Bauer Energy Center Named for Energy Exec

Energy executive Joe Gutierrez has made a gift to name the Global Energy Management Institute at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.

Now known as the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute, the organization serves as a resource to prepare and support business leaders who are dealing with the current challenges of the energy business while exploring issues important to the industry’s future.

Gutierrez, a 2014 alumnus of Bauer’s Executive MBA program, has also given to support Bauer student scholarships and to university athletics. His gift to rename GEMI is possible through the generosity of his family’s foundation and will be used to fund research initiatives and to provide support for programs offered by GEMI.

“Given that Bauer College is embedded in Houston, the energy capital of the world, and Joe has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, launching a very successful natural gas pipeline business that provides long-term natural gas transportation services, this is a partnership that just makes sense,” Dean Latha Ramchand said.

She added: “We thank Joe for his support of Bauer College’s energy programs, as well as his previous generous giving toward student scholarships. He and his wife Faith are strong believers in the Bauer brand, and it is clear that they truly understand the importance of giving back and sustaining a strong business school and energy program here in the city of Houston.  I also want to acknowledge Dean Arthur Warga whose vision inspired the creation of GEMI.”

Founded in 2001 under the direction of then-dean Arthur Warga, GEMI was part of a broader strategic vision to engage the energy industry, both in Houston and globally. The center evolved to offer comprehensive programming, including graduate certificates and management development programs focused on energy, as well as symposia, roundtable discussions and speaker series.

“Energy is part of the fabric of Houston’s economy,” Ramchand said. “Our role as Houston’s business school is to provide a forum for education, discussion and innovation for energy leaders and professionals during good times and bad. Learning to grow during down cycles is as important and even more so than learning to lead during up cycles. With this gift, we now have a permanent endowment for the benefit of the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute that will allow us to grow our energy initiatives and maintain our presence as Houston’s energy education leader.”

Gutierrez’s tenure in the energy industry includes 10 years working for Mobil Natural Gas Inc., a division of Mobil Oil Corporation. There, he held various positions, including scheduling, transportation, trading and origination in all regions across the United States. Before that, he held positions with Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, a major interstate pipeline company serving the Midwest.

He co-founded NET Midstream in 1996 and helped build the company over two decades by developing natural gas pipelines throughout Texas.  NET Midstream provides services to natural gas producers and end-users, such as power plants, municipalities, distribution systems, industrial markets, and exports to Mexico. 

“As an entrepreneurial company, our success would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees.  The University of Houston does an excellent job in developing students in all the necessary diciplines that made our company successful, such as legal, finance, engineering, business, accounting, environmental, and risk management,” Gutierrez said. 

The company’s most recent development was the NET Mexico Pipeline, a 42 & 48” diameter pipeline capable of delivering over 2.1 Bcf/d from interstate and intrastate pipelines and processing plants near Corpus Christi, Texas south to the Rio Grande City area river crossing and interconnect with Mexico.   In 2007, the company developed a partnership with a private equity firm headquartered in Boston, MA and in late 2015, NextEra Energy Partners acquired NET Midstream.

"Given that Bauer College is embedded in Houston, the energy capital of the world, and Joe has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, launching a very successful natural gas pipeline business that provides long-term natural gas transportation services, this is a partnership that just makes sense."

—Latha Ramchand,
Bauer College Dean

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More on Named Centers of Excellence at Bauer College

In the last three months, Bauer College has received naming gifts for two Centers of Excellence — the Stagner Sales Excellence and the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute.

All named centers at Bauer College including the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, the Stanford Alexander Center for Excellence in Real Estate, the Stagner Sales Excellence Institute and now, the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute, were initially created by visionaries who wanted to create new business models, not merely adopt new thinking, Dean Latha Ramchand said.

“In most cases, at inception, a center originated on a sheet of paper, with a pen and an idea,” Ramchand said. “In all cases, they were created by a faculty or staff member, or an alum or well-wisher of Bauer College who had the courage to think beyond the present and envision an opportunity in the future.”

She added: “That these ideas can go from being dreams to centers that create new research which in turn helps our students move two steps ahead of the competition, is both humbling and inspiring.”