For University of Texas alumnus Adam Blum (MPA/BBA ’06), being involved with Texas Hillel is as much about forging strong relationships as it is about finding a place to express one’s faith. The Fort Worth, Texas, native worked alongside fellow students, faculty and local organizations and graduated first in his class from the University of Texas in 2006. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in professional accounting from the McCombs School of Business.

Blum, whose many accolades include the Barbara Jordan Leadership Award and the Master’s Program Outstanding Graduate, revealed that success in college, and life in general, is as much about surrounding yourself with like-minded, quality individuals as it is about earning good grades.

“It’s not just getting an A. It’s developing a rapport with your peers who are going to be running the world one day,” Blum said. “It’s an infinite possibility in terms of what you can do in life, but it’s all about building relationships and having a strong group of support from your peers.”

While attending UT, he was a teaching assistant for five classes. His final year at UT, he created and taught a course called “Advanced Topics in Financial Reporting” that is still being taught today for graduate students.

After graduation, Blum worked as an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs in New York City, earning wide praise for his work in accounting. But, the tug of his alma mater ultimately prevailed, and he returned to Austin in 2008 where he worked at a private equity venture capital firm, Austin Ventures, until 2011. Currently, he is doing his own investing with various partners, and he said he is living the “no boss and no employee life.” He got married in 2017, and he and his wife, Brooke, have an 8-month-old daughter, Lucy.

“I figured out ways to utilize UT and the alumni base,” Blum said. “I think being around the culture of the Business Honors Program, and the excitement around trying to do something that was hard, or that people said couldn’t be done, and also seeing my peers fixating on and getting what they want out of where they wanted to go in life, was my motivation to do that.”

While at UT, Blum was an avid Texas Longhorns fan who attended nearly every home and away football game.

“During my time at UT, we had a lot of good sports years,” Blum said. “We had a football national championship win and two Rose Bowl wins, basketball made it to the Final Four and baseball won two titles in the College World Series.”

Once he was back in Austin, his love of the Longhorns continued to grow, and he is often seen cheering on his favorite team with friends and family.

Blum currently holds many leadership positions at UT. He is a member of the UT System Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, the Dell Medical School Building Committee, the University Development Board, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, a founding member of the Dell Medical School Society for Health and Business and an observer on the McCombs Advisory Council, among other community leadership roles.

“As a young professional in Austin, I got to know a lot of people and leaders here in the business community,” Blum said. “Being involved in the community, taking leadership roles and getting yourself out there in the world, that’s how you do that. That’s how you build those relationships and form those bonds.”

Although he immersed himself in numerous organizations while he was a student, Blum was not an active participant in Texas Hillel. However, he said that when he was living in New York, he was surrounded by Jewish people, so when he moved back to Austin, he felt more connected to his Jewish faith, and this led him to become involved.

This is Blum’s second year working with Texas Hillel. He serves on the Finance Committee and the Board of Directors.

“I picked my spots on where to get involved and ended up developing a rapport with some of the Hillel board members,” Blum said. “I thought it was really significant to get involved in and to support Texas Hillel since things are sort of volatile and uncertain in our world today.”

Texas Hillel has impacted Blum’s life for the better, and he hopes that it will serve as a place where students can feel welcome and comfortable in their beliefs.

“It is important for me knowing that we have incidents on campus related to BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions movement) and everything else that’s going on, and just the political biases that exist at UT, that there is a place for people to go and that families can feel comfortable that their children have that opportunity if they want it,” Blum said. “It is important to understand that it is a thriving, vibrant group that has a lot of opportunities.”

Community involvement and establishing relationships are of the utmost importance to Blum, and he urges people to surround themselves with quality individuals.

“You are the average of your 10 closest friends, so you have to associate with high-achieving, good people who want the same things you want, so that you can propel yourself by virtue of being around those kinds of people,” Blum said.  

Adam Blum has found a home in Texas Hillel, and Hillel is certainly fortunate to be the recipient of his leadership, expertise and wisdom.