Trent Thurman

Biography

Trent Thurman is the Director of the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization (MSTC) program at the McCombs School of Business. Prior to this appointment, Trent was Executive Director for Graduate Programs at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Trent was an assistant dean and director at the McCombs School of Business before his stint at Tennessee. In that role, he led the academic, administrative, recruitment and student services aspects of the Texas Evening MBA, the Texas MBA at Houston and the Texas MBA at Dallas-Ft. Worth programs. Under his leadership, the portfolio jumped to #6 in the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of part-time programs, the highest ranking in the history of the program. Trent was awarded the President’s Outstanding Service Award by the University of Texas in 2012 and received the Student Services Excellence Award by the McCombs School of Business in 2011. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1988 and earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994. Following his MBA, Trent enjoyed a decade-long career in commercial and corporate real estate, including stints with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company and Sacramento-based Panattoni Development Company. He was also Director of Real Estate for a regional healthcare system in Memphis, Tennessee for five years. Prior to graduate school, Trent served on the legislative staff of then Senator Al Gore, where his research focused on legislative and regulatory issues relating to higher education, healthcare, technology and the arts. Active in the community, Trent served as President of the Memphis chapter of the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association and was later elected to the national Board of Governors following his term as president. He also served on the Board of Trustees for Grace-St. Luke’s School in Memphis and chaired the Downtown District YMCA Board of Management.