Felix Dawson

BA, Economics, 1990; MS in Accounting, 1991

The road from Rice led to Baltimore for Felix Dawson. The road to Rice was a lot shorter. In fact, it was about two blocks.

Dawson grew up in the tree-lined neighborhood of Southampton in the shadow of Rice University. Proximity wasn’t the only thing influencing his affinity for Rice—both of his parents were Rice graduates. After spending a year abroad following high school, Dawson moved on campus and began studying civil engineering. But, he says, “it didn’t take too long to realize I was more interested in business, so I switched to economics.”

Once he made that transition, Dawson became aware of a combined program offered at the time that would allow him to get his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years. “I knew I wanted to get an advanced degree. I felt it would be necessary to my career progression,” he explains. “Why not do it in one fell swoop?”

After earning both degrees, Dawson went to work for Arthur Andersen as a management consultant. “I was there for seven years,” he says, “primarily starting an energy trading consulting practice inside Arthur Andersen.” That experience was the next step in Dawson’s education. “I was exposed to different management concepts, the way different companies work, and how organizations behave,” he recalls.

Ready to build on his education and experience, in 1997, Dawson joined Goldman Sachs in Baltimore. “It was a good match,” he says. “They were opening a trading company, and I had the energy background.” Goldman Sachs was starting a joint venture with Constellation Energy to start a wholesale energy commodity trading and marketing company, which Dawson ultimately joined. Constellation has grown into one of the nation’s largest wholesale power sellers. “Even though I’m in Baltimore, I stay connected to Rice,” says Dawson. “Constellation recruits heavily at Rice. We have a number of alums up here, so we opened the door to new graduates. Everyone can see the quality of graduates is consistent.”

What sets the Rice MBA program apart in his book, Dawson explains, is the unique focus on energy capabilities that his company does not find at other schools. Constellation recruits at MIT, Harvard, Wharton, and the University of Chicago. “But at Rice you find a number of students who already understand the industry,” he points out. “You will not find that at schools in the Northeast. When students have completed the type of energy derivative course work offered at Rice, they have a unique edge in my line of work.”

And for those in a business as competitive and evolutionary as energy, Dawson stresses, “You need to be ahead of the pack.”