College of Business to receive $100,000 from alum Scott Wheeler
R. Scott Wheeler, President of Daseke, Inc. and his wife Kathryn Wheeler, recently pledged $100,000 to the Texas A&M University-Commerce Foundation for the purpose of supporting the College of Business Excellence Fund and the College of Business Finance Excellence Fund.
The Wheeler's decision to offer this gift was driven by their desire to invest in the transformative power of a great college education. According to Mr. Wheeler, “Our support of each other – whether a financial contribution or other forms of commitment to the College of Business – ideally serves to strengthen the impact and achievements of our students, faculty, staff and alumni today and in the future. Providing meaningful engagement opportunities to learn, share and encourage creates lasting benefits for our entire TAMUC family and the larger, global community as well.”
Dr. Shanan Gibson, Dean of the College Business, welcomed the gift stating, “Mr. Wheeler’s investment in the College of Business is evidence that our alumni appreciate the larger scope of business education and that business executives see real value in helping create these experiences for nascent business professionals. This gift also demonstrates the passion that so many of our alumni feel for the College of Business.”
The son of two East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) professors, Scott Wheeler's passion for his alma mater was kindled from a very young age. Wheeler graduated in 1980, majored in psychology, minored in radio/television, and went on to earn his Master of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business.
Wheeler began his business career at the Beltway Companies where he worked as an accounting manager, and then controller, managing the accounting, administrative, tax and other financial aspects of a significant portfolio of restaurants, retail spaces, offices, warehouses, and manufacturing and raw land properties. He eventually rose to the position of Vice President of Business Management. After 13 years at Beltway, he was named the CFO at Malibu Entertainment, a publicly traded location based entertainment company.
After Malibu, Wheeler joined VCFO and ran a business focused on providing finance and accounting assistance to high growth companies. He then became the CFO at OneSource Virtual and helped start what became one of the fastest growing technology enabled services companies in the country.
Today, Wheeler is the president of Daseke Inc., the largest flatbed/open deck freight logistics operator in North America, providing services in 49 U.S. States, Canada and Mexico.
Wheeler has also served as Mayor of Addison, TX from 1999 to 2005. He also served on the Dallas Central Appraisal District Board of Directors from 2006 to 2008, as well as on the Board of Directors for Compass Bank Dallas from 1994 to 2008. He was selected as CFO of the Year for the Middle Market by the Dallas Business Journal in 2015 and was a member of the Public Company Board of Directors of the Year in 2017. There is bridge in Addison, Texas named in his honor.
Wheeler currently serves on the A&M-Commerce College of Business Leadership Council. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the College of Business' Economics and Finance Department.
While many consider “generosity” a term that specifically relates to financial giving, Wheeler recognizes a deeper meaning in the term, and is generous in his time, actions and foresight, in addition to being actively benevolent in traditional gifting.
Scott and Kathryn Wheeler live in Addison (Dallas area) with their two daughters, Whitney and Kelley.