Our Stories  

Jessie Mann ’79, M.S. ’81 and  Larry Clark, '78, M.S. ’80
Old friends honor former professors and help a new generation of students

UTSA alumnus Jessie Mann '79, M.S. '81, recently surprised longtime university professor Hugh Maynard with a scholarship in his honor.

The Jessie Mann Endowed Computer Science Scholarship in Honor of Hugh Maynard, will be awarded to students in the College of Sciences in the fall of 2017. "Because you helped me so much, I created this scholarship in your honor," said Mann to Maynard. "You loved teaching and always took the time to explain things. Hopefully with this scholarship we can help other students."

In addition to honoring Maynard, Mann also established The Jessie Mann Endowed Computer Scholarship in Memory of Robert Young, another computer science professor who had a tremendous impact on him. Both endowments will help a new generation of students at UTSA.

After hearing about the scholarships totaling $75,000, Maynard was left amazed. "This is going to help so many students here at UTSA, thank you very much," said Maynard, who has been with the university for nearly 40 years.

Mann, who is president and co-founder of CPSG, a Workday implementation and cloud security solutions company, was raised in San Antonio and considered majoring in accounting before choosing computer science. Inside his Dallas-based company, you'll see college and university pennants lining the walls, a symbol of where he and his team members have completed degrees. For Mann, he is proud to see UTSA displayed alongside other major universities and Ivy League schools, and he hopes to attract more Roadrunners to the industry.

"When I came to UTSA I had no idea of what computers were," said Mann. "If it weren't for Maynard and the computer science program, I would have probably done accounting, because I had three sisters and they all did accounting here."

Besides finding his passion in computer science, UTSA was also a place where lasting memories and friendships were created, including a friendship with Larry Clark, '78, M.S. '80, a fellow classmate also mentored by Maynard and Young. The duo first met in the tutoring center where Mann once worked, and became fast friends.

"A lot of my direction would be different right now if it weren't for Maynard," said Clark, a UTSA lecturer who made a $1,000 gift to the scholarships. "I definitely wouldn't be teaching right now if it weren't for him convincing me to be a teaching assistant."

After graduating from UTSA, both Mann and Clark continued their friendship and passion for the field. Clark followed in his mentor's footsteps and now teaches computer science at UTSA. As for Mann, after graduation he landed a job with AT&T Bell Laboratories, one of the world's top software companies at the time. He then worked with Digital and Symbase before co-founding and selling his software businesses Vital Solutions and Vivare Inc. Today he employs 250+ people at his latest business venture CPSG. He lives in Dallas with his wife Jyoti, and the couple have two children in college; a son, Ajeet, and a daughter, Jasmine.

In addition from creating a scholarship in honor of his former professors Mann also established a scholarship in honor of his three sisters Amarjeet Sandhu, Inderjeet Mangat and Harjinder Broeking, all three UTSA alumnae. The Jessie Mann and Jyoti Endowed Scholarship in Honor of the Mann Sisters  will benefit accounting students in the College of Business.

"A lot of the lessons I learned at UTSA I practice in my company today," said Mann. "While a student at UTSA I worked in an interactive and collaborative setting and that's exactly what we do."