Honoring a lasting impact, Dr. Dave Mack to receive Hall of Fame award

When Dave Mack arrived in Arlington in 1995 to pursue his PhD, he had no idea how profoundly UTA would change his life, or how significantly he would shape the College of Business. Thirty years later, there is little within the college that Dr. Mack hasn’t touched.

After earning his doctorate in May 2000, Mack established an unconventional academic career. His enthusiasm, commitment to students and ability to recognize opportunities led to an expanding role in the college. He would help grow the healthcare administration program, launch the Executive MBA program, teach in UTA’s Executive MBA program in China, lead the Goolsby Leadership Academy and serve as associate dean.

Mack began his career as an entry-level manager at Allstate Insurance Company, which helped fund his undergraduate education. After earning his degree, he enrolled part-time in DePaul University's MBA program while working. Midway through his studies, a corporate downsizing changed his career trajectory.

“While I was about halfway through my MBA, Allstate went through a downsizing, and I got a generous package to leave,” Mack said. “It was a life changer for me because it allowed me to then go and pursue my degree full time.”

While at DePaul, Mack was offered a teaching position and, just days after graduating, began teaching his first MBA class, marking the beginning of his career in academia.

“Literally, I walked across the stage on a Sunday and started teaching my first MBA class the following Wednesday, so it was very unusual,” Mack said.

Encouraged by one of his professors to pursue his doctorate, Mack researched programs nationwide and chose UTA.

Although Mack expected to spend his career teaching, his desire to improve the student experience led him to send then-dean Dan Himarios a letter proposing ideas to strengthen college programs. That letter landed him a role recruiting students for the new Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (HCAD) program.

“Within two years, that became the second-largest master’s degree program in the College of Business,” Mack said.

Dr. Dave Mack poses for a photo at the 2026 MAVS100 dinner. Photo by Ellman Photography.

That success led to other opportunities. He was invited by Dean Himarios to become a faculty member to teach in UTA’s Executive MBA program in China and was later asked to launch the Executive MBA program in Fort Worth. He was tapped to lead the Goolsby Leadership Academy before eventually becoming Associate Dean.

“I was a poor kid from a farm in upstate New York. My dad had to quit school during the 10th grade to help my grandfather run the farm. My older brother and I were the first in our family to get a bachelor’s degree, let alone anything beyond that,” Mack said. “When I first stepped into that classroom in Beijing, China, and looked up at 60 Chinese executives that were there to learn from me, I said, ‘Man, you’ve come a long way from that old farm.’”

Of his contributions, however, he is the proudest of his work with the Goolsby Leadership Academy.

“I was part of it from the very beginning, designing the courses and selecting students,” Mack said. “There are so many students that have done so well and gone on to achieve great things. We changed not only their lives, but their children’s and grandchildren’s lives because we created those opportunities for them.”

Mack said being a recipient of the Hall of Fame award is humbling.

“I was stunned when (Dean Dombroski) told me, and I’m very proud and honored by it as well,” Mack said. “I think it’s a recognition not of any one thing I’ve done, but a cumulative recognition of what I was involved in and the contributions I made.”

As Mack reflected on his two decades at UTA, he said he hopes his legacy will be remembered for one thing.

“I hope they say, ‘He made a difference.’”