Home of the College of Business

Michael and Karen O'Connor Building

When completed in summer 2010, the 75,000-sq.ft. facility will house a new Center for Economic Research with space for and Executive Education Department, faculty offices, classrooms, and two computer labs. Pending approval of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents, the buildings conference room will be named in honor of the late John Buckley, a College Business graduate and, until his death in 2008, head of the accounting firm Buckley and Associates. Both Michael and Karen O'Connor (2001) and Buckley (2007) were awarded with the G. Russell Kirkland Distinguished Award in Business Administration by the College of Business.
     Currently around 1,400 undergraduate and 200 graduate students are enrolled in the University's College of Business pursuing degrees in business administration, accounting, and marketing. The AACSB-accredited College's formal administrative units include the Student Advisory Council, and the Center for Economic Education.
     The College also houses the international headquarters of the Society for Advancement in Management and sponsors student chapters of Delta Sigma Pi, Human Resources Management, Society for Advancement of Management, and the Student Accounting Society.

Michael A. and Karen O'Connor

After graduating from St. Edward's university in 1958, Michael O'Connor moved to Corpus Christi to work for Gardner-Denver, a company that manufactures pumps and compressors. Following a successful career during which he built and sold two companies, O'Connor retired in 1986 but six years later, at the request of entrepreneur Melvin Klein, he accepted the position of chairman of the board at Hanover Compressor Company. Under O'Connor's direction, the company became the largest compressor leasing company in the world and was first list on the New York Stock Exchange. He died in July 2003.
     "Mike's philosophy was that it's not so much the things we leave behind as the legacy we create that people will remember," said Karen O'Connor Urban. "We both knew when we made this gift that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is the economic engine that will drive Corpus Christi's development. The University has already contributed much to the city's success and this facility creates even greater opportunities for faculty to make a positive impact in developing and mentoring our business leaders of the future."
     Today Karen O'Connor Urban servers on the advisory board of American Bank, as well as a number of non-for-profit organizations. In addition to her work on behalf of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, her extensive volunteer service has benefited many organizations including Christus Spohn Health System Foundation, the Art Museum of South Texas, and Clowns Who Care.