ’81; Malcolm Holland, BBA ’82; and Bill Vanderstraaten, BBA ’82. The Cox School’s 2023 Outstanding Young Alumni honorees, also alphabetically, are Christina Goodman, BBA ’06, and Indu Sanka, MBA ’16.

Left to right: Dean Matt Myers; Cox Outstanding Young Alumna Indu Sanka, MBA ’16; Cox Distinguished Alumnus Malcolm Holland, BBA ’82; Cox Distinguished Alumnus Bill Vanderstraaten, BBA ’82; Cox Distinguished Alumnus Mark Griege, BBA ’81; Cox Outstanding Young Alumna Christina Goodman, BBA ’06; and SMU President R. Gerald Turner.

SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni 2023

Mark Griege, BBA ’81
Griege is the CEO of RGT Wealth Advisors, which he co-founded in 1985. Griege and his wife, Peggy, are the benefactors of the new lobby—to be known as the Griege Lobby—in the newly renovated Maguire Building, which is part of the renovation and expansion project.

Malcolm Holland, BBA ’82
Holland is the chairman and CEO of Veritex Holdings and Veritex Community Bank. Holland comes from a long line of SMU alumni. Both of his parents were SMU graduates, as was his wife, Ann. Holland, his family and his company are dedicated SMU supporters.

Bill Vanderstraaten, BBA ’82
Vanderstraaten founded family office commercial real estate firm Chief Partners in the summer of 2007 in partnership with Trevor Rees-Jones. Vanderstraaten is a past SMU trustee and past chairman of the SMU Alumni Association. Currently, he serves on the Cox Executive Board and chairs the Advisory Board of the Folsom Institute for Real Estate. Vanderstraaten and his wife Mimi also created an MBA Endowed Scholarship at SMU Cox.

SMU Cox Outstanding Young Alumni 2023

Christina Goodman, BBA ’06
Goodman is the vice president for development at Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation. She has nearly two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector and began her development career at ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Association of Healthcare Philanthropy honored her with its 40 Under 40 Award in 2020.

Indu Sanka, MBA ’16
Sanka is the president and CEO of Red Elephant, a renowned design and architectural signage manufacturing and installation company that caters to diverse commercial facilities. She is a trailblazer in the women-owned business community. Just last year, Sanka was named an up-and-comer on the Dallas Business Journal’s list of 40 Under 40.

Individual alumni portraits and more detailed biographies of the honorees will be included in the next issue of CoxToday.