Former football letterman, regent honored as entrepreneur of the year

Jay Allison’s name is in many ways intertwined with Baylor. He holds three degrees from the university (BBA ’78, MS ’80, JD ’81), married a woman, Jenny, who holds two more (BSEd ’78, MSEd ’80), and has already seen one of his four children (Jency, BA ’08) graduate from Baylor. He earned three letters playing football here in the 1970s, then returned to serve nine years on Baylor’s Board of Regents. He and his wife were the lead donors for the Jay and Jenny Allison Indoor Football Practice Facility, which opened earlier this fall.

His name is in the news again this month after being named the 2009 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year national winner in the Energy, Chemicals and Mining category. Allison is president and CEO of Comstock Resources, Inc., an energy company based in Frisco, Texas that Ernst & Young calls “a company that analysts now consider to be ‘the gold standard’ in the exploration and production business.”

The Ernst & Young website has an excellent biography of Allison, detailing his life from being raised by a single mother to walking on the Baylor football team through early business failures that taught him the lessons that led to his company’s success today.

Sic ’em, Jay!